US Customs and Border Protection Corruption/Trial Transcripts

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 1 of 133
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF ARIZONA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) ) vs. ) ) ) LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZ, ) ) Defendant. ) ______________________________)
CR-11-2486-TUC-DCB
Tucson, Arizona February 11, 2012
BEFORE HONORABLE DAVID C. BURY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 405 W. CONGRESS TUCSON, ARIZONA 85701 TESTIMONY OF LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZ A P P E A R A N C E S ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT: MR. JAMES LACEY ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY MR. JOSEPH HANLEY ASSISTNT U.S. ATTORNEY ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT: MR. STEPHEN RALLS ATTORNEY AT LAW MR. BART REIDY ATTORNEY AT LAW CHRIS WALLACE, RPR, CRR 405 W. CONGRESS, SUITE 1500 TUCSON, ARIZONA 85701 (520)205-4268 Proceedings prepared by computerized realtime translation.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
I N D E X EVIDENCE ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT Page Testimony of LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZ DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. RALLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. LACEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. RALLS: Q MR. RALLS:
P R O C E E D I N G S Thank you, Judge.
The defense calls Luis Vasquez. EVIDENCE ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZ, called as a witness for and on his own behalf, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows: THE CLERK: name for the record. THE WITNESS: Luis Carlos Vasquez, V-A-S-Q-U-E-Z State your full name and spell your last
DIRECT EXAMINATION
Mr. Vasquez, I have a few questions for you. Did you ever agree with anybody to allow marijuana to
come into the United States? A Q A Q No, sir. Did you ever agree with anybody to import marijuana? No. Have you ever committed a crime of importation or
possession of marijuana? A Q No, never. You are charged with four counts in an indictment Are you guilty
here of possession and importation, conspiracy. of any of those counts? A I am not guilty of any of them.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
You have heard the names in this case of Jesus
Chavez-Bustamante. Do you know who he is? A Q No. You have heard the name Saul Lizzarraga-Roldan. Do you know who he is? A Q No. You have also heard the name of Marcos Sandoval
Lizzarraga. Do you know who he is? A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q No, sir. What about the name of Karla Prieto? No. Never met her? Never met her. What about Victor Stuppi? Yes. Who is Victor Stuppi? He is my brother-in-law. Let's talk about June 17, 2011. How were you employed? A I was employed with Customs and Border Protection in
Douglas, Arizona. Q A And how long had you been employed with them? Since January of 2008.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 then?
Back in June of 2011, what were your duties back
A entry. Q A
I was assigned as a primary officer at the port of
What other duties and responsibilities did you have? I have done secondary, primary, worked cargo. I have When
also done transportation for bringing people over here.
they get apprehended, we bring them for prosecution, so that was my job also. Q A Q A Q A Q Now, are you married, sir? Yes, I am. And how long have you been married? Since 2000. Do you have any children? Three kids. Now, back in June of 2011, what kind of work was your
wife doing? A She was also employed with Customs and Border She was in the Naco Port of Entry.
Protection. Q A Q A Q A
And what is her name? Lizette Vasquez. You say you have three children? Yes, sir. Your oldest is how old? She is ten years old.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A
And your youngest? She is five. And my youngest boy is going to turn two years old
the 25th of this month. Q A Q A Q A Q At present where do you live, sir? I live in Phoenix, Arizona. And back in June of 2011, where were you living? In Douglas, Arizona. Was your wife and children living there with you? Yes, sir. Let's talk a little bit about your educational
background. Where did you go to high school? A Q A Q I went to high school in Douglas, Arizona. And did you graduate from there? Graduated in '98. From high school, graduating there in Douglas in '98,
where did you go from there? A I graduated in '98. And from there -- actually in
'98, I went to NAU, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. semester. Q A Q From NAU, where did you go? Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona. How long were you there? And I was there for a full semester -- half a
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q history.
I was there for half a semester. Let's talk a little bit about your employment
And let's start from graduation from high school. Tell us a little bit about that. A When I was in high school, my parents, they would
tell me the main thing is your studies and make sure you get that done, and I also played sports during high school, so I wouldn't work during school. However, if I wanted something My dad would go to
more than what I had to go with my parents.
the field and pick onions, chile, tomato and they would cut lettuce, so they would take me and my little brother. My
little brother was the smart one so we would take sandwiches like to sell, and I would help my dad and do the whole field thing, and that's the way I would make my extra money once I got back to school, so I would have it. Q You told us you went up to Northern Arizona
University in Flagstaff and came back to Cochise College. Is that in Douglas, Arizona? A Q Douglas? A I was born in Hermosillo, Sinaloa, Mexico, and then That is in Douglas, Arizona. So I take it that you were born and raised in
we came to the United States and we were in Douglas. Q Now, how much time did you spend at Cochise College?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A
It was just a half a semester. From there what did you do? Actually, I had to go to work because we had just
gotten married, my wife and I, so I had to look for a job, and I worked at Checker's Auto Parts. Q A How long did you work for Checker's? I worked for them for four years. I came in as a
regular associate and then two months later I became assistant manager; about four months after that I became the first assistant, and then my manager left to Nogales to attend the store in Nogales, and I became the store manager for the Douglas Checker Auto Parts. Q A Q What years are we talking about? 2000 to 2004. You stayed at Checker's for approximately four years;
is that what you said? A Q A That's correct. And where did you go from Checker's? When I was at Checker's, I actually applied with
Department of Corrections DOC, and I got hired by them in 2004. Q And how long did you work for the Department of
Corrections? A I worked with them from 2004 all the way to I got I received a phone
hired by Customs and Border Protection. call in 2007, I believe.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
And Customs and Border Protection is what we have
been talking about working there at the port of entry as an inspector? A Q Yes, that's correct. What was the date that you started with Customs and
Border Protection? A Q A Q Georgia? A I believe it was close to four months, three and a January of 2008. Did you have to go to the academy? Yes, I did; Glynco, Georgia. And how long was the academy there in Glynco,
half months. Q Let's talk a little bit about what you learned there
at Glynco, Georgia. Did they have a set up, for instance, to be able to simulate vehicles coming into the port from one country to another? A Yes, they did. Like you heard from the other
testimony, it was limited time, it was only a mock port that had to do with airport base, so you would go into the lane, maybe pass a couple of cars, and from there you had to go to the airport setting. Q While we are on that topic, did they ever give you a
policy and procedure for inspecting vehicles, say, for
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
instance, coming into the port of entry, a land port of entry such as Agua Prieta-Douglas? A Q A Q No. Do you know if any exist? I have never seen one. Where do you learn these procedures and things of
that nature that you are supposed to do at the port of entry? A When you come back from the academy, they put you
into a field training officer, which is just another officer that has been there maybe a year more than you have, maybe a couple of more years than you. They will put you with them for
about six weeks and that will be your training. Q So actually you have no physical manual that you can
look at; it's what you learn from somebody else? A Q That's correct. And is each officer that works at the port of entry,
do they use different techniques? A Q Yes, sir. Let's talk a little bit about the techniques that you
have seen, you have observed -- use there at the port of entry. Can you describe those techniques. A It varies by officer. Some people go by people, some
people go by the vehicle.
They look at you and they try to
spot nervousness or see if you are sweating, see if you are shaking when you hand over the document, or some people look
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
11
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
plain and simple at the vehicle and spend more time with that. It just varies; it goes case by case scenario on each officer. Q A What is it that you do? Me personally, I go with the person, I go -- once I
see that person when they hand me the document, I want to see if they are nervous, I want to see if they are sweaty, more the totality of the circumstance at that specific time instead of just looking at one specific thing. Q Now, I want to go back a little bit. You mentioned that your wife's name is Lizette. long had you been dating Lizette? A We were actually dating in high school. We are How
actually high school sweethearts. Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A And how long have you known Lizette now? Since 1994. So about 18 years? Yes. And you met her while you were in high school? Yes, sir. And you have been with her 18 years? Yes, sir. Was Lizette raised in Douglas? Yes, she was. Do you know what her maiden name is? Castillo.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A Q A
Have you been able to meet all of Lizette's family? No. How many of them have you met? She has a total of nine brothers and sisters, and I
have only met Ociel, Anna, Sandra, Victor, and I met their mom. Q Let's talk a little bit about brothers and sisters
that you have met from Lizette. You mentioned that you met Ozzie? A Q A of them. Q A Q What is the relationship you have with Ozzie? Its okay. Okay. What about your relationship with Sandra? A Q A Q It was good. And what about her sister, Anna? And the same, I kept my distance from her. Now, Ozzie, Sandra and Anna. Are they older or I kept my distance from him. Yes, sir. And is he younger or older than Lizette? He is older. Lizette is the youngest one out of all
younger than Lizette? A Q A Q They are all older. Is Lizette the youngest in the family? Yes, sir. And one that we haven't mentioned is a brother that
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
13
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
she has, a brother named Victor. How well do you know him? A Well, I thought I knew him very well. Back then I
knew him very well. Q Let's talk a little bit about the relationship that What is his last name?
you have with Victor. A Q A
Victor Stuppi. How close did you become to Victor Stuppi? We were very close. I considered him my best friend.
Actually at one point I considered him like my brother. Q Having gone through this court process, do you
believe that Victor Stuppi set you up? A Having gone through all this, there is no doubt in my
mind, sir. Q At any point prior to June 2011, did you know that
Victor Stuppi was involved in marijuana trafficking? A Q No, sir. Did you have any reason to believe that he was
involved in marijuana trafficking? A No, sir, he worked actually two jobs. He worked for,
I think it was Cochise in the morning and then he worked for Auto Zone in the afternoon. So he would go to work, come back,
go eat lunch with us at the house, and then he would go home, shower, change and then be going to Auto Zone. Q When you say work for Cochise, what does that mean?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
He worked for the -- it's like the ADOT kind of
thing, but it is Cochise. Q A Q The county of Cochise? Cochise County, correct. So he worked for a government agency, a county
government agency? A Q Correct, he worked for the state government. Now, you mentioned he was working two jobs. He
worked for the county in kind of road work, similar to ADOT, and then he would work at Checker's? A Yes, he would worked at the county like I told you,
and then he would work at Auto Zone. A Q A Yes. Auto Zone where? In Douglas, Arizona, and also he worked in the Sierra
Vista Auto Zone. Q So at any point, did Victor flash or show large sums
of money, anything like that? A Q crime? A Q A Q No. Where did Victor Stuppi live in June of 2011? In Douglas, Arizona. Now, do you know how old he is? No, never. Did he ever say: Hey, look, I am committing this
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Yes, he is married and he has twins.
They are the
same age as my oldest daughter, they are ten years old. Q A Q A Q A Q A Q How old is Victor? Little Victor? No, Victor Stuppi. He is older than me. How much older? I believe he is 39, I think. And how old are you? I am 33. Now, you mentioned little Victor, things like that. I take it that Victor Stuppi is married? A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Yes, sir. And do you know his wife's name? Arlene Daniels. How many children does Victor have? Two. A boy and a girl.
What are their ages? Same age as my daughter; ten years. I take it they are twins? Yes, sir. Now, would your family and Victor's family socialize? Yes. Tell us a little bit about that. Christmas, parties, weekends. They were always
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
there.
If we were going to do some carne asada, we would call
them and they would go by and spend the whole afternoon with us. Q Say, for instance, on a weekly basis, you know, how
much contact would Victor have with either you or your wife, Lizette? A Q Very frequently. Now, when you say very frequently, what are we
talking about? A Maybe three to four times out of the week plus the
occasional phone call here and there. Q A Q A Was Victor Stuppi and your wife fairly close? Yes. Tell us a little bit about that. Victor Stuppi actually raised my wife, so my wife
looked up to him like a father figure. Q And so would your wife Lizette have contact with
Victor on a very regular basis? A Q A Yes, very regular. What kind of contact is that? Like I said, he would go over by the house or they
would be on the phone or texting. Q I want to talk a little bit about your playing sports
in high school. A Okay.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
17
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A
Tell us a little bit about that. When I was in high school, I became All State in my Right after that, I actually
junior year playing baseball.
started playing professional baseball in Mexico with a local team from south. Q school? A Q A Yes, I did. Tell us a little bit about that. I played baseball with a local league in Douglas and Did you continue to engage in sports after high
I also played softball with a local league in Douglas, men's softball. Q A Did you ever coach? I coached my kids' soccer, little league, T-ball; I
coached their softball. Q Why don't you describe how often you would coach and
do those kind of programs in Douglas? A for them. It would be every time that they would have a season I would volunteer. I think the last season was We both volunteered
myself and another officer, Angel Vasquez.
and became a coach on the same softball team and T-ball team, too. Q A Q Did you ever coach Victor Stuppi's kids? Little Victor in soccer. How long did you coach him?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
18
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Well, as the sport itself, I coached him all the way
through, but when it came down to be on the team he was on my team for maybe two years, I believe. Q When you say you coached him all the way through,
what do you mean? A When he came to the house, I would show him how to
kick, how to be able to move and pass the ball and dribble, and things like that. Q A Q A Did you play softball? Yes, I did. Tell us a little bit about that. When we came back from Flagstaff into Douglas, I
started working at Checker's because I got married, and through Victor we actually -- I ended up playing on a team with him, a softball team, and after that, once I became employed by Customs and Border Protection in Douglas, then I started playing with Custom and Border Protection team out of the port itself. Q A Now, did you ever buy baseball equipment? Yes, I had soccer, all the stuff for soccer because I also had all the stuff for little league, T
of coaching.
ball, and I also had all the stuff for the men's side of it, bats, gloves, balls, the bases. Q A Did you and Victor ever share softball equipment? Yes, we did. If you buy a bat by itself, you're
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
19
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
looking at close to $300, so we would split it between a couple of people and I would either store it or he would store it at his house. Q A Q And did you do that quite often? Yes, on a regular basis. Let me ask you this: Was -- you mentioned that
Victor Stuppi would visit your house? A Q A Q A Yes, sir. Was he familiar with the inside of your house? Very familiar. Why do you say that? He would just walk in and go like any family member,
walk to the bathroom, or go to the room, go wherever he can. Q A Q Did he ever go into your bedroom? Yes. And where are your -- where is your baseball
equipment usually stored at? A bed. Q A Where was your work schedule at? My work schedule is on my side of the bed on a It's stored in the closet in my bedroom, right by the
nightstand, and my wife's schedule is on her side of the bed on the nightstand. Q Do you know whether or not Victor was familiar with
where your schedules are kept at?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q 2011.
Yes. Let's talk a little bit about the evening of June 16,
Now, you've become very familiar with this case, have you not? A Q Yes, sir. And you have assisted as much as you can in the
preparation of this case? A Q Yes, sir. Now, you have had the opportunity to look at some of
the exhibits that the government has introduced in this case; is that right? A Q That's correct. Now, let's talk about what happened on June 16th,
2011, towards the afternoon. Did you talk to Victor Stuppi on June 16th? A Q A Yes, I did. Tell us about that. On June 16th, he actually had a softball game. At
that time I played with the port team and he was playing with his team. He went to the house and he borrowed a bat and on By the way I have to be in Agua Prieta, I got to be in Agua Prieta in the
his way out he goes:
that is across the line.
morning, I have to come back early, would you like for me to bring you something to eat and I go: Yeah, sure, and I said,
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
But hold on because I know I have transportation duty the whole week, and the following week. Why don't you wait and I will
tell you whether I will be available for you to bring food or I will have to go to Tucson. Q Now, there has been some mention of Government's Have you looked at
Exhibit 163, which are text messages. these? A Q Yes, I have.
Why don't you tell us what these text messages are.
If I can just go ahead and -- do you know how many text messages there were on this? A Q A Q A Q A lot. Hundreds? More. Thousands? Thousands. And the government has -- I want to show you page or
stamp 838. These text messages here and I highlight the one there because the government has placed some significance on that. A Q You see the number here, 838? Yes, sir. Why don't we start at the top there and let's go
