United States v. Adam Carrasco

MEMORANDUM

Adam Torres Carrasco appeals his jury-trial conviction and sentence for failing to report the exportation of over $10,000 in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5316 and 5322 and bulk cash smuggling in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5332 . He also appeals the denial of his motion for a new trial. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Carrasco challenges the district court’s admission of evidence that on prior occasions he crossed the border in a vehicle containing a secret compartment and in a vehicle with a substance secreted in the horn. We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s decision to admit evidence of prior acts pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). United States v. Lozano, 623 F.3d 1055, 1059 (9th Cir.2010). The district court did not abuse its discretion because sufficient evidence supported the existence of the prior acts, they were not too remote in time, and they tended to prove a material and contested point— Carrasco’s knowledge of the money hidden in his spare tire. See id. The court also adequately considered the probative and prejudicial consequences of introducing the acts. See United States v. Ono, 918 F.2d 1462, 1465 (9th…