United States v. Amaral-Estrada, Jose ( 2007 )


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  •                              In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Seventh Circuit
    ____________
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.
    JOSE A. AMARAL-ESTRADA and
    EVARARDO LIRA-ESQUIVEL,
    Defendants-Appellants.
    ____________
    Appeals from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division.
    No. 05 CR 43—Sarah Evans Barker, Judge.
    ____________
    ARGUED SEPTEMBER 27, 2007—DECIDED DECEMBER 5, 2007
    ____________
    Before BAUER, RIPPLE, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.
    BAUER, Circuit Judge. Defendants-Appellants Jose A.
    Amaral-Estrada and Evarardo Lira-Esquivel appeal from
    the district court’s denials of their respective Motions to
    Suppress Evidence. For the reasons stated below, we
    affirm the district court’s denial of the motions.
    I. Background
    On May 9, 2005, agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency
    (“DEA”) were conducting surveillance on 5352 W. Deming
    Place in Chicago, Illinois in search of Freddy Adan Sosa-
    2                                  Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    Verdeja for whom an arrest warrant had been issued.
    Sosa-Verdeja was a fugitive wanted in connection with
    federal drug-related crimes which involved transporting
    cocaine with cars.
    On May 3, 2005, the DEA sought and received a court
    order from a magistrate judge for the application and use
    of a pen register and trap-and-trace device, and
    to determine certain telephone information using the
    cellular telephone number of Sosa-Verdeja’s phone. The
    DEA’s surveillance involved tracking cellular site infor-
    mation on Sosa-Verdeja’s cell phone, which turns a cell
    phone’s emitted signal, as it searches for a cell tower, into
    a tracking device. This surveillance allowed DEA agents
    to pinpoint the location of the cell phone at one of the
    three residential units located at 5352 W. Deming Place.
    While the agents conducted surveillance on 5352 W.
    Deming Place on May 9, 2005, DEA Special Agent Chris-
    topher O’Reilly was informed by another law enforcement
    officer that a Chrysler M300 had been seen in the alley
    north of Deming Place from Long Street and the driver of
    that car resembled Sosa-Verdeja.1 The Chrysler M300
    was driven by Amaral-Estrada with a male passenger.
    Amaral-Estrada pulled out of the alley and continued
    for about a block before parking the car on Drummond
    Street. Agent O’Reilly followed Amaral-Estrada from the
    alley by 5352 W. Deming Place to Drummond Street,
    where he observed Amaral-Estrada and his passenger
    get out of the car, look around as if to see if they were
    being watched or followed, and then proceed to walk
    back around the block towards 5352 W. Deming Place.
    About fifteen minutes after Amaral-Estrada and his
    passenger had exited the vehicle, Agent O’Reilly parked
    his car, got out and identified himself as a police officer
    1
    The DEA agents conducting the surveillance had been given a
    wallet-sized photo of Sosa-Verdeja to identify him.
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334                                   3
    and requested identification from the two men. Agent
    O’Reilly detained Amaral-Estrada to conduct a pat-down
    search of his person, during which Agent O’Reilly re-
    moved all of the items from Amaral-Estrada’s pockets,
    including cell phones and a set of Chrysler keys. Agent
    O’Reilly then inspected the Mexican driver’s license and
    voter registration card provided by Amaral-Estrada, both
    of which bore the name of Amaral-Estrada, not Sosa-
    Verdeja. At this time, Amaral-Estrada stated that he did
    not speak or understand English, so Agent O’Reilly and
    the other DEA Agents that had arrived at the scene
    contacted Spanish-speaking DEA Task Force Officer
    Mario Elias via a two-way radio so that Officer Elias could
    translate Agent O’Reilly’s questions into Spanish and
    Amaral-Estrada’s answers into English. In answering
    these questions, Amaral-Estrada replied that he and his
    passenger were walking around looking for an apart-
    ment to rent in the area, and that they came from
    Bensonville, Illinois. When Agent O’Reilly asked them
    how they got to Chicago from Bensonville, they could not
    provide an answer. Amaral-Estrada also denied any
    knowledge of the Chrysler M300 that Agent O’Reilly saw
    him driving minutes earlier.
