Filed: May 01, 2002
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 00-20483 Summary Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus EMILIANA DE LORA, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (H-99-CR-213-13) _ April 30, 2002 Before HIGGINBOTHAM, WIENER, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges: PER CURIAM:* Emiliana De Lora appeals her convictions for conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and aiding and abetting such
Summary: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 00-20483 Summary Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus EMILIANA DE LORA, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (H-99-CR-213-13) _ April 30, 2002 Before HIGGINBOTHAM, WIENER, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges: PER CURIAM:* Emiliana De Lora appeals her convictions for conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and aiding and abetting such ..
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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 00-20483
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
EMILIANA DE LORA,
Defendant-Appellant.
_________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
(H-99-CR-213-13)
_________________________________________________________________
April 30, 2002
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, WIENER, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges:
PER CURIAM:*
Emiliana De Lora appeals her convictions for conspiracy to
transport stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and aiding and
abetting such transportation of one such vehicle. See 18 U.S.C. §§
2, 371, and 2312. She contends solely that the evidence is
insufficient to support her convictions because there was no direct
evidence showing she had knowledge of the conspiracy or voluntarily
assisted any of the conspirators. De Lora claims: the
Government’s evidence was purely circumstantial; it was refuted by
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
her testimony; and her mere relation to, or association with,
members of the conspiracy was insufficient to show her complicity.
Because De Lora timely moved for judgment of acquittal, the
standard of review in assessing her sufficiency challenge is
whether a “reasonable jury could conclude that the relevant
evidence, direct or circumstantial, established all of the
essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt when
viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict”. United States
v. Loe,
262 F.3d 427, 432 (5th Cir. 2001) (emphasis added), cert.
denied,
122 S. Ct. 1078 (2002); see Jackson v. Virginia,
443 U.S.
307, 319 (1979). In so viewing the evidence, the Government must
be “given the benefit of all reasonable inferences and credibility
choices”. United States v. Inocencio,
40 F.3d 716, 724 (5th Cir.
1994).
For a conspiracy conviction, the Government must prove, beyond
a reasonable doubt, the following elements: (1) a conspiracy
existed; (2) the defendant knew of it, and (3) with that knowledge,
she voluntarily became part of it. United States v. Williams,
264
F.3d 561, 577 (5th Cir. 2001). Of course, such proof “may be
established by circumstantial evidence and may be inferred from
concert of action”.
Id. (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted). To obtain a conviction for aiding and abetting, the
Government must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the
defendant: (1) associated with a criminal venture; (2)
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participated in it; and (3) “sought by action to make [it]
successful". United States v. Carreon-Palacio,
267 F.3d 381, 389
(5th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted; internal quotation marks
omitted).
The evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the
Government, was sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that
De Lora knew of the conspiracy and voluntarily assisted others in
effecting the scheme. See
Loe, 262 F.3d at 432. During one of the
criminal transactions underlying the conspiracy, De Lora’s
boyfriend, Ricardo Acevedo, described De Lora as his “co-investor”
in a stolen 1994 Lexus sold to a dealership in Texas, requesting
that a check for half of the sale proceeds be made payable to her.
De Lora received and cashed the resulting $6,000 check.
Concerning the aiding and abetting conviction, the
circumstantial evidence demonstrated that De Lora posed as “Sonia
Pena” to facilitate the sale of a stolen 1994 Mitsubishi Montero to
the Flowers Motor Company, by faxing false identification matching
the counterfeit title to that car, purporting to establish her
ownership and authorizing the sale. Several witnesses, including
De Lora, testified she often used the name “Sonia”; and the
evidence established that: she was an employee at the company from
which the false documents were faxed; she was at work on the date
in question; the faxes were sent from the department where she
worked; there was no employee named Sonia Pena; and only employees
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had access to the company’s fax machines. Additionally, at the
time of her arrest, De Lora was found driving a vehicle her uncle
had obtained in exchange for a stolen vehicle as part of the
ongoing scheme.
De Lora’s assertion that her own testimony defeated the
Government’s case is unavailing. Her reasoning is essentially that
the jury should have credited her testimony over that of the
Government’s witnesses; however, this court will not disturb the
jury’s credibility determinations. See United States v. Jaramillo,
42 F.3d 920, 923 (5th Cir.), cert. denied,
514 U.S. 1134 (1995).
AFFIRMED
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