United States v. Leon Angel Valencia

Opinion by Judge HUG.

Leon Angel Valencia was convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846. Valencia appeals his conviction on the ground that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained from an allegedly illegal arrest and an invalid search warrant. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I.

Valencia was arrested in Ontario, California, on January 23, 1992, after law enforcement agents observed Valencia drive away from a motel parking lot in a Nissan Sentra. Earlier in the day, officers observed two other co-defendants transfer 130 kilograms of cocaine from the Nissan to a tractor-trailer truck. The registration papers found in the Nissan indicated the same address that Valencia gave as his own when he was booked at the police station.

Following Valencia’s arrest, the police ran a search on his background and discovered that Valencia was a target in a major federal narcotics investigation. Other agents had surveilled Valencia’s residence on Orange Grove Avenue. Valencia rented the house, and his name…