    At the evidentiary hearing, Amaral-Estrada stated that
    he never denied driving the Chrysler M300 and that he
    simply stated that he did not own the car, but that he
    told Agent O’Reilly (via Officer Elias’s translation) that
    he had driven the car to Chicago. Amaral-Estrada further
    explained at the hearing that Sosa-Verdeja had lent him
    the car about a week earlier and that Sosa-Verdeja had
    instructed him to drive to a specific Walgreens, go inside,
    and that while he was inside, someone would enter the
    back seat of the car and put something in it. Amaral-
    Estrada testified that he did as he was told by Sosa-
    Verdeja, and indeed upon his return to the car after
    visiting Walgreens, a large black duffel bag was in the
    back seat. Amaral-Estrada also testified that he did not
    4                                    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    care about the bag in the back seat because it was not
    his bag and it was not his car.
    Returning to the sequence of events of May 9, 2005,
    Agent O’Reilly detained Amaral-Estrada and his passen-
    ger for lying when Amaral-Estrada denied any connec-
    tion with or knowledge of the Chrysler M300 that he had
    seen Amaral-Estrada drive, park, and exit prior to stop-
    ping him on foot.
    Agent O’Reilly placed Amaral-Estrada in the back seat
    of his police car and drove back to where the Chrysler
    M300 was parked. Agent O’Reilly then surveyed
    the Chrysler M300 for about thirty or forty minutes
    because he suspected that a “drug drop” was underway.2
    When no activity involving the Chrysler M300 occurred,
    Agent O’Reilly approached the car and saw the black
    duffel bag on the back seat. Agent O’Reilly admitted that
    nothing about the exterior of this bag indicated that it
    was filled with contraband. Using the two-way radio
    again so that Officer Elias could translate for Agent
    O’Reilly and Amaral-Estrada, Agent O’Reilly asked about
    the bag. Amaral-Estrada denied that the bag belonged to
    him and again denied that he had ever been inside the car.
    Using the Chrysler keys obtained from Amaral-Estrada’s
    pocket during the pat-down search, Agent O’Reilly un-
    locked the Chrysler car door using the remote entry
    device.3
    2
    A drug drop is an event in which drug-trafficking organiza-
    tions leave contraband in an inconspicuous location for some-
    one else to pick up, such as a parked car in this case. Agent
    O’Reilly testified that he has witnessed approximately twenty
    drug drops during his career in law enforcement.
    3
    At the evidentiary hearing, Amaral-Estrala stated that he
    could not understand everything that was being asked by Officer
    Elias over the two-way radio because the radio kept cutting out.
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334                                           5
    After Amaral-Estrada had again denied any connec-
    tion to the car, Agent O’Reilly opened the car door and
    looked inside the duffel bag. The bag contained U.S.
    currency in an amount later determined to be $254,947.00.
    After discovering its contents, Agent O’Reilly removed
    the bag from the car. Shortly thereafter, Officer Elias
    arrived at the scene and read Amaral-Estrada his Miranda
    rights in Spanish.
    With Amaral-Estrada in custody, Agent O’Reilly and
    Special Agents Gerald Dooley and Sam Ginelli returned to
    the apartment building at 5352 W. Deming Place where
    the agents decided to do “knock and talks” with the
    residents to seek consent to search the residential units
    of the building pinpointed by Sosa-Verdeja’s cell phone
    signal. The agents entered through the unlocked common
    entrance that led them to the common foyer and staircase.
    They proceeded down to the basement unit and knocked,
    but no one answered. The agents then went to the first-
    floor unit and knocked, but again no one answered. The
    agents then went to the second floor apartment where,
    from the hallway, they could hear a television playing
    inside. Agent O’Reilly knocked on the door, and Maria
    Leticia Verdeja-Sanchez answered.
    From this point on, the testimony of the parties
    varies greatly. Verdeja-Sanchez says that as soon as
    she unlocked the apartment door, the agents pushed it
    open, held her at gun point, handcuffed her, and threw her
    to the floor.4 According to the agents, Verdeja-Sanchez
    opened the door slightly and Agent O’Reilly asked her
    if she spoke English, to which she responded “a little.”
    4
    Prior to her evidentiary hearing, Verdeja-Sanchez’s contended
    (in her fact recitals in court filings) that after opening the door
    a little, the agents pushed the door open so quickly that it
    knocked her to the floor.
    6                                     Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    Agent O’Reilly then asked her if there was anyone else in
    the apartment, to which she answered “no.” Next, Agent
    O’Reilly showed Verdeja-Sanchez the wallet-sized picture
    of Sosa-Verdeja and asked if she knew the man in the
    picture. She again responded “no.”5 In viewing the picture,
    Verdeja-Sanchez leaned forward to see the picture more
    clearly and the apartment door was opened wider, provid-
    ing the agents with a broader view into the apartment.