through the names that are here like Azalia, and -- at least just go through half of it so we have an understanding at least
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
22
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
a flavor as to what is going on. A The top name Azalia, that is my aunt. I'm not going The second
to say what I said there, I was making fun of her. one is Victor. They are in reverse order.
It says Victor,
okay; because I asked him -- if you keep reading towards the bottom of it. Q Let me stop, because it's a little bit confusing.
This is all in reverse order; is that right? A Q A Q A Q A Q That's correct. And GMT is not Arizona time, is it? That's correct. GMT is Greenwich time? Yes, sir. And that is about a seven hour time difference? I believe that is what the government said. So when you look at this you have to deduct seven
hours from whatever time is written there? A Q A Q Yes. Is that correct? That's correct. So if it is -- for example, at the very bottom here, It would be on the`14th of June, 2011. There
a text to Angel.
it says 02:36, so you have to deduct seven hours from there to get the actual time that the call took place; right? A Yes.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
23
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 at?
So if you deduct seven hours from 2:00 in the morning
you end up at what time? A That would be 5:00, I believe. Or 7:00, that would
be 7:00 in the afternoon. Q Anyways, it's a different time, okay. Why don't we start over here and we will just go where it starts mom princess, and just look at the contents of each message and tell us what it is that's taking place during that time. A Mom princess, that's my wife. Angel Vasquez, that is
one of the guys that work with me with Customs and Border Protection and he also coaches with me. Then the top one is Victor, he asked, where are you I put, right on top of it, I believe it says, At Huber.
I'll be on the way home in a bit. And I asked him -Q Let me stop you right there. Let's go back to mom
princess, and there, are you getting out on time? What are those conversations about and what are you making reference to that have been highlighted? A The first one is Omar, that is the guy I play He is asking me -- a gentleman by the name of
softball with.
Ambriz if he can put me as a reference for the U.S. Border Patrol and I put, yes, he can. Then my wife texted me: Are you getting out on time
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
24
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
from work?
Yeah, I actually do have work but people I need are And then Angel just texted me By then I am
gone and I ask her how bout you?
right there just in case some kids get there. doing coaching at that time.
He asked me where do you want to go, meaning where are we going to go and do the coaching, and he also asked me at what time. And then from there we go into Victor. Q Why don't you give us some details as to what you are This is Victor Stuppi?
talking to Victor about right there. A Yes, it is.
All this is softball related, all this
talk is about games, about what time -- about a bat -- that is what this is. He goes into, where are you, where you at. I
answer at Huber, I will be home on the way in a bit. time do you play? Q A Q A
At what
Meaning what time did you play the game? What is Huber?
Let me stop you there.
Huber is a junior high in Douglas, Arizona. Is that where you're coaching at? Yes, in the back they have three little league
baseball fields and that is where we are coaching at, myself and Angel Vasquez. Q A You told us Angel is another Customs and Border? Yes, that's correct. Angel's another officer at the
port of entry. Q Keep going.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
25
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 bit.
So it says at Huber, I will be on the way home in a I ask him, at what time do you play, meaning what time do He put, they cancelled, they called and his
you play softball. game. Q A
Please identify the person.
You say "he."
Victor Stuppi, it said, they cancel. So after that I put go by the house in 30 minutes so
we can talk. After that my wife asked me, where are you at? then Victor replied to go by the house in 30 minutes, he replied as okay. And the last one I asked my aunt if she can And
take my girls golfing, but I called her something different. Q texts? A Q Yes, sir. There is nothing that is drug related in any of these So the thousands of texts, they are all legitimate
texts, is there? A Q No, nothing. You have had the opportunity to review all this,
everything that has been downloaded from your phone? A Q That's correct. Let me briefly go to another one and we will cover it I want to go to page 833.
here while we are talking. This goes to 617.
Do you want to tap the side there to get rid of that
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
26
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
mark? Why don't you -- it would be easier to start from the bottom here and tell us what is going on, who mom princess is all the way up to where you get to Victor. A The bottom one is Marsh. He's a Customs and Border I asked him, has it gone
Protection Officer, Officer Marsh. close to anyone's home?
I don't know if you guys heard about
this but the Huachuca fires, that's when all this is taking place, during the Huachuca fires in Sierra Vista. I know his
house was close to the fires, so I was just asking if they were okay. Then my wife is asking me, oh, okay, so what do I do with your tia? And I asked her, it's up to you, and she then
got mad and put, never mind. Tell her not to leave, I will get there and give her some money, and I'm done, and she put, no, I'll pay her later. She's at her house, okay, so don't take money out from the bank. I put K. The top name is David Mata, another officer at the port of entry. tonight? He is asking me, are you going to make it After
If I'm going to make it to the softball game.
that Victor texted me, to your house.
And after that Manny
Davila, or Manny, the one that says Manny -- Officer Manny Davila, he will text me, I'll be there. So then Manny sends a massive text and he put, hey
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
27
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
guys, game tonight at 8:25 against Casam. you're going to make it, we need players. me, is Ramirez going for sure, too? then I texted Ram.
Let me know if So then Manny texted
So then I answer -- and We play today at
I go, Hi Ram, it's Luis.
8:25, do you think you can make it? David Rotalo (ph.), that's another player that plays with us. I'm back in town, bro, sorry was working in Tucson
and I put welcome back carnal. Bless you. So after that Ramirez put: Okay, gracias, thank you.
And after that Manny at the end put carnal, so he won't be able to go, and again it's all softball stuff. Q correct? A Q A Q A Q Very active. Coaching? Coaching. Playing? Playing. And I want to direct your attention here because 6-17 You were pretty active with softball; is that
is really the date in question where this Avalanche comes through your -- the port of entry. What why don't you tell us what happened if Victor went to your house that evening or what? A Yes, he showed up to my house to return a black Miken
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
28
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
bat that he had borrowed the night before. Q A Q What is Miken? It's a brand. Did you notice anything unusual about Victor when he
got to your house? A At the time I recall him being -- while he was
talking to me he was on the phone and back then it didn't click, but he was on the phone all the time asking me questions like how was work today? work today? Did you hear anything different at Back
Did anything happen, and I was like, No.
then I didn't think like nothing out of it. Q I want to go back to what we started to talk a little
bit about. Back on June 16th, the conversation that you had with Victor. What time of the day did you have this conversation
with Victor bringing you something to eat at the port? A Q A Q A Q A It was in the afternoon because he had a game. Who had a game? Victor. Is that when he borrowed the Miken bat? That is when he borrowed that black Miken bat. What did he tell you at that point in time? He showed up to my house and then he told me: Hey,
we have a game tonight, and I am going to borrow one of the bats. And I say, go for it. And he goes in my room and comes
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
29
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
back, and he has the bat on my hand, so I'm walking him outside. As he is walking outside, he goes, by the way, I have
to go to Agua Prieta in the morning, Mexico, would you want me to bring you something to eat? And I told him, yeah, definitely. But first, hold on, because I know I have to do I have not received a phone call yet saying we So as soon as I know I
transportation.
have people for you to take to Tucson.
will let you know whether to bring me food or not to bring me food. Q So you told him that you were probably or maybe going
to Tucson the next morning, which would be June 17th? A Q That's correct. Now, transportation. How long had you been assigned
to transportation? A Transportation is actually enforcement. I have been
with them for at least four, five months at that time. Q Now, was it a regular thing that you were going
everyday to transportation, or was that when -- tell us a little bit about that. A You tell us.
Enforcement and transportation is a rotational of It was a total of seven officers,
four officers at that time.
but three of them were always there, meaning that either one female or one male would go. And out of the other four, So
because we were new people, we would be rotating with them. at that time I was assigned to transportation, and I was
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
supposed to be rotating -- going with them if we had something. Q So an arrest takes place at the port of entry the
night before, and you get to the port the next morning, and you are assigned to transport the arrestee from the port of entry in Douglas to Tucson? A That's correct. If they arrest them like early in
the mornings and they get all the paperwork done by 8:00, by the time we get there, they have to wait to call it in here to the courthouse. And then they call it in, and then the AUSA
would say, yes, we will take them, or, no, hold them for tomorrow or kick them back. So if I was wearing my BDUs, my
uniform for work, something like that happened, they would tell us you have to go to Tucson, then I would go back in my truck, drive to my house, change into something similar like this without a jacket, of course, and come up here and do transportation. Q Now, you let Victor know that you might be having to
transport individuals the next day? A Q Mexico? A He said that he was going to be there early. I did That's correct. Did Victor tell you what time he was going to be in
not ask him why. Q Did you ever have any more contact with him after you
spoke to him, after you gave him the softball bag?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A
No, after that he left to go play his game. What happened the morning of June 17th? I drive to work, I get to work. I go where we have
our schedule.
When I get there, I heard one of the officers --
arvizu, the gentleman that was here before, and he stated to the fact, oh, great, I'm the lead, and he doesn't like being the lead, so I volunteered. take it? I said, would you like for me to He said, yeah, you will be
He could have said, no.
doing me a favor.
Back then we went through the statements,
and he said it was his Friday so he wanted to go home early because once you are the lead officer you have to stay over. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: MR. RALLS: BY MR. RALLS: Q If we could play 57A, please, starting at 7:46. Tell us what you are looking at here. A lockers. This right here is the briefing room. Those are our Hearsay, Your Honor. Yes. Hold up right there.
The red ones are the bigger lockers and the other
ones are smaller lockers, nothing really fits in there so nobody uses them. Q A When are the briefings held? We hardly have any briefings because of scheduling,
and we don't have people at the port of entry, so theres not that many briefings.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
32
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A Q
Is that why the briefing room is empty? Yes, sir. So I take it that you drop off things in your locker,
and then you head from there to wherever you need to go? A Me personally, I didn't have a locker because I
wouldn't take anything to work, so all I am doing is I'm just walking through the briefing room. I'm going to go through
this door right here and say hi to the gentlemen sitting in peds or the pedestrian lane, and then I will be walking towards the head house. Q Let's just watch. And as soon as you come into the
picture, would you let us know. A Yes, sir. (Tape being played) A That's me walking into that room. And that was me exiting towards pedestrian, officers that are sitting down in the pedestrian lane. Q So that door walks out into the pedestrian lane at
the port of entry? A A That's correct. And then you go through another door and then you
walk going towards the head house. Q A Q So you don't come back out that door? No, sir. Go ahead and stop it there, please.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
33
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Q Q A A
And if we go to 57B, starting at 7:46:50. You saw an individual right there, in a clip there. Who was that? That is Officer Arvizu. (Tape being played) And right there you are looking at what? That right there, this building right here is called
the head house. You have two doors you can enter through, and you have -- that is the PECC on this side. should be right over here. (Tape being played) And that's me entering the head house. We can stop it there. What is it that you did inside the head house? Once I walk through that door -- as soon as you walk On that counter, the The supervisors' office
in, made a left, and there is a counter.
supervisors put what is called the daily shift rotation, and that's where I walked in, and Officer Arvizu was standing, and that's where he said: Oh, great, I am the lead, and I told him
I will take it if you don't want it. Q Hang on a second right there, Mr. Vasquez. Let me show you what has been marked as Government's Exhibit 117, it is already in evidence. Is that clear where you are at?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
34
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A
Right there is okay. Why don't you tell us what that is? This is a day shift rotation, the rotation schedule
that I was talking to you guys about. Q Okay. And who puts this together? A Q A of thing. Q Now, there is the name Vasquez up there where it says Who wrote that down? This is done by a supervisor. Computer-generated? It's more of a -- there's a name drag and click, type
lead officer. A Q A Q A Q
That's my handwriting. And you went in and you saw Officer Arvizu? Yes, sir. You heard him testify? Yes, I did. Did you hear him say that he stresses when he has the
lead officer position? A Q A Q Yes, sir. Do you know that to be a fact? Yes, I do. Why don't you tell us how you are familiar with the
fact that he stresses when he has a position like this? A We do a lot of immigration together. We do a lot of
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
cases, impostors, people that are crossing the border that shouldn't be crossing, and the situation we had maybe seven cases at one point, and we all grab a case and just process them and get them through. And he just gets one case, goes And as soon as I am
into a corner and takes his time with it.
done with whatever cases I have, I will go up to him and say, are you okay, do you need help? And he will say, I am a little
overwhelmed, do you mind helping me, so I helped him out before. Q You had no intention of taking this position when you
walked in? A Q No. When he says, I don't want to be lead officer, what
did you do? A As a friend I told him, I will take it from you. It
wasn't a big deal. Q So it's not the first time that you have helped him
out in those situations? A Q A That's correct. And what did you tell him at that point? After that, I told him I will take it from him, and
then he said something to the extent or what he testified to that some supervisors don't like for the rotation to be switched, and I go, well, it's up to you, if you want to. And
from there he didn't say anything, so I grabbed it and walked
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
36
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
to the supervisor's office.
And I actually walked and talked
to Shift Watch Commander Gomez, because he's the only one that can approve a switch. So I went and I got it approved by him, And I put my
and I came back and said, it's all taken care of. name where it says Vasquez. was supposed to be.
I put him down here where my spot
And then after that, I went ahead and I
got the 2 to 10 people, the shift 2 to 10 people to come in so we can have coverage for the people that we have 6 to 2, so they can go home, and that's what I did. Q A Q A As a lead officer, do you have more responsibilities? Yes, sir. Tell us about that. As the lead officer, you are kind of a supervisor.
If something goes wrong, they will come to you and they will come to you and tell you, hey, you know what, and say -- I will give you an example. If Santiago has to push Stevens, meaning
he hasn't gone up there and told her, hey, I will take care of your spot, then Stevens is going to be calling me, telling me, hey, by the way, I'm still in the lane for an ex amount of time, do you mind getting somebody to push me. So I have to
make sure that all is working nice, smooth, that nobody is having problems like that. Q A Q Now, at that point you know you are going to Lane 5? That's correct. Do you call Victor Stuppi?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
37
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q
I did. Do you call him from your phone -- your personal
phone to his? A Q A Yes, sir, from my personal cell phone. What do you tell Victor Stuppi? I told him, hey, I'm not going to transportation, I'm
going to be here, go ahead and bring me lunch, I will be on Lane 5. Q he's at? A Now, when you tell him that, does he tell you where Is it a short conversation? Tell us what happens.
No, that's pretty much what it was, because after
that I have to make sure that I have coverage, meaning that the people from midnight were actually taken care of so they could go home, and I went around and made sure everybody was ready to go, and the people that came in were there on time, because I didn't want to keep anybody from midnight to 8:00, and I keep them from 8:00 to 4:00. Q in Lane 5? A Q A Yes, I did. Why did you do that? The whole thing with the port is time. You cannot Now, you told Victor Stuppi that you were going to be
waste time by doing excess stuff.
The port of entry is time so
people can come through and they can go shopping in Douglas. So the supervisors have told us, if you know it is a family
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
38
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
member going across the lane, don't make them come through your lane because it will take you time. Because the proper
procedure if a family comes to you, you log off your computer and tell the officer next to you, hey, Altimirano, do you mind coming in here and processing my family. After that, I will
move back, I will have a conversation with my family and the officer will go log in, he's going to process my family. After
that he's going to log out and then he's supposed to go back to his booth. And all that just took two lanes. He shut his
booth down and I shut my booth down because to process one vehicle. Q So basically -- is that a written policy or is that
an unwritten policy that you should not have family come through your lane? A I have not seen a written policy on it, but it is
