Whittington
United States v. Whittington
Opinion
Lead Opinion
ORDER
The Memorandum disposition filed on June 21, 2006, 186 Fed.Appx. 758 , is hereby amended. The amended Memorandum disposition is filed simultaneously with this Order.
With these amendments, the panel has voted to deny the Petition for Panel Rehearing. The mandate shall issue forthwith.
AMENDED MEMORANDUM **
Ralph Frederick Whittington appeals his conviction of three counts of aiding and abetting Bringing in Illegal Aliens for Financial Gain and three counts of aiding and abetting Transportation of Illegal Aliens. On July 22, 2004, border patrol agents detained Whittington on the “Patterson Property” in an area located near Highway 94 and the California/Mexico border. Agents caught Whittington behind the wheel of a pick-up truck with an attached trailer. Ten undocumented aliens were found near or inside a small, camouflaged box, resembling a pile of two by fours, that had been built into the trailer.
After his arrest, Whittington waived his Miranda rights and the United States Border Patrol interviewed him. According to the interviewing agent, Whittington stated that a female acquaintance (“Diane”) had introduced him to two individuals (“Miguel” and “Julio”) with whom he…