United States v. Javier Vasquez-Velasco

Javier Vasquez-Velaseo was convicted in a jury trial of committing violent crimes in aid of a racketeering enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959 . Vasquez-Velaseo appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. He also argues that his trial was improperly joined, and appeals the district court’s denial of his motions for severance. Finally, he appeals the district court’s imposition of a sentence greater than ten years in the absence of a special verdict. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Vasquez-Velasco’s appeal arises out of the second trial associated with the 1985 kidnapping and murders of Enrique Camarena, an American agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”), and Alfredo Zavala, a DEA informant. The government’s theory at trial was that Vasquez-Velaseo and his three co-defendants all acted to commit violent crimes to further their positions in the “Guadalajara Narcotics Cartel,” a drug trafficking enterprise based in Guadalajara. The cartel began distributing large amounts of drugs into the United States in the early 1980’s. According to the government, in 1984 and 1985 American DEA enforcement activities resulted in…