more of an unwritten policy type of thing. Q And so did you tell Victor that so he would not come
through your lane? A Q Sonora? A Yes, sir. I had told him before to bring me lunch Yes, sir. Did you believe that Victor was in Agua Prieta,
multiple times. Q
He had done it before.
I want to show you or at least have you start looking
at Exhibit 57E starting at approximately 8:30.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
39
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Q along. A windows.
(Tape being played) Why don't you tell us what we are looking at right here on 57E? A Right here we are looking at primary Lane 5, and we
are looking at a vehicle in that lane. Q A Who is working primary Lane 5 at that time? I can't tell the officer. Manny Davila. That would be right there.
Why don't you describe this vehicle as it's moving
It's a pickup truck coming to his lane, dark tinted He's doing his inspection, he took the ID, he's going
to swipe it. He's done with the inspection, did not look in the back of the seat or anything like that. every officer is different. the same as another officer. A Vehicle comes in, again dark tinted windows, big And, like I told you,
There is not one officer that is
trunk on this type of vehicle, reached for the IDs, he goes back in the booth. In my opinion the dark tinted windows, they
are not a big deal in Arizona. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: He is volunteering without a question. There is no question.
Sorry, Your Honor. That was me coming into camera and I am about to
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
40
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
relieve where he is. Q A That is you walking up to replace Officer Davila? Yes, sir. Again me and him are probably having a conversation. He has not done no questions or anything to the driver as you can see, and all he's going to do right now is just getting the IDs, and gives them back to the driver. Gave them the IDs, the vehicle is leaving, I walk into the booth, and now I am logging into the booth. He is
just holding up traffic for me to make sure no vehicles are coming up, and then we have are having a conversation again. It could be about anything. Q A So Manuel Davila is coming off the midnight shift? No, he's actually my push. He would be my -- the
officer that we are going to be rotating through the whole day, 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off, me and him, and he's the one that sent the mass text that day saying we have a game tonight. I called for a vehicle to come forward. Q A What are you doing there with that Bronco? That Bronco shows up, so I am taking the driver's
B1/B2 visa, I get it, I swipe it. Q A A What is a B1/B2 visa? Could you stop it for me, please. A B1/B2 visa is actually a visa that is given to a And just by looking at it you can tell
Mexican border crosser.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
41
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
it is just Mexico because it tells you B1/B2 and tells you visa. If it's an LPR, card which is a legal permanent resident card, will look similar to the B1/B2 visa because the pictures are reversed, and then there is also a United States passport and a United States passport card. types of crossing documents. So they have all
But just by looking at the
document you should be able to tell from what country or citizenship this person is. THE COURT: recess. (Thereupon, a brief discussion was had, which was reported, but not transcribed herein) A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N Why don't we stop here to take our noon
(Motions were heard, which were reported, but not transcribed herein afterwhich the proceedings resumed as follows:) Mr. Vasquez, if you would come on up. (Witness resumed the witness stand) THE COURT: Be seated, please.
Back on the record with our jury, counsel and the defendant. Mr. Ralls, you may continue. MR. RALLS: Thank you, Judge.
DIRECT EXAMINATION (Resumed)
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
42
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
BY MR. RALLS: Q We are waiting for where we left off. We were on 57E. I think we are about -- can you go up to 8:37, please. BY MR. RALLS: Q A What is taking place there, Mr. Vasquez? Me and Manny Davila just switch. I went into the
booth and he logged out of the computer, I logged back in and now I am in, now I am going to process my traffic. Q A Q A Q You have a vehicle coming in right now? Yes, sir. And that vehicle is a Ford Bronco? Yes, it is. Watch that video and see what is taking place; what
it is that you do concerning that Ford Bronco? A slip. Okay. I was in the booth and doing the referral I put the
This vehicle has to be sent to secondary.
slip with the B-1 B-2 visa inside the cone and I placed the cone on top of the hood. Q A Q So that vehicle there will go where? That vehicle is going to go to secondary. Is that the typical yellow cone you put -MR. RALLS: Would you hold it there, please?
BY MR. RALLS:
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
43
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q on there? A
Is it typical of the vehicle you put that yellow cone
You can do multiple things to refer a vehicle.
You
can put the cone and the slip underneath it, you can also walk a vehicle back or radio a vehicle, get on the radio and tell the rover, can you rove in that vehicle for me. multiple things. Q A Q Where you are standing are you elevated? Yes, I am. And when you are elevated like that, do you have a So there are
better vision or perspective of the interior of the vehicle that is coming towards you? A Q A Yes, you do. Describe that. You are actually standing on a platform and looking
kind of down on an angle so you have a good view. Q Can you see at that angle right there, can you see
the occupants of the vehicle? A Q Yes, sir. Can you tell whether or not there is any occupants,
say, for instance, seated in the back seat? A Q A Yes. All right, please. The vehicle approaches by my booth and I grabbed the
driver document and asked him, que lleva, donde va.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
44
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A up. Q
I asked that driver, que lleva, donde va, what are you bringing and where are you going? After that you get the B1/B2 visa and you wand it into a little pad that is next to the computer and that is all you do is wand and then -- if you are okay with the inspection you give it back to them as it was. Q How fast does it take for -- for instance, a return
to come back when you wand the visa? A It is instant, like as soon as you do it it just pops
Tell us about this wanding. How do you do that? What is the set up in there?
You have your monitor just like this, and on the
bottom of your monitor there is the actual hard drive for it, on top of the hard drive you will see -- you can scan them manually yourself and on the left-hand side of it there is a little pad like this big, and all you do is just cross your RFPD, your visa, you cross on top of it and it will read it, it will extract information. Q return? A Q Yes, sir. All right. Where you are standing right there, what So is that a split second thing that you get a
is it that you are looking at? A You are looking at incoming vehicles as well as the
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
45
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
vehicle that just left your lane. Q From that point where you are standing right there,
how long does it take for the vehicle that is behind this one that we just seen come through, how long does it take to arrive to where you are at? A That depends on the driver. I can't tell them speed
up or slow down, just the driver. There is also some bumps where they slow down when they are coming to you. Q We had another officer yesterday testify about will
stop, will start. That is not the entire time you examine the vehicle; is it? A No, you examine the vehicle from the time you see it
until the time the vehicle actually leaves your eyesight. Q A Q A me. MR. RALLS: Can we stop it right there? So the observation is several times longer than that? That's correct. Okay. I am looking at the vehicle that is coming towards
BY MR. RALLS: Q A What is taking place right there? I am grabbing the visas from the driver and the
passenger and I am going to wand them again and give it back to
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
46
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
them.
The only difference in this instance is this van is a
church van from across the line and they are coming to the port to pick up -- anything that we seize, vegetables, fruit, meats, it gets all put in a place in agricultural refrigerators and instead of us actually destroying them like we are supposed to, we donate it to Casas de Los Ninos across the line. Q A Q A So you are familiar with this vehicle? Very familiar. And so you take the visas from them? I am going to take the visas and I am going to wand
them and give them back to them and the directions I give them is just go to the agriculture and they will meet with them. MR. RALLS: Please continue.
(Tape being played) BY MR. RALLS: Q That time period right there is not when you are
scanning the documents? A Q A Q Yes, I just put my hand in there. Very rapid? Yes, very rapid. So you just walk in, scan it and then you know
exactly what? A Yes, sir. Right on the computer screen itself, it is
going to show up there, pictures from B-1, 2's and it will give you a green light, red light.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
47
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q doing? A
Green light means I see no problems with this, red light means there is something wrong, so then you pay more attention to that part of it. Q light? A You become complacent eventually, because all you see On the top left Do you become real dependent on that green light, red
is -- it is a computer like this, the screen.
corner, you will see where it is red or green, so you kind of ignore the rest of the screen, you focus more on the left-hand side of it. Q A Q So green means what? Green means go pretty much. And the red is stop, there is something you need to
look at further? A That is correct. Red would mean there is a TECS hit;
there is something wrong with the vehicle, or something. Q Okay. MR. RALLS: Continue, please.
(Tape being played.) BY MR. RALLS: As this video is moving along, tell us what you are
I am watching the vehicle come this way toward my
lane, I am going to grab the vehicle, swipe the document and hand it back to them and have a good day. I am focusing in on
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
48
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
their faces and on their hands, making sure they are not nervous or shaking while they hand me the document and that is what I am doing. Q A Again I am looking at the vehicle coming up.
And you are able to see inside the vehicle? Yes, sir. Grab the IDs, just wand, give it back to
them, have a good day and I am going to look at the vehicle and make sure -- as it is leaving, make sure there is nothing out of the ordinary and I am also looking at the driver as he is leaving. Another vehicle, this guy is a regular crosser, que lleva, donde va, gave him back the ID and he is on his way. MR. RALLS: Let's stop it there for just a second.
BY MR. RALLS: Q When the vehicle leaves your booth going in a
northbound direction, do you also study the vehicle? A Yes, sir, I am always studying the vehicle but I am
also looking at the driver's side mirror, because you can see a picture -- not a picture, you can see the face of the driver and in some instances we got when you gave them back their ID and as they are driving away, they have a smirk and you can actually catch that. Q Now, I want to show you what has been marked as
Defense 307, and just Defense Exhibit 307 and just ask -Defendants Exhibit 307. Are you familiar with what 307 is?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
49
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A
Yes, sir. And what is that? This vehicle is actually leaving Lane 5 from where
the pictures were taken. Q And does that depict a person looking through the
rearview mirror? A Yes, sir. As you can see there, you can literally
see his face on it. Q A It is a side view mirror? You are correct. MR. RALLS: Exhibit 307. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: MR. RALLS: THE COURT: No objection. Admitted. May be published. Yes. I move for the admission of Defense
BY MR. RALLS: Q All right. Tell us, Mr. Vasquez, what are we looking
at right here in conjunction to where you are at? A The vehicle is actually leaving, so I would be
standing by the booth, as the vehicle is leaving I will glance over and look at his face. You can tell there is another
picture where the vehicle is a little more distance from me and still see his face and another picture where the vehicle is actually kind of turning, and then you are focused more on if
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
anything is happening or anything -- no package or anything, you can see anything like that. Q Let me show you -- continuation of 307. Is that a similar view but a little bit further? A Yes, sir, he is starting to turn and you can still
see his face. Q A Q A And then a continuation on page three of 307? Right. Is that very similar? Yes, sir, and you can see the bottom of the -- of
where the spare tire would be. Q Okay. So, in other words, from what point or what
vantage point did you start studying the vehicle and when do you quit studying the vehicle and the driver? A Well, it is a combination of things. You are looking
as the vehicle is approaching you, also in mind you just look at the vehicle that left, so you are looking at multiple things at once; not just focused on the one vehicle or anything like that. Q A Q A So the process is not, will stop, will start? No; not at all. Tell us what you are doing there? The van approached, took the drivers B1/B2, give it Another vehicle is coming.
back to them, have a good day. Q
Can you tell whether or not these have tinted windows
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
51
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
or light tint? A They have tinted windows. The girl is actually
wearing sunglasses.
It is just part day-to-day that we see
everyday at the port of entry. (Tape is being played.) THE WITNESS: Again, the vehicle came, took the ID,
asked que lleva, donde va, swiped it and it was on its way. Vehicle approached, took the ID, swiped it, and I give it back to them, he is leaving, and I am going to look back, look at the mirror. I didn't like something that he must
have given me, so now I am going to reach for my radio and I am going to call secondary if they can rove that vehicle in. BY MR. RALLS: Q Now, when you make the call at that point on your
radio, your secondary, do you make it to a particular person, or just to secondary? A person. Q yesterday? A That is correct. I believe Macias said that I And you heard, I believe, it was Officer Macias We make it to secondary, it is not a particular
radioed him in his testimony, however, in his report that he gave to the FBI was that -MR. LACEY: THE COURT: Objection. Sustained.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
52
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 say: A vehicle. Q A Q there? A Q
BY MR. RALLS: Do you recall having called Macias or did you just Secondary, please stop? I said secondary officers, can you guys rove in that
Now, this is the vehicle in question, the Avalanche? Yes, sir, that's correct. Why don't you describe what is taking place right
I am grabbing the driver's B1/B2, I am going to get
it que lleva, donde va, I am going to swipe it and give it back to him Q A Q A Q A Q "Que lleva, donde va" means what? What are you bringing and where are you going. Did the driver respond to you? Yes, he did. If the driver does not respond, do you let them go? No, I would ask them more questions. But here this term, at least for the Hispanic driver
coming into the United States, que lleva, donde va, is that something that basically most Customs agents ask? A Yes, we do. Actually I believe the driver even
remembers the same questions. Q So it is pretty common for the Customs agents to ask
what do you have, where are you going?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
53
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A Q A that. Q
Yes, sir. And that is usually in Spanish? That is correct. Anything about that vehicle that was unusual? No, nothing. It is not sitting low, anything like
I didn't see anything wrong with it. And from the vantage point that we have, it is not
sitting low at all; is it? A Q A Q It is not. There is nothing distinctive about that vehicle? Nothing, just a vehicle that came through my lane. And the driver of this vehicle, do you recall ever
having seen him before? A Q A No. He has sunglasses; is that right? That is correct. MR. LACEY: I object to the leading questions.
BY MR. RALLS: Q A Q A Q A Q Does he have sunglasses? Yes, he did. On the other view you can tell.
We will get the booth view here in a few minutes. Okay. Your recollection is what that he has? He has sunglasses, yes. All the Customs agents there that you have seen in
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
54
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
these videos, do they also have sunglasses on? A Q A Q That's correct, everybody has glasses on. It is Southern Arizona; right? Yes. Tell us what you did or what you are going to be
doing when you take the visa from this individual? A Actually, when I am looking at this video, I am not
really concerned with that video, I am still paying attention to the other vehicle that I told the guys to rove into secondary. That is, my mind is with the other vehicle, not
really on this vehicle, so I turn back and I ask for the ID, que lleva, donde va, I swiped it and on the one hand I am still talking about the other vehicle and I gave it back to him and I told him, have a good day, and my mind was on the other vehicle. Q Now, was there an issue at that point in time
concerning the vehicle license plate being read? A Q A Yes, it was. Why don't you tell us about that? On my computer screen it appeared a no license plate,
NLPR, no license plate read, that meaning the machine that captures the picture of it is a speed trap, it malfunctioned so it didn't work, so all I got was a yellow banner and I was busy with the other vehicle so by the time I noticed it I went in there and fixed it and I had put a different license plate.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
55
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A
Was it off by a lot of numbers? No, it was a similar license plate, I think I missed
one number. Q Did the vehicle license plate reader reread the
license plate? A That is correct. As soon as I submitted that package
then the plate it showed up in my computer. Q A Q So it read it correctly then? Yes, it did. Let me show you, if I may, Exhibit 306 which has
already been admitted into evidence. And let's talk about cancelled packages and I think this might be a good time to talk about it and then we will do a little more later on. This is 306. package occur? A Q They are very common. And you can see here that we are talking about a span How often do misreads and cancelled
of time of four minutes? A Q A Q That is correct. 15:51 to 15:55.
And you have five lanes in operation there? Yes, sir. The packages that are cancelled, they are not really
cancelled, are they? A No, it stays in the system.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
56
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 visa?
Q A
Tell us why it stays in the system? It is a track like a record of everything, nothing
gets deleted, everything stays in there. Q If you wanted to intentionally cancel a package,
could you do it and forever erase it from the system? A Q No, you can't. Would that be a very obvious way of putting attention
on yourself? A yourself. Q notified? A Just what you see here, there is a screen that they Now, if a package is cancelled, are supervisors That would be a very big way of putting a red flag on
