Ruiz

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 24-386 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellee, 3:23-cr-01331-

GPC-

v.

ALEX RUIZ,

OPINION

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Gonzalo P. Curiel, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 21, 2025 Pasadena, California

January 7, 2026

Before: Ryan D. Nelson and Lawrence VanDyke, Circuit Judges, and Douglas Russell Cole, District Judge. *

Opinion by Judge Cole

* The Honorable Douglas Russell Cole, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, sitting by designation. SUMMARY **

Criminal Law

The panel affirmed Alex Ruiz’s conviction for transporting illegal aliens in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324, in a case in which Ruiz argued that the district court abused its discretion in admitting into evidence a previous conviction he received for the same crime. The panel held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the prior conviction under Fed. R. Evid. 404(b), as that conviction satisfied each prong of the test…