## Facts

- United States Border Patrol agents stopped Antonio Allende-Agustin after he attempted to cross from Mexico into the United States without proper documentation.
- Agents seized Allende-Agustin’s cell phone and, posing as him, used the phone to text with the smuggler coordinating Allende-Agustin’s transportation within the United States.
- The smuggler arranged for a woman—later identified as Alejandra Angela Carmona-Ramos—to meet the purported alien at a church.
- A Border Patrol agent went to the church acting as Allende-Agustin and waited.
- Carmona-Ramos arrived, made contact with the undercover agent, and gestured for him to come with her.
- Carmona-Ramos instructed the agent to follow her, and the two began walking toward a bus stop/bus station.
- Before they reached the bus stop, a Border Patrol vehicle stopped them; Carmona-Ramos was arrested.
- After arrest, Carmona-Ramos confessed that she worked for the smuggler for money, that she was instructed to pick up an undocumented alien at the church, that she knew the person she intended to help was in the United States illegally, and that she knew it was illegal to assist in transporting undocumented aliens within the United States.
- The government charged Carmona-Ramos with attempting to transport an undocumented alien for monetary gain under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) and 1324(a)(1)(B)(i). A jury convicted her, and she appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial evidence was sufficient to show Carmona-Ramos knew, or recklessly disregarded, that the person she agreed to transport was unlawfully present in the United States.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to show an attempt to transport an unlawful alien within the United States, rather than mere preparation.
3. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the monetary-gain element.
4. Whether any challenged evidentiary or trial-management rulings warranted reversal.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that a rational jury could find the knowledge/reckless-disregard element satisfied based on Carmona-Ramos’s post-arrest admissions and the circumstances of the arranged pickup.
- The court held that Carmona-Ramos took a substantial step toward transportation within the United States by appearing at the prearranged meeting place, identifying and directing the purported alien to follow her, and beginning to lead him toward a bus stop/bus station.
- The court held that Carmona-Ramos’s admission that she worked for the smuggler “for money” supported the financial-gain component.
- The court rejected Carmona-Ramos’s remaining trial-error arguments as not showing reversible error.

## Legal Principles

- On sufficiency review, the appellate court considers the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and asks whether any rational factfinder could have found the offense’s elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii), the government must prove (as charged here) that the defendant transported or attempted to transport an alien within the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the alien’s unlawful status, and that the act furthered the alien’s unlawful presence.
- Attempt liability requires proof of intent and a substantial step toward completion; conduct that goes beyond arranging and includes meeting the intended passenger and starting the directed movement toward a transit point can qualify.
- A defendant’s confession may provide direct evidence of knowledge (or reckless disregard) of unlawful status and of participation in a smuggling plan.
- Evidence that the defendant acted “for money” can support the monetary-gain provision in § 1324(a)(1)(B)(i).
- Evidentiary and trial-management rulings are generally reviewed for abuse of discretion, and any error must affect substantial rights to justify reversal.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit affirmed because Carmona-Ramos’s confession and her conduct at the church meeting—directing the undercover agent to follow her and beginning the walk to a bus stop—provided sufficient evidence that she knowingly attempted to transport an unlawfully present alien within the United States for money, and her additional trial challenges did not warrant reversal.


United States v. Carmona-Ramos, 638 F. App’x 351 (2017)