get, and it tells them every time a TECS want handled it, it tells them whether a cancelled happens, it tells them a no LPR, it goes to the supervisor and tells them something is going on. MR. RALLS: Can we go back to 57, please?
BY MR. RALLS: Q Did you compare the driver's face to the visa or the
A Q A
Yes, I did. Tell us about this vehicle here? The vehicle again is coming up. I am going to grab
their information and swipe it again.
Right now I am fixing
that no LPR, that is why it is taking me longer to come out of
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
57
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
that booth. (Tape being played.) THE WITNESS: MR. RALLS: Putting my radio away. Can you stop it right there.
BY MR. RALLS: Q A What is going on with this car? This vehicle came to my lane. I am going to end up
referring this vehicle.
The first thing that caught my eye, if
you look at the back of that Nova is it is really raised up, that vehicle has a really raised up back. They are not like
that from factory, so that is the first thing that caught my attention. I notice on the other video you will see where the driver is actually -- I believe he is sweating, and then he is wiping his eyebrow and really really nervous. MR. RALLS: Continue.
(Tape being played.) THE WITNESS: And like I told you -- like I said
before, there are three ways to refer the vehicle; one, you can do the slip with the cone and send it back, the other one you can call it in on the radio, and this one you can walk it back, and there is no set way of how you are supposed to do or what you are not supposed to do. BY MR. RALLS: Q So what is it that you are doing right there?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
58
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
On this one I close the gate so no more vehicles come
through, I am going to walk by it because I perceive he is nervous and trying to talk to him to keep him calm because if it is a load. I am going more for a hunch and that is what I
am doing, walking back to make sure he is calm, that he does not take off on me and run another officer over or the public over and that is why I walk him back and I am going to get to secondary and I am going to hand it over to another officer and explain to him what I saw. I am going to be coming back, and the guy from Lane 4, his name is Officer Altamirano, I played softball with him, so -MR. LACEY: THE COURT: MR. RALLS: THE WITNESS: BY MR. RALLS: Q here. Who is he? A Officer Altamirano, and he plays softball on the same Let's talk about the individual that is in Lane 4 Questions instead of monolog here. Okay. Hold on, Mr. Vasquez. I will.
port team that we have. Q A Q How long have you and him been playing softball? For about a year at that time. Is that you coming back into the picture?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
59
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A
That is me coming back into the picture. You open up your gate again? I am going to open up the gate and calling the
vehicle to come up, I am going to be walking towards the booth, and me and him are just talking, I am going to go say hi to him. Q Okay. Can't really see what you are doing at that
point, but we will get a different angle. A Okay. (Tape being played.) BY MR. RALLS: Q The driver in that blue vehicle, does he already have
his card in his hand ready to hand to you? A Q A Yes, he does. You grab it? I grabbed it, look at the picture and looked at him
and I am going to get in the booth, swipe it and I am going to release him. I am still talking to the officer on Lane 4. (Tape being played) BY MR. RALLS: Q A Tell us what is taking place here? Again, I am getting their documents, asking them
questions, I am going to process them and give it back to them, and they should be on their way.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
60
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 time?
Q A Q
Are these people you know? No. They are probably asking some type of question.
But even at that point they are free to go at any
When I give them the IDs they are free to go.
The
gentleman that is coming up -Q Let me stop you right there. Who is the gentleman that came up? A The gentleman that came up in the picture he is
assistant port director, and he is there looking at the lines making sure that everybody is doing their job and he will go all the way to outbound, make sure everything is running smoothly and go back. Q So when you are working the booth here, do you have a
lot of supervision over you? A Q Yes. Probably this is a good time to talk about what the
layout there is at the port of entry, pre primary, primary and post primary as to the number of individuals, for instance other officers that are working in that area. Why don't you tell us about that? A You guys have seen a couple of pictures already. That is The
front side back there, that is called pre primary.
when the vehicles start lining up to come toward your booth and then they come to you, primary booth and once they pass your
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
61
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
area is called post primary, and that is between the booth and that is the head house. And then inside the head house you have supervisors and officers, other officers. call rovers, and some ACET. In pre-primary you have what we Macias spoke to you about that.
They will go in and walk around with the canine, two officers, one dog and they will walk in looking at vehicles and see which one they like. If they like a vehicle they will go to that
lane and have a casual conversation with the driver and after that they will bring it back to me in the booth and they will tell me, "we will take this one back," so I will do a quick referral, give it to them and they will walk it back. When the vehicle leaves my booth, there is what we call rovers, people in secondary all the time, they are walking around looking at vehicles and, again, it is to their discretion whether they want to pull a vehicle in and search that vehicle or just watch it go back. Q Right here at primary do you have rovers that are
roving from one -- from Lane 1 up to Lane 7? A Q A Yes. And do you know what their job is as a rover? The job as a rover, their whole job is to look for So again, it is
the vehicle that they think might be loaded.
more towards a hunch or a feeling, so they will be looking at vehicles, they will be looking at the drivers and see if they
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
62
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
appear nervous and that is what they will do. Q A On this particular morning, were there rovers there? I believe there were. MR. RALLS: Go ahead and start the video.
BY MR. RALLS: Q A Tell us what is happening here? Vehicle is coming up, I am going to take their IDs
and wand them again -Q A There are two people in the vehicle here? Yes. -- gave it back to them and have a good day. Q A Tell us what happens here? Vehicle comes up, take the ID again. Sometimes they
won't read right, and I just give it back to her and told her have a good day. Right here I am talking to the guy in Lane 4 talking about softball and on the other video you will see where I am telling them how to swing a soft ball. arm is bigger than my leg. MR. LACEY: MR. RALLS: BY MR. RALLS: Q We saw you doing a demonstration, okay. Who are you doing that demonstration to? A With the officer on Lane 4, Altamirano. Can we have questions and answers. Stop it right there, please. He is a big guy, his
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
63
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A Q
And is he conversing with you at that time? Yes. Now, you and him had spoken about three, four minutes
prior to when you walked over to Lane 4. Do you recall whether or not that was in relation to softball? A Yes, it was. You guys don't get to see the whole
part of it. THE COURT: Mr. Vasquez, let me -- do not refer to
the jury as "you guys". THE WITNESS: BY MR. RALLS: Q on four? A Yes, I did. And while I am having that conversation Okay. So you had that conversation with Altamirano Sorry.
I am telling him how to do a proper swing because he says -- he is a bigger guy. asked me: His arms are bigger than my legs, and he
"How come you being smaller how can you hit home
runs and I can't because I am bigger than you?" I said, "It is the way you swing." And I told him
which way he should be swinging and on the other video you can actually see. Q We will get to the other one because we need to look
at that other angle. So what is taking place with this vehicle here?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
64
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Getting the IDs, going back in there, process the
traffic and give it back to them. MR. RALLS: We can go ahead and start?
(Tape being played) BY MR. RALLS: Q I realize it has been a long time since you were
there, but do you recall what it was that you were doing with that vehicle? A Q A Q A Q A No, I don't. I notice that you are looking at the vehicle? Right. Is that part of your observations? That is still part of my inspection; yes, sir. Okay. That's Macias; he's one of the rovers. He's coming
to my lane.
He probably saw a vehicle that he liked.
(Tape being played.) Q Do you recall having any recollection what took place
between you and that vehicle there? A Q A No, I don't. It has been a while.
What is it that you are doing right there? I am referring the vehicle to secondary, again
putting the driver's B1/B2 and that paper in that cone on top of it, and he will be going to secondary. Q Okay.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
65
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A
(Tape being played) We can stop that video right there. Mr. Vasquez, what we have had up to this point has been known as a front view; is that correct? A Q That's correct. Now, what I want to do is I want to draw your
attention to 57D which is an even closer view of what it is that you are doing in the booth and maybe we could go to 57D, please. And we will start it at that point in time. Can you tell us what is going on right there? I believe this is Officer Davila doing an inspection
on this vehicle. Q A Q Have you arrived yet at Lane 5? I don't think that I am there yet. In the clips that we have seen, have you seen Officer
Davila looking into the back of these vehicles? A Q No, not yet. So, in other words, it is not uncommon that an
officer would not look into the back of a vehicle? A That's correct. All that is left to officer
discretion. Q A Q Now, we have this 300 that is coming up. Yes, sir. Dark tinted windows?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
66
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A Q
Dark tinted windows. And Officer Davila is not looking in the back? That's correct, sir. Can you tell whether the driver of this vehicle has
sunglasses or not? A Q A Q I can't tell. She is wearing a hat.
Have you already arrived to switch over? Yes, I did. And do you know whether or not that is the reason why
it is taking so long? A Yes, he is logging off so I can log in. (Tape being played) BY MR. RALLS: Q A Q A Q A Is that Manny Davila? Yes, sir. You have a vehicle coming up? That is the Bronco. Okay. What is it you have done there?
I placed her B1/B2 visa and her slip inside the cone
and put the cone on top. Q You were able to scan that document, give it back to
that driver? A Q Yes, sir. Just a matter of a few seconds just to scan it and
ask the questions?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
67
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q
Yes. Tell us about this vehicle here. Is this the church van?
A Q A Q
Yes, that's why I shook her hand. Pretty quick there, too? Yes, sir. Now, a lot -- these wheels don't even stop before
they hand you the IDs; is that right? A Q That's correct. Same thing with this vehicle. The wheels have not
even stopped before he hands you the ID? A Q Yes, sir. So what is it that you are observing in this video
right here? A The driver gives me the ID, I take it, scan it, and I
give it back to him. Q Why don't you describe -- as you are seeing the
vehicle coming in, describe what it is that you are looking at? A The vehicle comes up, I am going to take the ID,
right there I put it up so I can see the face, swipe it, give it back to him. Q A Q at here? The vehicle is not riding low or anything like that? No. Anything unusual about this one that you are looking
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
68
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A
Would you stop it, please. Sure. As you can tell when he got there, he almost went out
to give me the ID out of the window; he was sweating, he started wiping his eyebrow, he put his hand over his mouth as I was asking him questions. raised back. This is the vehicle that had the
Just the totality of all that, I am going to walk
it back to make sure he gets to secondary. Q Thank you. Are you making entries at any time at
that point in time into your computer? A I did to the slip. (Tape being played) THE WITNESS: He reached for his mouth again to wipe If she can hit play.
it, and it was just the totality of all of that. I am going to take that vehicle to the back. BY MR. RALLS: Q A Q A Is that you coming back? That is me coming back to the lane. I open my lane.
Describe what you are doing at this point in time. I am walking over to say hi to the gentleman in Lane
4, Altamirano, and we are discussing his swing, and I am telling him, "you have to use your legs," and you will see when I hit my thigh and tell him, "you have to use the whole body and not just your legs." Q Now, he is not taking any vehicles in at that time
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
69
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
either, is he? A No, I don't believe so. I think he has one parked
that hasn't moved, also. Can you stop it right there, please. A When he came in view, you could see his hands like
this because that is the way he bats. Q A Okay. Is that something you look for?
Yeah, we -- that is, when I was teaching him the
baseball thing we were talking about the way he puts his hands up to his chest and leaves them here. Q A I see what you are talking about. You can hit play, please. (Tape being played.) BY MR. RALLS: Q So Altamirano is on the other side doing the same
thing to you? A Yes, sir. (Tape being played.) MR. RALLS: We can stop it right there.
BY MR. RALLS: Now, Mr. Vasquez, you were telling us about redirecting the family to other lanes and avoiding them coming through your lane. A Q Yes. Have you ever had family come through your lane?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
70
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A
Yes, I have. What do you do in that situation? You are supposed to log out of your computer, call
the officer from Lane 4, in this instance Lane 4 to come over, and then they will process your family; they will go log into your computer, they will process the family and then log out, and then they will go back to their lane. process -- what you are supposed to do. Q When you say "supposed," I guess there have been That is the
times when the officer just comes in and processes a family member? A Yes, sir. There are instances where you call the I will
officer on Lane 4, "Hey, can you process my family?"
stay outside talking to my family and he will come in, use my ID number. MR. LACEY: Can we have a time frame this happened?
BY MR. RALLS: Q During the time period you worked as a Customs
inspector in primary, have you had family members come through your lane? A Q Multiple times. How have you handled that situation or not? Say, for
instance, if your dad or mom came through, how would you handle that situation? A If my parents came through, for example, I would call
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
71
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
the officer from the lane next to me to come over.
Instantly
they come over, and I move, and I am talking to my parents, they will walk into the booth and process traffic -- not -they will process my parent using my own ID because I am still logged in. They will process them, go back out and say, I'm
done and walk back to their lane. Q Is that a lot quicker, for instance, using your ID
than logging out and logging back in? A Yes, sir, because it takes -- it could vary, anywhere
from a minute or five minutes for the computer to reboot. Q Now, from where you are standing there, are you under
constant watch not only by a camera, but also by supervisors? A Q A Yes, sir. Is there a supervisor's office that faces primary? Yes, sir, there are supervisors' offices -- all their
windows are facing us. Q You -- up until 9:00 -- well, what time did you get
off primary post? A I don't remember exactly. I think it was 9:00. I
don't remember if I got pushed early or -- I don't remember. Q A Q A Q Did Victor Stuppi ever bring you food that morning? No, he didn't. Did you call him? As soon as I got off that lane I did. Where did you call him from?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
72
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A Q morning? A Q A Q A
From the head house. Where there are supervisors there? Yes, sir. What time was it that you called Victor Stuppi that
From the call logs it says 9:03. Did he answer you? He did. What did you tell him and what did he tell you? I asked him "Where is my food?" And his answer is, And I said, "Oh,
"I am in Bisbee eating food with my wife." great," and hung up the phone on him. Q A Q
Was that the extent of your conversation? Yes, sir. Was there another time that you spoke to Victor
Stuppi that same day, June 17th? A house. Q A What time did he go by? Do you recall? I don't know if it was Yes, I did, in the afternoon when he went by to the
I don't remember the time.
7:00, 7:30, he went by to drop off the bat because I had a game at 8:25. Q When he dropped by your house is that when you
noticed he was on the phone? A Yes, sir, when he was talking to me he was actually
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
73
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
on the phone and asking me, how was work, if anything happened at work, did you hear anything, that type of questions. Q A Q At that time did it seem unusual to you? At that time, no. Now, did you know that Victor Stuppi was around the
port of entry at 8:00, 8:30, around the Douglas Port of Entry? A Q No, sir. Did you know he had been seen there by law
enforcement? A Q No. Let me show you what has been marked as Government's
Exhibit 177, which is already in evidence. And there is a whole sum of $57,049.46 that was deposited, cash amounts over the span of two and a half years. Do you see that? A Q Yes, I did. Now, is there one penny of that 57,000 that was ever
obtained by any illegal activity? A Q A Q No, sir. Is that all legitimate? Yes, sir. Now, I want to start going from the very top on down. How many bank documents have you reviewed during the course of preparation for this case? A Thousands of pages.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
74
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Documents have been provided to you by the government
or at least to us and then us to you? A Q Yes, sir. And both you and your wife have reviewed thousands of
documents? A Q A Q Yes, sir. And also documents that you yourself have obtained? Yes. Who is the person that primarily handles the finances
in your house? A Q My wife. Back in 2009, what was the combined income that you
and your wife had? A Q A Back in '09? Yes. I believe it was -- I am not a hundred percent sure,
but I think around 80,000. Q A Q A Was she working as a Customs inspector? I believe she was at the end of '09. End of '09? Yes. I am not sure, a hundred percent sure. I can't
recall when exactly she started working. Q And in June of 2011, what was the combined income you
and your wife had? A Like around $100,000.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
75
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
So between the two of you, you were making pretty
decent money? A Q Yes, we were. There are some deposits here which are assumed to be
