United States v. Samuel Soto

MEMORANDUM

The district court denied Samuel Soto’s motion to suppress evidence discovered pursuant to a search of his home and vehicle. The court sentenced him to 91 months’ imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Soto argues that based on the affidavit supporting the search warrant, there was insufficient probable cause to believe that guns or narcotics would be found in his home. Soto concedes that the confidential human source (“CHS”) was qualified as a reliable source for unrelated incidences, but argues that, as related to Soto, CHS’s statements were conclusory, uncorroborated, unsupported, and lacked a background or basis of knowledge.

The prior examples of CHS’s reliability, which were all contained in the affidavit, permitted CHS’s statements relating to Soto to be viewed as more reliable or with a heightened “inference of trustworthiness.” United States v. Jennen, 596 F.3d 594, 599 (9th Cir.2010) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 244 , 103 S.Ct. 2317 , 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983) (“Because an informant is right…