United States v. Rico-Soto, No. 09-30648 (5th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseAfter being arrested by U.S. Border Patrol Agent Harold Gill at a traffic stop in Louisiana, Defendant Francisco Rico-Soto was convicted of harboring illegal aliens. Defendant appealed the admission of evidence obtained from the warrantless stop, claiming lack of reasonable suspicion. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) the government presented several different elements that, when combined, led Gill reasonably to suspect criminal activity; (2) these facts triggered the various Brignoni-Ponce factors, which demonstrated that Gill's stop was justified; and (3) the confluence of facts, along with numerous small pieces of confirmatory evidence, justified an agent with Gill's experience in stopping Defendant.
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