United States v. Bahena, No. 22-1691 (7th Cir. 2023)
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Agents intercepted calls via a wiretap on Jose’s phone. Despite Jose’s use of coded language, they learned that he was arranging with a supplier to bring "new product" into town on a semi-truck; a distributor would help sell the product upon its arrival. Jose’s brother, Marcos, was to arrange a location and contacted “Juanito,” who had access to a private parking space big enough for a semi-truck. The brothers offered him $500 and informed Juanito of the meeting’s purpose. On the day of the deal, Jose and Marcos exchanged multiple calls about logistics. Authorities watched Marcos leave home and head to the parking space. Jose and Juanito joined him. A semi-truck arrived and parked. The group disbanded. Later, Marcos called Jose and relayed that Juanito was “scared.” The next day, authorities observed Jose meet with the courier under a bridge. Jose got into the courier’s car carrying a plastic bag. Within minutes, he exited the car empty-handed and left. Officers pulled the courier over and found the bag. It contained cocaine.
At Marcos’ trial, an expert in drug-dealing practices and terminology interpreted some of the wiretap transcripts. Marcos called no witnesses, portraying himself as a pawn in Jose’s scheme. The jury found Marcos guilty of conspiracy. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence and a claim that the government’s expert witness testified beyond the scope of his expertise.
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