    With this broader view, the agents were able to see a
    person’s arm on the couch inside the apartment. Agent
    O’Reilly then pushed open the door, entered the apart-
    ment, approached the man on the couch, and asked him
    to present identification.6 That man was Defendant-
    Appellant Lira-Esquivel, the husband of Verdeja-Sanchez.
    At the same time that Agent O’Reilly entered the
    apartment, Agent Dooley called Sosa-Verdeja’s cell phone
    number that the agents were monitoring to locate Sosa-
    Verdeja. Immediately, a cell phone on the coffee table
    in the apartment began to ring. At this point, the other
    agents entered the apartment and detained Lira-Esquivel
    and Verdeja-Sanchez so they could conduct a protective
    sweep of the apartment to determine if anyone else,
    particularly Sosa-Verdeja, was in the apartment. When
    they found no one else in the apartment, one of the agents
    searched the couch area where Lira-Esquivel had been
    sitting, and discovered a loaded nine millimeter handgun
    tucked into the cushions.
    About twenty minutes later, Officer Elias arrived at the
    apartment to translate for the agents, Lira-Esquivel, and
    Verdeja-Sanchez. In Spanish, Officer Elias advised Lira-
    5
    Verdeja-Sanchez was in fact Sosa-Verdeja’s mother.
    6
    It is undisputed that the agents did not have a search war-
    rant for the apartment at the time they entered it.
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334                                       7
    Esquivel and Verdeja-Sanchez of their Miranda rights
    both orally and in writing, and presented them with
    consent forms to search the apartment. Lira-Esquivel
    asked if he was required to agree to the search of the
    apartment; Officer Elias told him in Spanish that he could
    refuse, but that the agents could seek a search warrant.
    Lira-Esquivel then agreed to allow the search and signed
    the Spanish consent to search form. Verdeja-Sanchez
    also signed the consent to search form, but claims she
    did so because she was scared.
    After receiving consent to search the apartment and
    conducting a thorough search, the agents recovered about
    twelve kilograms of cocaine and more than 300 used
    kilogram wrappings for cocaine from the premises. Several
    notebooks of drug ledgers and $20,000 in U.S. currency
    were also found.7 Lira-Esquivel and Verdeja-Sanchez
    were both taken into custody, although Verdeja-Sanchez
    was later released.
    On July 12, 2005, a five-count superceding indictment
    was filed in the Southern District of Indiana. Count One
    charged Defendants-Appellants Amaral-Estrada and Lira-
    Esquivel with conspiracy to possess with intent to dis-
    tribute five kilograms or more of a mixture or substance
    containing a detectable amount of cocaine, a Schedule II
    Narcotic Controlled Substance, in violation of 
    21 U.S.C. §§ 841
    (a)(1) and 846. Both Amaral-Estrada and Lira-
    Esquivel moved to suppress the evidence obtained during
    their arrests and the searches of the car and apartment,
    respectively, alleging Fourth Amendment violations.
    Specifically, Amaral-Estrada claimed that the DEA
    7
    Agent O’Reilly also interviewed the apartment’s landlord, who
    stated that he rented the apartment and garage to Sosa-Verdeja.
    The landlord was able to identify the man in the wallet-sized
    photo as Sosa-Verdeja.
    8                                  Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    agents lacked probable cause to search the car, or stop,
    question, detain, and arrest him. Lira-Esquivel also
    argued that the DEA agents lacked probable cause to enter
    his apartment and to search and arrest him. He also
    challenged the government’s use of the cell site informa-
    tion to track Sosa-Verdeja’s cell phone.
    In an unpublished opinion dated June 30, 2006, the
    district court found that Amaral-Estrada lacked standing
    to challenge the search of the Chrysler M300 because
    he did not have a legitimate privacy interest in the car
    under the facts presented by the parties. The district
    court also found that the agents had reasonable sus-
    picion to stop and question Amaral-Estrada to determine
    whether he was Sosa-Verdeja. Based on Amaral-Estrada’s
    failure to present documentation of his legal status in the
    United States, in addition to his lie to the agents about
    not having knowledge of the Chrysler M300 they saw
    him park just moments earlier, the district court con-
    cluded that the agents had probable cause to suspect that
    Amaral-Estrada was illegally in the country and that he
    had lied to federal agents. The district court held that the
    agents acted constitutionally when they detained and
    arrested him.
