United States v. Rene Diaz-Cardenas
Opinion
Opinion
Beezer, J.
Appellant Rene Diaz-Cardenas appeals the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions for importing cocaine and methamphetamine and for possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine. Diaz-Cardenas also raises several sentencing issues. Diaz-Cardenas was sentenced to 151 months incarceration and five years of supervised release. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.
I
On July 3, 2001, Diaz-Cardenas entered the United States from Mexico driving a vehicle containing 9.48 pounds of methamphetamine (4.31 kilograms) and 17.65 pounds of cocaine (8.02 kilograms) in the air bag of the vehicle. Customs officers inspected the vehicle. The drugs were worth over one million dollars in the United States. Diaz-Cardenas was the registered owner and sole occupant of the vehicle. A drug sniffing dog alerted the officers to the vehicle and Diaz-Cardenas was arrested.
At trial, Diaz-Cardenas asserted that he did not have knowledge of the drugs in the vehicle. He explained that he thought he was smuggling an alien, not drugs. Despite his testimony, the jury returned a guilty verdict.