United States v. Jaquez

In United States v. Jaquez, —- F.4th —-, No. 23-40348 (July 10, 2024), the Fifth Circuit affirmed the defendant’s convictions for conspiring and transporting an undocumented alien within the United States under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) & (v)(I).

Holding 1: There was sufficient evidence that Jaquez “agreed with one or more persons” to transport undocumented aliens. Although there was no direct evidence of an agreement, the Fifth Circuit found that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to allow a rational juror to have convicted Jaquez.

In particular, Jaquez gave “differing versions of events and messages … regarding loading ‘boxes’ and moving people,” he “confessed that he knew about the aliens in the trailer and that the driver was attempting to evade the Border Patrol checkpoints,” and “a Border Patrol agent found Jaquez in the back seat of the truck with various incriminating items.”

Holding 2: Jaquez could be convicted of transporting undocumented aliens even though he was a passenger, not the driver. In a prior unpublished case, the Fifth Circuit has held that “although most transporting convictions involve a defendant who is the driver,” the issue “turns on the defendant’s control of the means of transportation, not his status as a driver.” See United States v. Acosta-Ruiz, 481 F. App’x 213, 216–17 (5th Cir. 2012) (unpublished).

Here, the court adopted that reasoning and held that “on the proper facts, a passenger may be convicted of transporting undocumented aliens.”