United States v. Wen Hsue Chang

MEMORANDUM ***

Wen Chang and Jian Tan appeal the district court’s denial of their motions for judgments of acquittal, brought under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29. 1 Chang and Tan each argue that the evidence presented at their joint trial was insufficient to warrant the jury’s verdicts, which found each of them guilty of conspiracy, bringing illegal aliens to the United States for private financial gain, and concealing illegal aliens in the United States.

Acting on a tip, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents discovered Chang, Tan, and seventeen other Chinese nationals hiding inside of a forty-foot-long, wooden cargo container that had been shipped by boat from Hong Kong to the Port of Los Angeles. 2 At trial, the government alleged that Chang and Tan had agreed to participate in a human-smuggling conspiracy, and to supervise the aliens found with them during the voyage to the United States, in exchange for a discount from the smuggling fee that the other aliens promised to pay.

*747 Seven witnesses testified for the government: five of the aliens who traveled with Chang and Tan, and two ICE agents, one of whom the district court certified as an expert…