cash deposits, and let's just go through them. A Q Okay. On May 14th, 2009, there was $900 that was deposited. Do you know where that came from? A Yes, that was from -- because I play softball, I was
in charge of ordering the softball shirts for the team. Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Do you recall which team that was? Knuckleheads. Is that the name of the team? Yes. Is that Customs? No, that was with Victor. So Victor Stuppi's team? Yes, sir. And why were you the one that ordered the uniforms? Because I was the one that was always online looking
at shirts and looking at uniforms. Q So this $900 is combined money that people put
together to buy for a softball team? A Q That's correct. On May 20, 2009 there is $868.01.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
76
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A wife. Q A A Q A Q A Q A
Do you recall what that is? Yes, that's for the softball team, Beer Money. What is it? Beer Money, and that's our traveling team. That is your traveling money? Yes. Tell me how you gather that money up? That came again, because we were going to go to a
tournament, and everybody puts in money, and they order the shirts, and I take it and get it, and go and order the shirts. Q So you are basically the one that is gathering the
money for the team? A Q Yes, sir. Now, on June 23rd, 2009 there is a $2,000 deposit. Do you know where that came from? That was part of a payment from Diane Hurtado to my
Do you know what that was about? I don't know how much money was loaned to Diane. The
one thing I do know is we were the lien holders on the quad and the trailer. Q to them? A No, no. That was Diane Hurtado's personal quad and Okay. A quad and a trailer that you owned and sold
trailer that they put us a lien holder because of the amount of
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
77
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
money my wife lent to them. Q So prior to 2009, were there other bank accounts that
you and your wife, Lizette, had? A Q A Yes. How many other bank accounts did you have? Again, my wife is the one that handled the accounts,
so I can't recollect. Q A Q There were accounts you had money in? Yes. In other words, you don't start working or making
money in 2009? A Q A No, sir. You have been previously employed by who? Previously employed by Checker's Auto Parts and
Department of Arizona Department of Corrections, DOC. Q And your wife was, prior to going to U.S. Customs,
was working where? A She worked at a hospital; she worked at a bank before
going to Customs. Q A Q So $2000 comes from Diane Hurtado? Yes, sir. On the 24th of June, there is a $3,000 deposit into
your Wells Fargo account. Do you recall what that was for? A Those were two quads I had and I sold. That is
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
78
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
actually a payment. payment. Q
There should be another one for the other
We will get to that. But the June 2009 $3,000 is a quad or two quads that
you sold? A Q A Q A Q A quad. Q Now, the quad here that you sold, do you know what That's correct. The quads, who did you sell them to? Antonio Vasquez. And again, did you have another quad inside? Yes. Inside the residence when the police went there? Yes, sir. When the FBI went there, I had another
year you bought that? A We purchased it from my wife's boss, I believe, from
the credit union, I can't remember what year it was, and as soon as we purchased it we just resold it because it was a rancher style and I didn't have a need for that. Q A Q A Q So you turned around and sold it to somebody else? Yes, sir. Another individual like yourself? Yes. And then June 30th, 2009 there is a $500 deposit. Do you recall where that came from?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
79
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Me and my wife sat down and we had been going
through -- and I don't recall where the $500 came from, not in 2009. Q deposit. Do you recall where that came from? A Yes, that $1250, and then the $2,000 that's right All that was was a payment -- it was a loan I did I lent him some money and he gave me It has been a couple of years now. And then on July 3, 2009, there was a $1200 -- $1250
below that.
for my brother Orlando. $3500 at the time.
I split the money, and I put a $1250 into
Wells Fargo Bank and $2,000 into Bank of America. Q A Q A And on July 3rd, 2009 there is another $1000 deposit. That is for my wife's cundino. What is a cundino? Cundino is like a social gathering that the wife did.
They would all get together, say a group of fourteen, and each one of them would put $100 a week. Each one would take a
number and say week one, whoever has number one would take those $1400, for instance would take the $1400. The following
week whoever has number two would take those $1400, following week whoever has number three, again, everybody is putting in $100, so whoever has number three take the $1400, and so on and so on. Q It's kind of like one would say a little bit of a In other words, that's one way of being able
pyramid scheme.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
80
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
to save the money? A It is not a pyramid scheme because nobody wins money.
It's more of a way to save money, everybody is putting a little bit of money into a jar -- think of it that way -- and you can't touch it until you need it, fourteen weeks later, but this time, since everybody put in their $100, you can touch it right there and then. Q Now, on July 10, 2009 there is a $2,000 deposit. Do you know where that came from? A I think that's the rest of the payment from the
$3,000 from the quad. Q A Q From the sale of the quad? Yes. Now, go on to August 6th, 2009, $1,960 deposit made
to Wells Fargo. Do you know where that came from? A Q A That came from my brother, Orlando. What was that in relation to? My brother is a Marine and he loves going to
Craigslist and stuff like that, so he likes buying stuff. I lent him $2,000 because he was going to buy a vehicle, I believe, and he ended up not buying it, somebody else outbidded him for it so he gave me the money back. Q Your brother Orlando was a Marine in the Marines
during that time period, or he still is?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
81
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q
He still is.
He is a Staff Sergeant now.
And then we go to the 31st of August, 2009, $970. Do you recall where that came from?
That is my daughter's Elizabeth birthday, so my mom,
part of her cundino money she was going to use it to do the birthday party, but since we did the birthday party, she just gave the money and we deposited it into the bank. Q That is your mom's money she gave to you for your
little girl? A Yes. THE COURT: Mr. Ralls, why don't you put a bookmark
there and we will take a recess for five minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, be ready to go in five minutes. Recall the admonition, please. (Brief recess taken at 3:03 P.M.) THE COURT: Back on the record with our jurors,
counsel and the defendant. Mr. Ralls. MR. RALLS: BY MR. RALLS: Q Mr. Vasquez, we were talking about the cash Yes, Judge.
transactions and the monies that were deposited into your Wells Fargo, Bank of America statement accounts. I think we left off with $970. What was it you were telling us where that came from?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
82
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A my mom. Q
That was my daughter's birthday party money, given by
And approximately a month later there is another
$1,000 deposit. A Q A That is one of the cundinos my wife was involved in. How many cundinos was she involved? Sometimes multiple, but usually at least once every
three months she was participating on one. Q Then you have two $500 deposits to Bank of America on
June 30th, 2009? A Those were for my daughter's accounts and those were
deposited by my mom. Q Okay. Your wife Lizette deposited them into your
daughter's account? A Yes, from my mom. My mom gave her the money, and
then she deposited it into the account for the girls. Q A Q That is your mom's money? Yes. Then approximately almost three months later there is
a $500 deposit. Do you know where that came from? A We sat together, we looked through all of our records
and 2009, I don't recall what that was. Q And then a couple of months later there is another
$500 deposit.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
83
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Q A Q $1000? A
Do you know where that came from? That's the same one, isn't it? On December 7, 2009, there was another deposit,
The December 7 and December 30, they're both cundinos She liked
my wife was involved, specially around the holidays.
doing that, getting two cundinos to get extra money for Christmas gifts and in case we wanted to go on vacation. Q Now, in January 2010, specifically January 25th,
there is a $5,000 deposit, cash deposit that is made. Do you know where that deposit was made at? That was made in California. And the one in February of 2010, in particular
February 1, 2010, there is a $5,000 deposit there. A Q A Also in California. Do you know what that money is in relation to? Yes, my sister-in-law, Sandra, sold a property in
Mexico, and they are paying her through my bank. Q account? A At that time Sandra was with my wife. I don't know And how was it that that money goes into your
exactly where.
Sandra received a phone call, she asked my wife
for an account because she can't remember her own account, so my wife gives her my and my wife's account and she asked if they could deposit $5,000 into that account, I believe her name
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
84
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
was Alma, Alma Mendez, and she can deposit that money as part of the payments. My wife said yes without thinking, at that
time I had no knowledge this was going on, and then once I saw the statement, I asked her what happened. Q So it was from a sale of property from Alma Mendez in
California or actually it was from Sandra to Alma Mendez? A Q That is correct. And you have nothing to do with it other than the
fact that for convenience it was placed in your account? A Q correct? A Q Yes, we turned them in. Then in February 18, 2010, there is a $3000 deposit. Where is that from? A That is from my brother, Orlando, the February 18 and He sold a 1979 pickup That is correct. And there are documents to reflect that; is that
the 22nd, they are both from Orlando. that he had. Q A me back. Q deposit? A Q That was part of that same. From your brother Orlando?
I don't know exactly how much he sold it for.
Why did he deposit the money in your account? Because I lent him money previously and he was paying
Then on the 9th of March, 2010, there is a $500
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
85
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q
Yes, sir. And April 2nd, 2010, there is a $5,000 deposit to
Quebedeaux. That was a down payment, not a deposit, it was a cash down payment you made to Quebedeaux. A Q A Is that here in Tucson?
That is here in Tucson; yes, sir. And the $5,000. Where did that come from?
At that time my wife -- she was hired by Customs and
Border Protection so she was making decent money, so we had been looking to purchase -- we had a Yukon and we wanted one with leather so he she told me, save up, give a down payment, and I saved up and I gave that as a down payment. Q growing? A Q A Yes, sir, we just had -Where did that 5,000 come from? From saving from the time I told my wife I want to Was that a point in time where your family was
upgrade to a Yukon or I want to upgrade my Yukon to one with leather, she told me save up for the down payment and we have no problem doing the payments on it because now we are both making good money. Q On April 22nd, there is $1100 deposit. Where did that money come from, it goes into your money market at Wells Fargo. A That's from a cundino from my wife.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
86
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
And then approximately a month later there is a
$1,000 deposit on May 17, 2010? A The next two, the one for a thousand and the one for They
a thousand three hundred, they're both for softball.
wanted to upgrade the uniforms to better material, and that's what we did. Q A That money comes from the Customs team? No, no, this one -- I think one of them was from the
Customs team, and the other one was -- I want to say Beer Money, they wanted different shirts. Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Beer money? The traveling team. That is the name of the team? Yes, that is the name of the team. Beer Money? Beer Money. So it is not beer money; right? Right. Then on September 24th, 2010, there is 1500 dollars. That is actually -- it is a cundino and then my wife
split another cundino with my mom, so they went half and half on that payment of the other one, this way they combined three numbers. Q A So your mom is also involved in cundinos? Yes, my mom, my aunt, couple of coworkers' wives,
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
87
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
actually. Q A Q A Now, did we skip October 18th? No. What is that? $500 deposit in 2010, again I sat with my wife and we
went over and over it and we don't remember that $500. Q A Q Cannot figure it out? No, cannot figure it out. And you have about three months later a 3,000 dollar Where does that money come
deposit into the money market. from? A
When I turned in that Yukon for the Yukon with
leather for Quebedeaux, the other one had 26-inch rims at the time. When I turn the old Yukon, 2007 Yukon, I had it on 26
inch rims so when I traded the new one in, it came with factory 22's, so I took the old rims, put it aside and eventually sold them and actually I took a loss and I sold them for $3,000 and that is where that money came from. Q And then on March 16, about two months later, I think
it was $500 deposit? A one. Again, I could not come up with an answer for that My wife and I sat down and went through it and we could
not remember. Q And then on two months later there is an $800 deposit
to your Bank of America?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
88
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A Q A Q A Q
That is part of softball shirts. For which team? I believe that one was Punisher. Punisher? Yes. The name of a team? Yes, the name of the team. And then a month and a half later you have $1300
deposit to Wells Fargo. Do you know where that came from? A That came from my brother, Orlando Vasquez. He
actually gave me a thousand five hundred, and from there I kept two. I deposited a thousand three hundred and I also deposited
a check from Sprint phone. Q A Q A Q A Q From where? From Sprint. For what? For a $100. Was that a rebate or what was that? That was a rebate. So all the money that went into your account and all
the money you have, is there one penny that was obtained illegally? A Q No, sir. And then I guess it was about 25 transactions of less
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
89
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
than 500 in a span of two and a half years. Do you know where those come from? A No, it could have come from my brother, my parents, It could have come from my wife's, maybe a
my mom, my dad.
cundino she put a little money here or there, I don't know where it came from. Q I want to go back to Government's Exhibit 106A and
ask you whether or not you have ever seen this. A Q Before this, I have never seen it. In other words, there is some issue as to whether a
package was cancelled when Marcos Abram Sandoval-Lizarraga came through your lane back on July 5th, 2010. Do you recall some testimony as to that? A Q Yes, I think so. Let me show you what has been marked as Defendant's
Exhibit 308, and maybe if you can explain to the jury what this is and whether it is in relation to that what is known as a cancelled package? A This right here is a screen or actually a shot of my
screen at the time I was working. Q Can you tell from where you're at what it is that
we're looking at and let me see if I can focus it a little bit more. Q A Can you tell right there what that is? That is the license plate.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
90
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A picture. Q A Q
And from there -- is that the license plate? MM UX 24527. Appears to be the same one in the
You have looked at these documents; right? Yes, sir. Can you give us an idea as to what these documents
reflect before we start going through them one by one? A What this document reflects, it will show you what I It's going to show you a screen shot That is what it is going
did, basically that day.
second by second by second by second. to show you. Q
I am showing you page 1 of Exhibit 308.
Actually I
move for the admission of Exhibit 308. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: No objection. It will be admitted.
BY MR. RALLS: Q A Q A Q A Q You see that, Mr. Vasquez? Yes, sir. Is that page 1 of Exhibit 308? Yes, it is. Reference to a vehicle there? Yes, it does. Let me go to page 2. Can you tell us what is taking place as you get to page 2?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
91
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
It is still the same plate, all it is is one second
difference. Q A What about the top, can you see the name? Right here shows that I wand through the keypad, I
went ahead and wanded that I.D. through the key pad, that border crossing card, and it populated the area, so Sandoval-Lizzarraga, first name M A, date of birth 1989. Q A Q So the name did get sent through there? Yes, it did. And let me go to page three here with where the name
appears again. What are the issues that are taking place right now as you look at this -- this printout. A If you read this one, what happened was that it After that I took the
appears that license plate came up.
driver's ID and wanded it through the card and for some reason it did not let me admit this package. As you can read here on
the bottom, there's no traveler on this package, are you sure you want to admit this package? So I attempted to admit it and
for some reason it wouldn't let me, the system wouldn't let me. Q When the computer says there's no traveler in this
package, the computer itself has rejected it? A Q A That's correct, sir. You are not rejecting it? No, I am not.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
92
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 it.
So there is no traveler in this package means that
you are not being allowed access through the computer; is that correct? A Q Correct. And the computer itself asks are you sure you want to
admit this package without a traveler, and what do you try to do at that point? A I attempt to admit it and it would not let me admit
And then let's go to page four of the same sequence,
you still have the name of Sandoval-Lizzaraga? A That's correct. This one again I attempted to admit
it, and twice it would not let me admit it. Q Computer, again, is telling you are you sure there is Is that what the computer is
no traveler in this package. telling you? A Q That's correct.
And again are you sure you want to admit this package
without a traveler? A Q That is correct. And what do you do at that point when you have Which key do you hit?
something like that? A
It did not let me do anything, so in order to keep
processing travelers or processing traffic, I had to delete this package or cancel the package.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
93
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
And is this a continuation of that?
Explain to us
what is taking place here. bit or push it up. A
If you need me to put down a little
After I attempted to admit it twice, it wouldn't let
me, so the screen goes away and takes me to this screen, so it won't let me admit it anymore, the only thing it will let me do -Q In other words, the screen you are looking at here is
different than the screen I showed you? A Q A Q A Q A Yes. What is RFID reader? That is the key card reader, the little B1/B2 reader. And then you have the card reader? Yes, sir. Let me go to the next one here? And then after that, after I attempted to admit The only thing it let me
