## Facts

- Families in Fujian Province arranged for three Chinese nationals to be smuggled into the United States, paying about $50,000 per person to an organized smuggling operation.
- The operation routed the travelers from China to Thailand, then to Japan, and finally from Narita Airport to Los Angeles.
- At Narita, a male escort provided the three nationals with passports and boarding materials in Japanese names and directed them to follow Yuami Yoshida as their escort.
- Yoshida led the three individuals through the airport transit system to the gate for Delta Flight 78 to Los Angeles; they were among the last to board.
- On the flight, Yoshida sat immediately behind the three individuals.
- At LAX, an immigration inspection revealed Yoshida concealed the three individuals’ baggage-claim checks in her underwear; Yoshida had no baggage and no baggage-claim tickets for herself.
- Yoshida listed a nonexistent Las Vegas hotel as her U.S. destination.
- Her passport reflected frequent travel within Southeast Asia in the preceding two months, consistent with repeated participation in similar travel.
- A jury convicted Yoshida of encouraging or inducing unlawful entry, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), and bringing or attempting to bring aliens for commercial advantage or private financial gain, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii).
- The district court denied her motion for judgment of acquittal; Yoshida appealed, arguing insufficient evidence as to knowledge, the “encouraging/bringing” acts, and financial gain.

## Issues

1. Whether sufficient evidence supported a finding that Yoshida knew or recklessly disregarded that the three individuals were entering the United States unlawfully.
2. Whether sufficient evidence supported that Yoshida “encouraged or induced” unlawful entry and “brought or attempted to bring” the individuals to the United States under 8 U.S.C. § 1324.
3. Whether sufficient evidence supported that Yoshida acted for “commercial advantage or private financial gain” under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii).

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed the convictions.
- Applying the deferential sufficiency standard, the court held a rational jury could find all essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt when the evidence and inferences were viewed in the government’s favor.
- The court held circumstantial evidence supported knowledge or reckless disregard, including coordinated escorting behavior, concealment of baggage-claim checks, false travel information, and travel patterns.
- The court held escorting the individuals through Narita to the U.S.-bound flight constituted “encouraging or inducing” and part of “bringing or attempting to bring” them to the United States.
- The court held the financial-gain element could be inferred from the professional smuggling structure, the large fees paid, and Yoshida’s role and travel history, even without direct proof of payment to her.

## Legal Principles

- Evidence is sufficient if, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could find the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Under 8 U.S.C. § 1324, knowledge or reckless disregard may be proven by circumstantial evidence, including coordinated conduct consistent with smuggling and concealment of items linking the defendant to the entrants.
- Escorting conduct that enables noncitizens to reach and board a U.S.-bound flight can qualify as “encouraging or inducing” unlawful entry and as “bringing or attempting to bring” noncitizens to the United States.
- The “commercial advantage or private financial gain” element may be established by reasonable inference from the organized nature of the smuggling enterprise, the substantial fees involved, and the defendant’s operational role, even absent direct payment evidence.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit upheld Yoshida’s alien-smuggling convictions, concluding that the jury could reasonably infer from her coordinated escorting actions, concealment of baggage-claim checks, false destination information, and surrounding circumstances that she knowingly assisted unlawful entry and did so as a paid participant in a commercial smuggling operation.


United States v. Yoshida, 303 F.3d 1145 (9th Cir. 2002)