United States v. Escobar, No. 17-1014 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseEscobar, Jackson, and Cruz were convicted of federal crimes related to a methamphetamine distribution operation; Rojas-Andrade and Garcia pleaded guilty. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the convictions and their sentences of 137 to 330 months. Evidence seized during a search made pursuant to an anticipatory search warrant was admissible under the good-faith exception, as the totality of the circumstances showed the officers' reliance on the warrant was objectively reasonable. There was no error in the denial of a motion to suppress wiretap evidence; the wiretap affidavit established that normal investigative techniques had not been successful in exposing the full extent of the drug conspiracy. The district court properly admitted recorded out-of-court statements of co-conspirators and properly imposed a two-level enhancement against Escobar for possession of a dangerous weapon in connection with a drug offense under U.S.S.G. 2D1.1(b)(1). Rojas-Andrade's motion to withdraw his guilty plea was properly denied; a misunderstanding of how the guidelines would apply is not a fair and just reason to withdraw a plea. There was no error in denying Jackson's motion to sever conspiracy and possession counts and no error in admitting evidence of Jackson's prior drug convictions as they were not too remote in time and were relevant under Rule 404(b). Garcia did not object to the drug quantity calculation in his PSR or at his sentencing and cannot challenge the quantity on appeal..
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Murphy and Colloton, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. This opinion is issued by Chief Judge Smith and Judge Colloton pursuant to 8th Cir. R. 47E. Evidence seized during a search made pursuant to an anticipatory search warrant was admissible under the good-faith exception, as the totality of the circumstances showed the police officers' reliance on the warrant was objectively reasonable; no error in imposing a two-level enhancement against defendant Escobar for possession of a dangerous weapon in connection with a drug offense under Guidelines Sec. 2D1.1(b)(1); no error in denying defendant Rojas-Andrade's motion to withdraw his guilty plea as a misunderstanding of how the guidelines will apply is not a fair and just reason to withdraw a plea; Rojas-Andrasde's below-Guidelines sentence was not substantively unreasonable; no error in denying defendant Jackson's motion to suppress wiretap evidence as the wiretap affidavit established normal investigative techniques had not been successful in exposing the full extent of the drug conspiracy; no error in denying Jackson's motion to sever conspiracy and possession counts; no error in admitting evidence of Jackson's two prior drug convictions as they were not too remote in time and were relevant under Rule 404(b); evidence was sufficient to support Jackson's convictions for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute; Jackson's below-Guidelines sentence was not substantively unreasonable or an abuse of the court's discretion; defendant Garcia did not object to the drug quantity calculation in his PSR or at his sentencing and cannot challenge the quantity in this appeal as it is an admitted fact; no error in admitting recorded out-of-court statements of co-conspirators; evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding that defendant Cruz engaged in a conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine; the court did not err in finding that 50 pounds of methamphetamine seized from a co-conspirator were attributable to defendant Cruz.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.