twice, it wouldn't let me admit it.
do is do you want to cancel this transaction. Q So when this vehicle came through your lane in July,
you attempted several times to get the computer to admit the package; is that right? A Q That's correct. You never intentionally tried to not do it or to
cancel the package; is that right? A That's correct.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
94
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
So you have a series of events that establishes that
you were doing or making every effort to have that package admitted by the computer? A Q Yes, sir. All right. And then going to the last page on
Defense Exhibit 3, next to the the last -- would you look at that and tell us what -A Again, it is asking you do you want to cancel this
transaction. Q A And again what happens? And then after that I cancelled this transaction
because that is the only other thing it would let me do, so from there the next page, it should be gone. Q So how many efforts did you make at trying to process
that package and that driver and that vehicle in through the computer? A Q I attempted to admit that package twice. Okay. So it's on the second computer, do you know
why it did not let you do it? A Q No, I don't. Have there been problems with the computers there at
the primary? A Q Yes, sir. I think we were talking about canceling packages and What is a ghost package?
ghost packages.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
95
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A ghost package when you're looking at your computer,
you have no vehicle next to you, and all of a sudden you will see a family, mom, dad and three kids and then it is a van, but you have no vehicle here. If you happen to look to the side you will see in lane one you will have -- it is actually that vehicle, so you are getting the information from lane one into your lane, so we call that a ghost package because that vehicle does not exist in your lane. Q Now, is that because the computer system in the other Your computer system will pick up what
lane will pick it up.
is happening in another lane? A Yes, and not only that, we actually can pick up old
packages that were left behind by the computer sometimes. Q A Q A Q A Q of 2011? A Q A I believe so. And have you always maintained your innocence? Always. Was your home searched? Yes, it was. In July of 2011? Yes, it was. And were you interviewed by the FBI then? I was. And were you interviewed again by the FBI in August
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
96
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Have you done anything wrong, Mr. Vasquez, as far as,
you know, involving yourself in any criminal activity or anything else? A Q No. As you sit there before this jury, do you feel
comfortable that you are completely truthful and honest? A As I sit here, yes. I got offers for plea and I did
not take them. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: Objection, Your Honor, relevancy. Sustained and you are instructed to
disregard that statement. MR. RALLS: THE COURT: Thank you, sir. Mr. Lacey. CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. LACEY: Q A Q Good afternoon. Good afternoon. You have told us a lot about your finances and your
incredible recollection of all these cash deposits. Do you recall that testimony? A Q A Yes, I do. You filed taxes? Yes, I do. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: May I approach, Your Honor? Yes.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
97
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Q A Q Q
BY MR. LACEY: Show you Exhibits 180 through 183, I believe. Can you identify 180 for us? 2008 income tax. Is that your tax return for 2008? Yes, it is. And is that something you and your wife signed; is
that correct, next page? A Q Yes. Look to the next exhibit, please, and identify that
for us, what is the exhibit number? A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q 181. And for what tax year is that? 2009. And did you also, and your wife sign that return? Yes, we did. And the next exhibit? 2010. And what exhibit number is that? 182. Did you and your wife also sign that document? Yes, sir. And the last document you have in front of you? Exhibit 183. And that is what now?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
98
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A Q A Q Q A Q Q A Q
2011. 2011 tax returns? Yes, sir. For both you and your wife? Yes, sir. And lastly Exhibit 179. Can you identify that for us? That is 2007. And is that also signed by you and your wife. Look at the return, is that your tax return for 2007? It is not signed. You had a tax person do your returns for 2007,
Constance L-I-N-D-E-N-R; is that correct? A Q A Q I don't recall. Pardon? I don't recall. Would you look at the return and see if that seems to
be accurate for you as far as the data that is contained within that? Specifically it looks like the third page back, State of
Arizona, Department of Administration, when you worked for the Department of Corrections. Do you see that there? A Q Arizona? Yes. Is that your W-2 for working for the State of
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
99
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2007? us?
A Q
That is correct. And the next page, please, can you identify that for
Is that the W-2 for your wife where she worked for the Southeastern Federal Credit Union? A Q That is what it states right here. And the numbers reflected on the front of Exhibit 179
pick up that data; do they not? That is the $59,822 total which is salaries, wages, tips for the 2007 tax year? A Q A Q A Q for $480? A Q A Q A Q That is correct. And the total adjusted gross income was how much? Sixty. 60,302? Yes. That is your tax return that you filed for the year $60,302. I was looking at the wages, salaries and tips. I am sorry. I thought you said total.
And is wages, salaries and tips $59,822? Yes. And it says something about unemployment compensation
Yes, sir.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
And you filed these returns under the penalty of You read the second page
perjury, of course; is that right?
where it says, These returns are being filed under the penalty of perjury? Where it says, sign here under penalty of perjury?
Do you see that block down there? A Q There is no signatures. I understand that, does it say under penalty of
perjury you are going to submit these tax returns? A Q That is correct. And did you in fact submit these tax returns, the If you want
ones we just covered, 2007, '08, '09, '10 and '11? to see -A Q No, I am just looking for signature.
The copies we get through the government don't
generate that, but the data that is there, the W-2's do reflect what you made; correct? A Q A Q That is correct. And these returns are submitted by you and your wife? I don't know who sent them, there's no signatures. I understand that, the data that is there, is that
data reflecting your income for the year 2009? Let's go there. The front page of the document, does
it list your name and your wife's name? A Q I don't have 2009 with me, only '07. 2009.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
101
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Q A Q
Would you look at that for us? Yes. Does that have your full name and correct name and
your wife's at the top? A Q numbers? A Q A Q Yes. And likewise the last four for your wife? Yes. And it lists two kids here; is that correct? Yes, it does. And the last four of SS, we've blocked out the other
Elizabeth and Stephanie? A Q Yes, my daughters. And for the year 2009, it lists 80,277 for a total
gross income, adjusted gross; is that correct? A Q That's correct. The W-2 for this particular form, the third page of
the document, Department of Homeland Security. Do you see that document? Yes, sir. And does that reflect your income and wages for the
2009 tax year? A Q A Yes. And is that accurate? Yeah.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
102
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
The next page where it lists community health care of
Arizona, that is a W-2 for your wife; is it not? A Q A Q Yes. Does that list her income for the 2009 tax year? Yes. And the third page, it shows your wife started
working for the Department of Homeland Security in the 2009 tax year; is that correct? A Q Yes, sir. And does it reflect her income from the U.S.
government back in the year 2009? A Q A Q $11,202. A Q I believe so. Do you see it there? Yeah. Where it says, for example, Social Security wages Do you see that there? Yes. The next page of the document lists Hartford Life
Insurance, Hartford, Connecticut. Do you see that? A Q A Q tax year? Yes, sir. And what is that? Life insurance. And was there moneys distributed to you for the 2009
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
103
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A Q A Q
Federal income tax withheld, $174. Does it also show a gross distribution of $869? No. Do you see on the top of the page? Okay, yes. Let's go to the 2010 tax year. Do you see that in front of you?
A Q
Yes. Is your name and your wife's listed correctly on this
tax return? A Q A Q Yes, sir. And likewise your two children? Yes. And does it list your total adjusted gross income at
the bottom of 92,882? A Q 92,802, yes, sir. 92,802. The third page of the document. It lists your
income, does it not, for the Department of Homeland Security. A Q A Q Yes. Social Security wages 59,935? Yes. Next page of the document for your wife, of Homeland
Security, Social Security wages 40,741; is that correct? A That is correct.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
104
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A Q document? A Q
The 2011 tax returns, do you see that there? Yes, sir. And is your name and that of your wife's on that
Yes. And does it list at the bottom, about two-thirds of
the way down, an amount of 73,861? A Q Yes, sir. Would it be fair to say these tax returns reflect
your income for the years in question, 2007, '08, '09, '10, and '11? A Yes, sir. MR. LACEY: 179 through 183. MR. RALLS: MR. LACEY: I object on relevancy grounds. Money is an issue and we can talk about Would offer the exhibits at this time,
it at sidebar, if you wish. THE COURT: If you would approach for a moment.
(Thereupon, counsel approached the bench and conferred with the Court as follows:) THE COURT: I don't have a problem with '09, '10, and
'11, but the years 2007 and 2008. MR. LACEY: looking at. We have a lot of income. He talked about getting Starts up some base numbers we are
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
105
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
loans from certain people and we have some financial data we have looked at that maybe will make it relevant. MR. RALLS: It's not relevant at this point, it may
be at some point, but I don't see where it is relevant now. Nobody has talked about him receiving any illegal profits from anything, so I don't know how the relevancy comes in. THE COURT: MR. RALLS: THE COURT: MR. LACEY: co-conspirators. MR. RALLS: MR. LACEY: Nothing that has gone to him. It is implicit in what is going on here. We have monies being paid to some of the Yes, they have. Who?
We offer at least the 2009, '10 and '11 tax returns. THE COURT: come in. I have to hear more before '07 and '08
Whatever '09, '10 and '11 there. MR. LACEY: 81, 82 and 83.
(Thereupon, counsel returned to their trial tables, afterwhich the proceedings resumed as follows:) MR. LACEY: The government moves 81, 82 and 83 into
evidence at this time. THE COURT: MR. LACEY: time. Yes, they may be admitted. I am not going to publish them at this
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
106
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A that? A Q A A Q Q
BY MR. LACEY: Sir, do you recall your testimony on direct
examination when you were talking about the events of June 17 of 2011 regarding Victor Stuppi and your conversation with him? A Q Yes. Let's go to that date. When did you first have a conversation with Stuppi about the port of entry and him getting you some food. When did that first crop up in your conversation? What do you mean? On the 17th?
When did you and Victor Stuppi first discuss the fact
that Stuppi would get you some food? A Q A Q Ever since I have been working there. Pardon? Ever since I've been working there. Let's talk to the 17th of June of 2011 or just before
The 16th. And what time of day was that? I know I had a game -- I know he had a game in the
afternoon, so 7:00, 7:30. When you say he had a game in the afternoon, afternoon is not six or seven, or seven or 7:30 in the evening. When was the conversation? I don't recall. It was that afternoon.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
107
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A Q A Q A Q
That afternoon? Yes. And it took place where? My house. Who was present? Me, him, my wife. And what was the purpose in him being at your house
on the 16th of June, 2011? A Q A Q A Q He was there to pick up a softball bat. This bat. Yes, it is. It's one of the $300 bats you talked about? Correct. So you have a conversation sometime in the afternoon Is it something special?
on the 16th about loaning him a baseball bat that you share with him. A Q A Q Is that the way that works? Yeah, I have maybe six, seven bats. Three hundred bucks a piece? Yes, from the time I started in 2007, yeah. So Victor comes over to your house, borrows a bat,
and what is the conversation from there? A Like I told you, he said that: Hey, by the way, I'm
going to be heading out to Agua Prieta in the morning, would you like for me to bring you something? I said: And I told him, Yes.
Hold on, I might be doing transport in the morning, I
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
108
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
will let you know. Q What did Victor Stuppi tell you that he was going to
do in Mexico -- this is a Friday morning on the 17th of June. You told us he had two jobs at this time, working at some auto parts store and somewhere else? A He worked Monday through Thursday with I believe it He would do that and in the afternoons he would
is Cochise.
work in the Auto Zone and it was in the morning, I'm not going to ask him what are you doing in the morning, no. Q So you're telling us his work schedule did not
include Friday? A Q A Q A Q A Q He worked four 10s at that time, I believe. And he had another job as well? Auto Zone. And when did he work at Auto Zone? In the evenings. What evenings? It would vary. So you had a conversation with Victor Stuppi. I
am -- I am going to go to Mexico. A Q Not that often.
Did he go to Mexico often?
What was the occasion back on June 17th that he was
going to go there? A Q I did not ask him. I thought you were brothers, you were really good
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
109
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
friends? A That's correct. But I am not going to be asking him
what time are you going to be doing this, what time are you going to be brushing your teeth, I mean it's not like that. Q What are you going to Mexico for, it isn't the same
as brushing your teeth? A Q about it? A No, we talked about it. He was going to bring It's not my business. In other words, your response is you did not talk
breakfast. Q
That is what we talked about.
You told us earlier it was lunch that you were going Do you remember that testimony?
to get brought. A Q
I said lunch or breakfast. You wake up and you are working 8 to 4 shift on the
17th of June; correct? A Q get up? A Q A Q A It depends. Back on June 17th, 2011? I don't remember. What time did you get to work? I think the time video say something like 8:35, I don't remember. Yes. You wake up in the morning. What time do you usually
something like that.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
110
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
That is when the load vehicle went through your lane We're talking about when did you get
that you did not inspect. to work? A Q
7:30, something, I don't recall. So, in order to get there, what time -- at 7:30,
7:35, 7:37, what time do you get up in the morning to brush your teeth and do the other things you do? A I don't know. Sometimes I slept in or sometimes I
woke up early. Q else. You have breakfast before you leave? A Q A Q A Q A Q No. You don't eat before you go to work? Actually, no. Never? Never. When do you usually eat breakfast. What time of day? You get up, take a shower, brush your teeth, whatever
It depends, whenever we have a chance. You go to work not knowing when you get a chance to
eat breakfast? A Q Today I didn't eat until lunch. We're not talking about today, we are talking about
when you worked in June of 2011? Q This is very different.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q
No, exactly the same thing. Let's talk about it, you get up and you are telling
us you go to work without any food? A Q to eat? A Q That is correct. What about refrigerators. Why don't you pack a lunch Yes. And you start working, not knowing when you're going
and bring your lunch with you? A I don't like left overs. I tell my wife: Hey, can
you please bring me something, I will call my sister or Victor or my mom or brother, can you bring me something to eat. Q Is there any McDonald's or Burger King or any of
those type of places close by, or place where you can by a sub, Subway? A Q Oh, yeah. You don't stop there, but rather you're going to call
somebody to bring it to you, you would rather impose on someone else to bring it to you? A Yes, sir. I don't know what time I'm going to eat, I
so by the time I'm going to eat, it's going to be cold. don't want to eat cold food. Q You're talking about hot food. What about
sandwiches, do you need to have those hot? A Ham and cheese.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
112
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A Q
So you don't eat breakfast ever when you go to work? No. What sort of range do you find before you can finally Could it be
eat food when you go to work back in June of 2011? noon? A Two in the afternoon? When do you eat?
Sometimes not even until I get home until 4:00 or
5:00 in the afternoon. Q A Q Without having any food? Correct, nothing but water. How many days do you do this where you don't eat all
day and you go to work? A Q Plenty of times. So you get to work. After you get there, you told us
on direct examination that you get there and with two minutes after walking into the head house, give or take, you are able to exchange lanes. day; correct? A Q A Yes, that's correct. And outbound means what? You're working outbound traffic, the traffic going You were working outbound initially that
from the U.S. into Mexico. Q A Q Would that be pedestrian or vehicle outbound? Multiple. It is not a set place you have to be at.
And when we looked at the photographs during the
course of this trial, and you saw the outbound pedestrian lane,
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
113
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
you would have been, what, 10 feet, 15 feet away from that lane or from the outgoing cars doing outbound? A Actually that picture you have is recent. It was way
different back then. Q How far away were you from the pedestrians either
walking south into Mexico back in 2010, 2011 ? A From here to the last juror back there, probably,
maybe even more, maybe from here to the door. Q A Q A Q So you're talking maybe 30 feet? I guess. Give or take? Yeah. The daytime shift obviously it speaks for itself,
there is no obstruction from anybody working outbound as a pedestrian is walking by to see; is that correct? A Q A Yes, there is. What is the obstruction? On the left-hand side of that outbound lane we used
to put the Border Patrol's vehicles there, it could be a huge van, a small vehicle, it could be pickups, it would vary. Q Would they have vehicles lined up one after the next
blocking the view of the pedestrians looking at the person working outbound? A At least one or two vehicles, plus if we actually had
a port operation, we would have two Border Patrols, local PD,
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
114
