Case: 18-40347 Document: 00514965678 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/21/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 18-40347 May 21, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee v. RAFAEL TELLO, Defendant - Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and DAVIS and ELROD, Circuit Judges. CARL E. STEWART, Chief Judge: A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Rafael Tello with transporting an illegal alien within the United States by means of a motor vehicle. At an immigration checkpoint, the aliens were found hidden in a storage compartment in the sleeper area of the tractor-trailer that Tello was driving. The case proceeded to trial on the first two counts. Midway through the trial, after the two Border Patrol agents had testified, Tello moved to suppress the evidence found during the immigration-checkpoint stop. The district court denied the motion and the jury found Tello guilty of both counts. Tello was sentenced to concurrent terms of 27 months of imprisonment and two years of supervised release. For the reasons below, we AFFIRM. Case: 18-40347 Document: 00514965678 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/21/2019 No. 18-40347 I. Shortly before 1:00 a.m. on August 1, 2017, a tractor-trailer entered the primary inspection lane at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint south of Falfurrias, Texas. Agent Villanueva was on duty in the primary inspection lane. A Border Patrol service canine and its handler were working with him. Tello was driving the tractor-trailer. Agent Villanueva’s first question was: “[A]re you a citizen – are you a United States citizen?” He replied that he was a naturalized citizen. Agent Villanueva was satisfied with this answer so he did not ask for proof of citizenship. Agent Villanueva next asked Tello what he was hauling in the trailer. He asked this question to give the Border Patrol service canine more time to conduct a canine sniff of the tractor-trailer: Because at that point, kind of I looked – because usually when I start [questioning], I also keep in mind that I have the K9 handler working with me; because sometimes, you know, the vehicles coming up to our inspection, and the dog might be alerting right away, but – and sometimes, we question these occupants. And we might be doing a simple question, so we might relieve the vehicle right away. But at this time, the K9 [handler] kind of glanced over at me, you know, give me a little bit more time. So that’s kind of why I questioned a little bit more. Tello answered that he was hauling carrots and handed the agent a bill of lading. Agent Villanueva asked him whether he had made any stops after loading the carrots in the trailer. Tello answered that he was coming from Pharr, Texas and had not made any stops. Agent Villanueva testified that Tello did not appear to be nervous and ...
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