United States v. Jose Villasenor

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Jose Villaseñor was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California of one count of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and MDMA (also known as “ecstasy”), and two counts of using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking conspiracy, both federal crimes. We AFFIRM his conviction.

Villaseñor contends on appeal that the evidence at trial proved the existence of two separate conspiracies — one in California and one in Ohio — but that Villase-ñor had no knowledge of or participation in the Ohio conspiracy and so could not have been convicted of participating in the combined conspiracy. This is contradicted by the testimony at trial. Villaseñor’s co-conspirator, Mario Diaz, testified that Vil-laseñor sold Diaz a car with a hidden compartment for transporting drugs. When Villaseñor asked Diaz why Diaz wanted the car, Diaz testified: “I told [Villaseñor] that I need a reliable, dependent car for long distance because I wanted it to travel out of state.” Thus, there was sufficient evidence to show that Villaseñor knowingly participated in an out-of-state drug distribution ring. Based on this…