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
which would be there in their vehicles and the sheriff's and the highway patrol on the weekends. Q So local PD, they have among other things the regular
squad cars we see that are this high? A Q Douglas have Tahoes, I believe. And are they bumper to bumper or are there gaps in
between the vehicles? A No, bumper to bumper, because there is hardly
anywhere to park. Q Is it your testimony that anyone walking outbound to
Mexico back in 2009 and '10, couldn't see someone working outbound? A It would vary on the day. It would depend whether we Eventually they could see
had a port operation or we did not. you, but it would vary on the day. Q
And at night time, what is the -- what is light
conditions for someone exiting the U.S. through the outbound? A When you're walking pedestrians through night time,
before we did not used to have spot lights, and I think when I was leaving or when all this happened, we started getting the Border Patrol spot lights and they started putting those on. Q We kind of lights did they have as people were
walking southbound before these brighter lights? A No lights. I believe there was one high at the
beginning at the pedestrian lane and one by Lane 7, I believe.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
115
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Now, you as the person or whoever may have been
working outbound, would you be in a lighted area so people would see you and not hit you with their cars as they're leaving the country? A No, you're by the booth and there's no light. We had
a Corvette that came and plowed all that, so all the lighting we used to have, it went away, so the only thing we had was a booth and now they have the new cones so that wouldn't happen again. Q booth? A If you ask Mr. Humphries, he would answer that. I When did a Corvette crash into a booth and wreck your
don't remember. Q A Q You've been at the port for how many years now? Since 2008. You mentioned the policy of not letting family
members go through your lane. A Q I said there is no set policy. Is there any prohibition against people letting -- an
inspector, officer, letting family go through his a lane? A Q Not that it's anywhere written. Did you ever get advised not to let any family
members go through your lane? A Q No. No one ever told you that?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
116
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A Q A Q
No. Never in training? Never. Never anyone at the port that you work with for these
last five years? A The only thing I was told was by a supervisor because Just FYI if
he saw my family come through my lane and he goes:
you know they're coming, don't make them come through your lane, have them go somewhere else. Q When was this that some supervisor told you no family
members through your lane? A That was beginning of 2008 or '09. I don't remember
exactly when it took place. Q What family member was it coming through your lane
that you should not have let go through your lane? A I didn't let him go through his lane. He was there
and told me that. Q Explain that to us. You'are working your lane,
family member comes, you're not sure who and what happens? A Family member comes, I'm standing right there and as
you can see the supervisors walk back and forth through all the booths and lanes, so when I was talking to my family member -I don't remember exactly who it was, this was back in '08 -I'm not going to remember, supervisor stopped me because of the way they probably said hi to me, he probably asked me -- I
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
117
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
don't know, who is this, I probably said so and so, and then he probably took over the inspection and told me just let them know not to come through your lane, make sure they avoid your lanes. Q A Q And that was in 2008 you thought? I don't remember if '08 or '09. I don't remember.
How many times did this happen, you let family
members go through your lane? A Q A Q I didn't let family members come through my lane. How many times have you done it that you're aware of? That they came and they were at my lane? Yes. How many times did family members go through
your lane? A Family members didn't go through my lane by me They came through my lane by someone else
inspecting them. inspecting them. Q
Who at the port of entry would have assisted you to Let's say your
let a family member go through your lane?
mother came to your lane, what did you do on that instance A All you do is go to the officer on lane four, or
whichever lane you are on, the officer next to you is like, hey, that's my mom. Can you guys process traffic and they'll
be like, yeah, and then they'll do it. Q Give us the name of one person at the port of entry
that you got to do this with you, to take over your booth, not
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
118
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
log in and you log out and rather leave you on there, and exchange this. A Q One name.
I don't remember. On the one hand you have a booth, you have a
computer, you log on when you get there; correct? A Q Correct. Recall your testimony to this jury about what happens
when someone comes to your lane, like Victor Stuppi was supposed to and you told us back to June 17th? A Q A Yes, I do recall. Tell us about that again. Like I said, if it is a family member, what you are
supposed to do is you are supposed to log out, call the officer and let them log in. Q That does not always happen.
You told us it doesn't always happen because you
never did it before? A Q Yes, I did. Give us some times when your family members come to
your lane and you logged off and let someone else log on for you? A Let me give you an example. My sister-in-law, she Eventually she is
crosses about four to five times a day.
going to hit my lane, so I don't remember exactly when, but I am pretty sure I have done it. Q And you know you're not supposed to do it because you
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
119
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
had a supervisor tell you that; correct? A Correct. If the supervisor said if knowing they're I didn't know she was going to be in
coming through your lane. my lane at that time. Q
How many times have you called a relative and said
I'm working X lane, don't come through it, besides June 17, 2011? A So my wife goes across the line all the time to get
her hair done, nails done, go eat, so on her way back I tell her, don't come through my lane, at this time I'll be here. Q You call her once you get your lane assignment and
say I'm working lane one or lane five? A That morning before she left she said I'm going to be
in Agua Prieta and once I know I'm on the lane, I'm like hey, don't come through my lane. Ore she'll call me and say, I'm
going to take you something to eat, I will be here. Q A Q On lane whichever it would be? Lane one, two, peds, whatever. The proper procedure you told us as of June 17 of
2011, was that someone, a relative comes to your lane, you are supposed to log off as you told this jury; correct? A Q That is correct, you are supposed to log off. And after you log off, you are supposed to get
someone else to come over and log off from their computer; correct?
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
120
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 oath? on?
A Q A Q A Q A Q
Correct, that is what you are supposed to do. And come to your booth and log on? Correct. He passes your relative? Yes. Under his code and his Social Security number? What you are supposed to do, yes. And then goes back to his booth and you then log back
A Q A minutes. Q
That is correct, yes. Logging off and logging on. It varies. How long does it take?
It could be instant or take up to 15
Do you recall testifying on a prior occasion
regarding this matter at a hearing where you said it took 5 to 15 minutes to log off? A Q Yes. And was that accurate testimony that you gave under
At that time it was.
Now looking back and talking to
a couple of like my wife because she used to be a officer, we realize, no, sometimes it used to take a minute. Q When did you come to a realize your five to 15
minutes is not the truth? A It is the truth. It varies from the machine, it is
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
121
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
not me logging in. Q A You just said instantaneously or now, correct? Not instantaneously, I said a minute and it depends
on the machine itself. Q But you testified in a prior occasion it was five to
15 minutes for you and five to 15 minutes for the other person, correct? A And again, I said it depends on the machine that
they're using; yes, sir. Q A Depends on the machine you use? Simple. Each booth has its own computer. They're
exposed to the elements, they have sand, dust, they have us when we walk in there it's raining, it's dripping all over the machine, so it depends on that whether it's working or not. I'm not going to tell it to hurry up, it's a computer, it takes whatever long to reboot. Q That's a computer, I can't help that.
It was your impression, your testimony when you
testified on a prior occasion was five to 15 minutes; is that correct? A Q That is what I recalled at that time; yes, sir. Have you had occasion to review your testimony from
that occasion? A Q A Yes, I did. You said under oath five to 15 minutes there? Yes, and like I'm telling you, it depends on what
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
122
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
machine it was, it wasn't a specific machine. Q Did you hear testimony in this proceeding from other
officers that work there it doesn't take five to 15 minutes but a lot less? A The system now is different from back then. Once you
have the officers that will come in and testify to that, they will tell you that. Q I want to talk about the family members that you
passed in the past? A Q I didn't pass no family members. Let's go back to January 16 of 2010. Do you recall back on that occasion and I can show you some documents. A Q Could I see documents, because I don't recall. Absolutely. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: MR. LACEY: May I approach, Your Honor. Use the viewer. Okay.
BY MR. LACEY: Q A Q 122, please. Sir, can you identify this, 122?
Huasica, Sandra. And she is related to you, that is the Sandra you
told us about earlier about this $10,000 cash deposit into your account? A Yes.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
123
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A Q A Q
Same one? Yes. She is your sister-in-law? She is my sister-in-law, that's correct. Does this document reflect that you're working at the
time of this passage of your sister-in-law? A That reflects that I was logged in to that terminal.
That's all that reflects. Q What is the date and time you are logged into your
terminal when your sister is coming through your lane? A Q A Crossing date 2-15-11 at 6:46 at the bottom. It has the inspector code, correct? That is logging into the computer. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: I will offer 122 at this time. May be admitted.
BY MR. LACEY: Q For the jury's benefit, this land border crossing
personal information, what is this document? A It is a land border crossing, it is somebody crossing
through the port of entry, through terminal ID, lane one. Those are my last four numbers that I was logged into the terminal; however, it doesn't tell you that I inspected that vehicle or not inspected that vehicle. you. Q So, in other words, when your sister-in-law came to That is what that tells
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
124
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
your booth at the port of entry back on February 15 of '11 at 6:45 p.m., you didn't let her through? A Q A Q I called the officer at the next lane to inspect her. What is his name? I don't remember. Do the officers who you were able to commandeer to do
this function, did you know that they should have logged off and logged on? A Q They should have. And you did not have them do that. Is that what you
are telling us? A Q A No. It just takes a minute or so? No, it takes longer, and not only that it's up to the
officer's discretion, it's not up to me. Q So you invited some other officer to leave his lane
with cars that were backed up and come over and help you out is what you are telling us? A Q Yes, because I am not to inspect my family members. When the officer leaves his booth and goes to where
your sister-in-law was ready to come through, what are you doing during that time? A When the officer -- when I yell at him: Hey, I have
a family member, he will go close the gate and he will walk over. At that time I am outside the booth, actually speaking
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
125
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
with my family member.
I am going to be telling them, how are
you, whatever, once he gets there he will take over the inspection. Q A Q A So does he log off his booth? I don't know what he does. When he helps you out? I don't know what he does. I know what he's supposed
to do, but people don't do it. Q A Q What are you supposed to do that you didn't do? Apparently I didn't log off. I want to direct your attention next to the next page
of that particular package dated March 3rd of 2011. Q A Q Is this your SS number at the bottom? Yes, it is. And is this someone crossing by the name of Sandra,
your sister-in-law, again? A Q Yes. Would offer page 2 of this document. I guess it's
all part of one package. Let's go through this one. A Okay. THE COURT: MR. LACEY: 122, the second page. THE COURT: Go ahead. Is that part of a prior exhibit? It's part of one exhibit which would be
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
126
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Q Q Q
BY MR. LACEY: So we have your sister-in-law again, Sandra come into
your lane, correct? A Q A Q A Q That's correct. March 3rd of 2011? That's correct. At 3:53 p.m.? Yes, sir. And you are telling us that once again you did not
let her through despite the fact that the codes in this document says otherwise? A I didn't inspect my sister-in-law. Is that what you
are telling me? Q So you once again went to the adjoining booth, said,
hey, close it down, come over and help me out? You didn't pass her through. Correct. Third page of Exhibit 122. Let's look at this one. Who is this person depicted
on the top of the document? A Q A Q A Stuppi, Anna. And who is that? Sister-in-law?
Sister-in-law, yes. Does it show your code on the bottom of this page? Yes, it does.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
127
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
And what is the date on this document showing that
Sandra Stuppi came through your lane when you were logged on? A Q A Q A Q Not Sandra Stuppi. Ana Sonia -- Ana Stuppi? 4-13-11. At what time? 12:22 a.m. Anna Stuppi comes to your lane on April 13, 2011, and
what happens? A I don't remember. I haven't been working the lanes
for a long time. Q Would you have done what you said you did on these
other occasions where you went and got somebody from the adjoining lane? A Q I should have, yes. To close down their lane to walk over to yours so you
could let her through? A Q Yes. Exhibit 123. Can you identify this for us. A Q A Q A Maria Olivarria. Last name? What is the full last name?
Olivarria de Stuppi. And who is that? That is my wife's mother.
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
128
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q A
Again, is this your code on the bottom? Yes, it is. MR. LACEY: I would move to publish Exhibit 123,
first page. MR. RALLS: THE COURT: No objection. Admitted.
BY MR. LACEY: Q right? A Q manned? A Q A Q 10:49:37. On what date? 3-17-2010. Why didn't you call your on the other occasions and Olivarria. What time did she cross through the lane you had So we are talking Maria Olivarria de Stuppi; is that
and say, I'm working a lane, don't come through it? A Mexico. Like again, I didn't know she was going to be in If I would have known she was going to be in Mexico, I
would have told her. Q So on none of these occasions we discussed so far did
you ever give them a heads up, I'm working the lane, don't come through? A Not on this one, on the other ones I have because I
knew they were going across the line, especially when they were
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
129
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
going with my wife. Q Huasica? The ones we just went through, that didn't happen either where you called and said, don't go through my lane. A Q I didn't know she was going to be across the line. The second page of 123. What is this? A Q A Q A Q Maria Olivarria de Stuppi. Same person? Yes, sir. And your code on the bottom again? Yes, sir. The date of crossing when this person is purportedly We just went through three others with Sandra
going through your lane. A Q A Q 3-29-2010. At what time? 4:40 p.m. And you didn't call her on this occasion to say,
don't come through my lane? A Q I didn't know she was going to be in Mexico. The next page of the document 123. Can you identify this for us. A Q Same person. And your code on the bottom, your lane was open when
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
130
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
she came through your lane according to this document? A Q I didn't do the inspection. What date and time do we have that this person that
came to your lane with your code on it where you didn't do the inspection? A 12-25-2010. December 25th 2010 at 5:06 p.m. A Q Q A Q A Q A Q A Q Correct. Next page at 123, please. Can you identify this. Same person. And again your code on the bottom? That is correct. Date? Yes, sir, 3-17-2011. And time? 8:36:20 p.m. You are telling us once again, despite the fact your
lane is open and code is on, you didn't put her through? A Q A more -Q A Answer the question. I didn't call her because I didn't know she was going That's correct. And you did not call her either, did you? If you have seen the crossing history on her, she has
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
131
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
to be in Mexico. Q Next page of the document, please. Can you identify this for us. A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q Same person. Your code again on the crossing code on the bottom? Correct. What time did she cross on this occasion? 6-23-2011 at 9:19 p.m. And what happened this time? Same thing, I'm pretty sure. Same thing pretty sure what? Called another officer to do the inspection. Can we go to one officer you can refer us to that
will come and say that he didn't close down his lane, did not log on to your computer and pass this person through? A tell you. Q to you? A Q Q A Q A Yeah, but no names come back. Next page of the document 123. Who is this? I don't know. The last name? Olivvaria de de Stuppi. We have gone through lots so far, any names come back If I remember the officer, I'm pretty sure they would
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
132
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Q Q A
And that last name? Who goes by that last name that you are aware of? I don't know. MR. LACEY: THE COURT: Not this lady, Haria.
Go to Exhibit 124, please. Let's go to 124 tomorrow.
We will take an evening recess, ladies and gentlemen, to 9:30. We will start at 9:30 tomorrow morning, have a good evening and recall the admonition, please. (Thereupon at 04:29 PM the jury exited the courtroom and the proceedings were concluded.)
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT
133
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Dated: February 11, 2013 s/Chris Wallace ______________________ CHRIS WALLACE, RPR, CRR I Chris Wallace, certify that I took the shorthand notes in the foregoing matter; that the same was transcribed under my direction; that the preceding pages of 132 typewritten matter are a true, accurate and complete transcript of all the matters adduced, to the best of my skill and ability. C E R T I F I C A T E
UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT

