United States v. Herrera , 195 F. App'x 154 ( 2006 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 05-4666
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
HILARIO G. HERRERA, a/k/a Hilario
Gutierrez-Herrera, a/k/a Hilario
G. Herrera,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria. James C. Cacheris, Senior
District Judge. (CR-04-493)
Submitted: June 21, 2006 Decided: August 23, 2006
Before MOTZ, SHEDD, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
John O. Iweanoge, Jr., THE IWEANOGES’ FIRM, P.C., Washington, D.C.,
for Appellant. Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney,
Patricia T. Giles, Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria,
Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
A jury convicted Hilario G. Herrera of conspiring to
transport illegal aliens (Count 1) and transporting illegal aliens
(Count 2), in violation of 8 U.S.C.A. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii),
(a)(1)(A)(v)(I) (West 2005 & Supp. 2006). The district court
sentenced Herrera on June 17, 2005, to a twenty-four-month term of
imprisonment. On appeal, Herrera challenges his convictions and
sentence, asserting that the evidence was insufficient to convict
him, that the district court erred by refusing to allow him to
impeach his own witness and to give requested jury instructions,
and that his sentence violates the Sixth Amendment. We affirm.
Herrera first asserts that the evidence was insufficient
to convict him because there was no evidence of an agreement and
because he did not know the passengers were illegal aliens. Thus,
he contends that the district court erred by denying his motion for
judgment of acquittal under Fed. R. Crim. P. 29.
This court reviews the district court’s decision to deny
a Rule 29 motion de novo. United States v. Uzenski, 434 F.3d 690,
700 (4th Cir. 2006). Where, as here, the motion was based on a
claim of insufficient evidence, “[t]he verdict of a jury must be
sustained if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most
favorable to the Government, to support it.” Glasser v. United
States, 315 U.S. 60, 80 (1942). We have reviewed the trial
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transcript and are convinced that the evidence was sufficient to
convict Herrera on both counts.
Next, Herrera asserts that the district court erred by
failing to give jury instructions on mistake of fact and multiple
conspiracies. Our review of the joint appendix leads us to
conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by
refusing to give the requested instructions. See United States v.
Ebersole, 411 F.3d 517, 526 (4th Cir. 2005) (stating standard of
review), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 1142 (2006).
Herrera also asserts that the district court erred by
refusing to allow him to impeach a defense witness with a prior
inconsistent statement. Although the credibility of a witness may
be attacked by the party calling that witness, see Fed. R. Evid.
607, our review of the trial testimony convinces us that the
probative value of the impeachment testimony was substantially
outweighed by its prejudicial effect. See United States v. Ince,
21 F.3d 576, 579-80 (4th Cir. 1994). Thus, the district court did
not abuse its discretion in excluding the testimony. See United
States v. Williams, 445 F.3d 724, 732 (4th Cir. 2006) (stating
standard of review).
Finally, citing United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220(2005), Herrera contends that his sentence violates the Sixth
Amendment because the district court sentenced him under a
mandatory sentencing guidelines scheme and applied enhancements for
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the number of aliens involved in the offense and for obstruction of
justice that were not based on facts found by the jury. However,
Herrera was sentenced after the Supreme Court decided Booker.
Because Herrera provided no evidence that the district court failed
to follow Booker, we reject this claim.
Accordingly, we affirm Herrera’s convictions and
sentence. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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