United States v. Manuel Loma-Torres

MEMORANDUM

Manuel Loma-Torres appeals his conviction and sentence for illegal reentry after removal in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Deputy Garcia’s initial stop of Loma-Torres was supported by a reasonable suspicion that Loma-Torres was in the country illegally. Loma-Torres was thoroughly muddy and looked as though he had been walking through the fields, it was raining and there were no field workers or vehicles around, and the area was highly trafficked by illegal aliens. See United States v. Lopez-Soto, 205 F.3d 1101, 1105 (9th Cir.2000) (reasonable suspicion exists if “specific, articulable facts ... together with objective and reasonable inferences” suggest that an individual is engaged in criminal activity (internal quotation marks omitted)).

Loma-Torres also argues that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest him and, as a result, that everything the officers learned about him should have been suppressed. This argument is without merit; evidence of identity is not subject to suppression, even if the arrest was illegal. United States v. Orozco-Rico, 589 F.2d 433, 435 (9th Cir.1978). The same is true for…