US Customs and Border Protection Corruption/Trial Transcripts

Transféré par

Informations du document

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

US Customs and Border Protection Corruption/Trial Transcripts

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 1 of 133

Tucson, Arizona February 11, 2012

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 2 of 133

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 3 of 133

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. RALLS: Q MR. RALLS:

P R O C E E D I N G S Thank you, Judge.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 4 of 133

You have heard the names in this case of Jesus

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 5 of 133

Back in June of 2011, what were your duties back

I was assigned as a primary officer at the port of

also done transportation for bringing people over here.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 6 of 133

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 7 of 133

more than what I had to go with my parents.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 8 of 133

hired by Customs and Border Protection. call in 2007, I believe.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 9 of 133

And Customs and Border Protection is what we have

policy and procedure for inspecting vehicles, say, for

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 10 of 133

people go by the vehicle.

They look at you and they try to

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 11 of 133

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 12 of 133

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 13 of 133

you have with Victor. A Q A

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 14 of 133

He worked for the -- it's like the ADOT kind of

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 15 of 133

Yes, he is married and he has twins.

They are the

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 16 of 133

If we were going to do some carne asada, we would call

in high school. A Okay.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 17 of 133

junior year playing baseball.

myself and another officer, Angel Vasquez.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 18 of 133

Well, as the sport itself, I coached him all the way

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 19 of 133

where your schedules are kept at?

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 20 of 133

his way out he goes:

that is across the line.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 21 of 133

Exhibit 163, which are text messages. these? A Q Yes, I have.

Why don't you tell us what these text messages are.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 22 of 133

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 23 of 133

So if you deduct seven hours from 2:00 in the morning

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 24 of 133

gone and I ask her how bout you?

talking to Victor about right there. A Yes, it is.

All this is softball related, all this

Let me stop you there.

port of entry. Q Keep going.

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 25 of 133

you play softball. game. Q A

Please identify the person.

You say "he."

here while we are talking. This goes to 617.

Do you want to tap the side there to get rid of that

Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 Page 26 of 133