    The district court similarly found that Lira-Esquivel
    lacked standing to challenge the government’s surveillance
    methods used on a cell phone that was not his. Finally, the
    district court determined that, based on the totality of the
    circumstances present at the time of the apartment entry,
    the agents had probable cause to enter the apartment and
    search Lira-Esquivel. Specifically, the district court
    credited the agents’ testimony that they saw the arm of
    another person on the couch shortly after Verdeja-Sanchez
    had told them that no one else was in the apartment,
    which again amounted to probable cause for lying to an
    agent.
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334                                   9
    After the district court denied their respective Motions
    to Suppress Evidence, both Defendants-Appellants en-
    tered conditional guilty pleas maintaining their rights to
    appeal the suppression rulings. They were each sentenced
    to ninety months’ imprisonment.
    II. Discussion
    Amaral-Estrada appeals the district court’s holdings
    (1) that he lacked standing to assert a Fourth Amend-
    ment violation with regard to the search of the Chrysler
    M300; (2) that there was probable cause to stop, question,
    detain, and arrest him; and (3) that the search of the
    vehicle was supported by probable cause.
    Lira-Esquivel appeals the district court’s findings
    (1) that the agents had probable cause to enter the apart-
    ment and search and arrest him; (2) that he lacked
    standing to challenge the government’s use of cell site
    information to track a cell phone in his apartment; and
    (3) that the arrest warrant for Sosa-Verdeja satisfied the
    search warrant and probable cause requirements neces-
    sary to obtain the cell site information for the cell phone
    found in his apartment.
    We review the district court’s factual findings for clear
    error and questions of law or mixed questions de novo.
    United States v. Parker, 
    469 F.3d 1074
    , 1077 (7th Cir.
    2006); United States v. Grap, 
    403 F.3d 439
    , 443 (7th Cir.
    2005). Since the resolution of a motion to suppress is a
    fact-specific inquiry, we give deference to the credibility
    determinations of the district judge, who had the opportu-
    nity to listen to testimony and observe the demeanor of
    witnesses at the suppression hearing. Parker, 
    469 F.3d at 1077
    ; United States v. Marshall, 
    157 F.3d 477
    , 481 (7th
    Cir. 1998). In other words, “a district judge’s credibility
    determination will not be disturbed unless it is completely
    10                                 Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    without foundation.” United States v. Huebner, 
    356 F.3d 807
    , 812 (7th Cir. 2004) (quoting United States v. Salyers,
    
    160 F.3d 1152
    , 1162 (7th Cir. 1998)). “A finding is clearly
    erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it,
    the reviewing court is left with the definite and firm
    conviction a mistake has been committed.” United States
    v. Veras, 
    51 F.3d 1365
    , 1370 (7th Cir. 1995).
    A. Issues Raised by Amaral-Estrada
    1. The Search of the Chrysler M300
    Amaral-Estrada contends that the district court erred in
    finding that he lacked standing to challenge the search of
    the Chrysler M300. Specifically, the district court found
    that because Amaral-Estrada had borrowed the car
    from Sosa-Verdeja and that Amaral-Estrada knew others
    would be entering the car while he possessed it, Amaral-
    Estrada lacked an expectation of privacy in the car. This
    was evidenced by the Walgreens incident where the
    duffel bag was placed in the car.
    A criminal defendant cannot assert a privacy interest
    on behalf of someone else. United States v. Mendoza, 
    438 F.3d 792
    , 795 (7th Cir. 2006). Rather, a defendant charged
    with a crime of possession can only claim the benefits of
    the exclusionary rule if his own Fourth Amendment rights
    have been violated. 
    Id.
     (citing United States v. Salvucci,
    
    448 U.S. 83
    , 85 (1980)). A driver who borrows a car with
    the owner’s permission may acquire standing to challenge
    the search of the vehicle only if he can establish that he
    has a legitimate expectation of privacy in it or in the area
    searched. United States v. Jackson, 
    189 F.3d 502
    , 508 (7th
    Cir. 1999). A reasonable expectation of privacy is present
    when (1) the defendant exhibits an actual or subjective
    expectation of privacy, and (2) the expectation is one that
    society is prepared to recognize as reasonable. Mendoza,
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334                                   11
    
    438 F.3d at
    795 (citing Katz v. United States, 
    389 U.S. 347
    ,
    361 (1967)); see Kyllo v. United States, 
    533 U.S. 27
    , 33
    (2001).
