Villa

MEMORANDUM **

Federal prisoner Luis Fernando Villa (“Defendant”) appeals from his four-day jury trial conviction and sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) & (b)(1)(a). Defendant was ar *907 rested on June 1, 2001, after special agents of the United States Customs Service (“USCS”) acted on a tip that he would be transporting drugs in his commercial vehicle from Mexico into the United States. In a hidden compartment under the mattress in Defendant’s sleeper cab, agents found a total of fifteen duct-taped packages of cocaine weighing 123.6 kilograms. Defendant made statements to USCS agents subsequent to his arrest in which he admitted that he had agreed to requests made of him to transport contraband so long as he did not know when or what type of drugs would be loaded into his vehicle.

Defendant claimed that the trial court erred in allowing the Government to use an expert police witness to testify about major drug smuggling organizations. Defendant also argued that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could find Defendant guilty of deliberate ignorance. Finally, Defendant maintained that the…