United States v. Pedro Cota-Rubalcaba

Appellant, together with Enrique Sandez Cadena and Veronica Garcia-Morales, were indicted and charged in two counts, (1) importing heroin and cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 174 , and (2) smuggling merchandise, to-wit pills, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 545 . The government severed the woman, Garcia and used her as a witness. The appellant and Cadena were convicted and sentenced on each count.

The contraband was seized in a car at the border crossing at Tecate, Mexico. Garcia-Morales testified that as she and the two men neared the border, appellant directed her to get out of the car and jump the line with him into the United States; that appellant turned over the car in which the contraband was found to Cadena, who was to be paid $60.00 to drive the car into the United States; and that appellant and Garcia were thereafter to be picked up at a designated place in the United States near the border.

The trial court permitted a joint trial of appellant and Cadena upon the Government’s representation that, consistent with Bruton v. United States, 891 U.S. 123 , 88 S.Ct. 1620 , 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), it would not use Cadena’s post arrest statement at the joint trial. Appellant…