United States v. Christopher Sangalang

MEMORANDUM

Defendants Christopher Sangalang, Deandre Patton, and Alfredo Flores appeal their criminal convictions after two jury trials, arising from the “Sin City Ink” undercover operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”). Judge Mahan presided over the first trial, with charges related to a fictitious stash house robbery involving all three Defendants. Judge Dawson presided over the second trial, with charges related to gun and drug sales before the fictitious stash house robbery, involving Sangalang and Patton. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

The ATF agents’ conduct in the Sin City Ink operation does not satisfy the “extremely high standard” required to dismiss an indictment for outrageous government conduct. See United States v. Black, 738 F.3d 294, 302 (9th Cir.2013) (internal quotation marks omitted). To facilitate the undercover sting transactions, ATF agents set up a tattoo parlor based on Agent Gomez’s first-hand knowledge of the types of venues where known gang members congregated, and used a confidential informant, Richard Beckworth, a known gang member with connections to other known gang members. The…