    Amaral-Estrada failed to manifest any sort of actual or
    subjective expectation of privacy. Instead, Amaral-Estrada
    possessed the car for the purposes of transporting contra-
    band, such as the U.S. currency seized from the back seat.
    His expectations while using the car were that others
    would enter the vehicle, taking and/or leaving items
    therein. Furthermore, when the federal agents asked
    Amaral-Estrada about the vehicle, Amaral-Estrada
    denied any knowledge of the car. Amaral-Estrada also
    testified that he did not care about the bag in the back
    seat of the Chrysler M300 because it was not his bag
    and not his car. Under these facts reasonably relied upon
    by the district court, Amaral-Estrada failed to exhibit any
    legitimate privacy interest in the Chrysler M300 and
    therefore lacks standing to challenge the search of the
    vehicle; therefore we need not address his third issue on
    appeal as to whether there was probable cause to search
    the Chrysler M300.
    2. The Terry Stop and Subsequent Arrest of
    Amaral-Estrada
    Amaral-Estrada’s second argument on appeal is that
    the federal agents lacked probable cause to stop, question,
    detain, and arrest him. We review this issue de novo. As
    Amaral-Estrada’s brief recognized, under Terry v. Ohio,
    police officers may conduct a brief investigatory stop of a
    suspect if they have reasonable suspicion based on
    articulable facts that a crime is about to be or has been
    committed. 
    392 U.S. 1
    , 30 (1968); United States v.
    Wimbush, 
    337 F.3d 947
    , 949 (7th Cir. 2003). “Reasonable
    suspicion” must be based on some objective manifestation
    12                                 Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    that the suspect is involved in criminal activity. Wimbush,
    
    337 F.3d at 949
    . The likelihood of criminal activity need
    not rise to probable cause and falls well short of a prepon-
    derance of the evidence standard. 
    Id.
     at 949-50 (citing
    United States v. Arvizu, 
    534 U.S. 266
    , 274 (2002)). Courts
    examine the reasonableness of a stop based on the
    totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the
    time of the stop. Id. at 950; United States v. Jackson, 
    300 F.3d 740
    , 745-46 (7th Cir. 2002). Probable cause to
    make an arrest exists where the facts and circumstances
    within the officer’s knowledge are sufficient to warrant a
    prudent man’s belief that the suspect has committed or
    was committing an offense. Beck v. Ohio, 
    379 U.S. 89
    , 91
    (1964); United States v. Breit, 
    429 F.3d 725
    , 728 (7th Cir.
    2005).
    When the federal agents decided to follow Amaral-
    Estrada in the Chrysler M300, they did so suspecting
    that Amaral-Estrada was the fugitive, Sosa-Verdeja.
    While following Amaral-Estrada, the agents saw him exit
    the Chrysler M300, and walk around the neighborhood,
    frequently looking over his shoulder as if to see if someone
    was following him. Based on their suspicion that he might
    be Sosa-Verdeja and that a drug drop might be underway,
    Agent O’Reilly stopped Amaral-Estrada and asked for
    identification. While this may have satisfied the agents’
    reasonable suspicion as to Amaral-Estrada’s identity,
    probable cause was established for his arrest when
    Amaral-Estrada lied to them, a violation of 
    18 U.S.C. § 1001
     (false statements to a federal agent). Specifically,
    Amaral-Estrada denied any knowledge of the Chrysler
    M300 that Agent O’Reilly had just seen him park and exit
    moments earlier. For this reason alone, the agents had
    probable cause to detain and arrest Amaral-Estrada. The
    district court’s denial of Amaral-Estrada’s Motion to
    Suppress Evidence is therefore affirmed.
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334                                     13
    B. Issues Raised by Lira-Esquivel
    1. Probable Cause to Enter the Apartment and
    Search and Arrest Lira-Esquivel
    Lira-Esquivel appeals the district court’s finding that
    the agents had probable cause to enter his private resi-
    dence, and to search and arrest him.8 Specifically, Lira-
    Esquivel contends that the district court clearly erred in
    finding that the agents at the door of Lira-Esquivel’s
    apartment could have seen the arm of a person on the
    couch based on the positioning of the door in relation to the
    couch. Lira-Esquivel also claims that Verdeja-Sanchez
    could not have understood the agents’ question of whether
    anyone else was in the apartment, despite her statement
    that she understood English “a little” and responding “no”
    to the question. Lira-Esquivel hinges his argument on the
    district court’s factual determinations that he asserts
    were clearly erroneous. Lira-Esquivel does not contest
    that probable cause existed to enter the apartment, and
    to search and arrest Lira-Esquivel under the facts deter-
    mined to be true by the district court. We review this
    purely factual challenge for clear error only. See Parker,
    
    469 F.3d at 1077
    .
