United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT July 23, 2007
Charles R. Fulbruge III
No. 06-40076 Clerk
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
RAUL REYES; LUIS ENRIQUE MALDONADO-GARZA,
Defendants-Appellants.
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Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
No. 5:05-CR-427-1
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Before DAVIS, SMITH, and OWEN, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Raul Reyes appeals his conviction of illegally transporting
aliens for private financial gain, arguing that the district court
abused its discretion by admitting extrinsic evidence of a prior
arrest for the same offense. Luis Enrique Maldonado-Garza appeals
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
No. 06-40076
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his sentence resulting from his conviction of illegally transport-
ing aliens for private financial gain. Maldonado-Garza contends
the district court erred in applying the sentence enhancement under
U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(5) for creating a substantial risk of death or
serious bodily injury.
The district court admitted evidence of Reyes’s arrest from
2002 under FED. R. EVID. 404(b) after finding that the evidence had
probative value that was not outweighed by prejudice. The evidence
was relevant because the offense involved the same knowledge and
intent. See United States v. Gordon, 780 F.2d 1165, 1173 (5th Cir.
1986). The probative value was not outweighed by the prejudice.
See United States v. Beechum, 582 F.2d 898, 914 (5th Cir. 1978) (en
banc). Further, the district court gave a limiting instruction to
the jury. Therefore, the court did not abuse its discretion by ad-
mitting evidence of Reyes’s arrest for transporting illegal aliens
in the trunk of a passenger car. See United States v. Buchanan, 70
F.3d 818, 831 (5th Cir. 1995).
Maldonado-Garza’s argument is without merit. He transported
sixteen aliens in the trailer portion of a tractor-trailer. The
trailer also contained pallets of wire that a border patrol agent
had to climb over when he conducted a search of the vehicle. The
risk posed to the aliens involves a greater risk than that of an
ordinary passenger traveling without a seatbelt. See United States
v. Zuniga-Amezquita, 468 F.3d 886, 889-90 (5th Cir. 2006). Thus,
the district court did not err in imposing an enhancement under
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§ 2L1.1(b)(5).
AFFIRMED.