United States v. Sylvia Vasquez-Chan, United States of America v. Julia Gaxiola-Castillo

Based almost exclusively on the seizure of over six hundred kilograms of cocaine in the house in which they were temporarily residing, Sylvia Vasquez-Chan [Yasquez] and Julia Gaxiola-Castillo [Gaxiola] were convicted by a jury of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or moré of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 , 18 U.S.C. § 2 , and 21 U.S.C. § 846 . Both defendants were sentenced to the mandatory minimum period of incarceration: ten years, with an additional six years of supervised release. We find that the evidence was legally insufficient upon which to base findings of guilt; accordingly, we reverse the convictions.

I

The Drug Enforcement Agency’s investigation of the drug ring that Gaxiola and Vasquez were accused of involvement with was no simple operation: there was a massive, planned, and well-organized surveillance of a number of individuals who might be involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking operations in the Tucson area. In late 1990, the Tucson DEA agents identified several persons (none of whom was Gaxiola or Vasquez) who were suspected of participating in. such ■ trafficking. Undercover Agent Moore of the DEA infiltrated the…