    Lira-Esquivel’s first factual challenge is whether the
    couch was visible from the agents’ position at the door-
    way of the apartment. It is undisputed that the door was
    open wider than the pictures presented to the district court
    illustrated, and that the couch was certainly visible when
    the door was opened all the way. Based on the testimony
    provided at the evidentiary hearing, it was not clearly
    erroneous for the district court to conclude that the door
    8
    Lira-Esquivel makes no direct argument why the agents lacked
    probable cause to search and arrest him, and instead focuses
    his argument on the lack of probable cause to enter his apart-
    ment.
    14                                 Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    was open far enough for the agents to see the couch. In
    other words, it was not clear error for the district court to
    believe the testimony of the agents. The evidence pre-
    sented by Lira-Esquivel, when taken as true, may question
    the accuracy of the agents’ statements, but it does not
    definitively negate them. Therefore, the district court did
    not clearly err in determining that the agents could have
    seen an arm on the couch, and that the agents then
    concluded that Verdeja-Sanchez had lied to them.
    Turning to Lira-Esquivel’s second factual challenge, that
    Verdeja-Sanchez could not have understood the agents’
    questions, we again find no error. At the time the agents
    knocked at Lira-Esquivel’s door, the agents were law-
    fully in the unsecured common areas of the multi-unit
    building. When Verdeja-Sanchez opened the door to the
    agents, she appeared to understand their question re-
    garding her ability to speak English, appropriately re-
    sponding “a little.” She also provided a coherent and
    appropriate—even if untruthful—response of “no” to the
    question of whether anyone else was in the apartment with
    her. Based on these two responses, it was not an obvious
    mistake for the district court to find that Verdeja-Sanchez
    understood the questions posed to her, and that she knew
    she was lying in her response to the latter inquiry.
    In short, the agents lawfully entered the common areas
    of 5352 W. Deming Place, and lawfully proceeded to knock
    at Lira-Esquivel’s door, which was opened by his wife,
    Verdeja-Sanchez. While the door was partially open, and
    immediately after Verdeja-Sanchez had told the agents
    that no one else was in the apartment, the agents saw
    the arm of another person on a couch inside the apart-
    ment. Whether the agents believed that Verdeja-Sanchez
    lied because she was being held against her will by the
    person on the couch or because she was harboring the
    fugitive, Sosa-Verdeja, exigent circumstances to enter
    the apartment existed. Because exigent circumstances
    Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334                                  15
    existed, the agents had probable cause to enter Lira-
    Esquivel’s home. See Leaf v. Shelnutt, 
    400 F.3d 1070
    , 1081
    (7th Cir. 2005) (“A warrantless search is permissible
    under the Fourth Amendment when police have a rea-
    sonable belief that exigent circumstances require im-
    mediate action and there is no time to secure a warrant.”);
    United States v. Jenkins, 
    329 F.3d 579
    , 581 (7th Cir. 2003)
    (Exigent circumstances exist “when the police reasonably
    fear for the safety of someone inside the premises.”)
    (internal quotations omitted). Therefore, all evidence
    against Lira-Esquivel was lawfully obtained and the
    Motion to Suppress was properly denied.
    2. The Government’s Surveillance of the Cell
    Phone (and the Effect of Sosa-Verdeja’s
    Arrest Warrant Thereon)
    Lira-Esquivel asserts that the district court erred in
    concluding that he lacked standing to challenge the gov-
    ernment’s use of the cell site information to track Sosa-
    Verdeja’s cell phone in his private residence. We need not
    review this issue in light of our determination maintain-
    ing the legality of the entry to and search of Lira-
    Esquivel’s apartment, and his subsequent arrest. Nor do
    we need to address the effect of Sosa-Verdeja’s arrest
    warrant on the right of entry for this same reason. Again,
    all evidence obtained was done within the bounds of the
    law.
    III. Conclusion
    For the reasons stated above, the district court did not
    err in denying both Amaral-Estrada’s and Lira-Esquivel’s
    Motions to Suppress Evidence. The district court’s orders
    are AFFIRMED.
    16                             Nos. 06-4332 & 06-4334
    A true Copy:
    Teste:
    ________________________________
    Clerk of the United States Court of
    Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
    USCA-02-C-0072—12-5-07