United States v. Alvarez

625 F.2d 1196 (1981)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

John Cifarrelli and Edward Peterson discussed with undercover DEA agents Martinez and Caton their scheme for importation of marijuana from a farm in Colombia to the Miami area. The transportation was to be by aircraft to be loaded at a farm in Colombia owned by a co-conspirator, refueled at a small island in the Caribbean and off-loaded at a rural site west of Miami. The undercover agents were to supply the aircraft for an agreed price. Maps, radio frequencies, and code names were produced. The Colombian farm owner, Cruz arrived in Miami and spent the night with D. The following morning D drove a pickup truck, in which Cruz was riding and which was loaded with household appliances, to the Opa Locka airport. They met Cifarrelli, who directed them to the plane. The agents had not previously met Cruz or D, nor had their names been revealed. They were told that the two men in the pickup truck were the farmer from Colombia and the one who would be at the off-loading site on return. Martinez then asked D, in Spanish, if he was going to be there at the unloading site. D smiled, nodded affirmatively, and asked Martinez if he was going on the plane. There was a washer, a dryer, and some household appliances in the truck. After D had loaded appliances on the plane and was about to leave in the truck, the identity of the agents was revealed, and the conspirators were placed under arrest. D was convicted of a conspiracy to import marijuana simply from the fact that he unloaded electrical appliances aboard a plane that was to fly from the United States to Columbia. D was convicted and appealed, and that conviction was overturned by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit. A rehearing was granted en banc.