United States of America v. GERALDO RAYMOND SANTOS, AKA Sugarbear

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
GERALDO RAYMOND SANTOS, AKA
Sugarbear,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 14-50332
D.C. No. 2:12-cr-00471-SVW-1
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Stephen V. Wilson, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted September 1, 2015**
Pasadena, California
Before: KOZINSKI, O’SCANNLAIN, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
Geraldo Santos appeals from the district court’s judgment convicting Santos
of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine (21 U.S.C. § 846) and the
FILED
SEP 03 2015
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

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distribution of methamphetamine (21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)). Santos
claims that the government’s evidence was insufficient to support his convictions.
In reviewing “the constitutional sufficiency of evidence to support a criminal
conviction,” we first “consider the evidence presented at trial in the light most
favorable to the prosecution,” and then decide “whether this evidence, so viewed,
is adequate to allow any rational trier of fact [to find] the essential elements of the
crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Nevils, 598 F.3d 1158,
1163–64 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc) (internal quotation marks omitted) (alteration in
original).
The government’s evidence includes, inter alia, (1) a video recording of
Santos handing a blue hat to Danny Salazar, and (2) testimony from government
informant Lewis Guerrero that the same hat contained methamphetamine in excess
of 50 grams moments later. The parties do not dispute that Salazar sold Guerrero
methamphetamine in excess of 50 grams. Construed in the light most favorable to
the prosecution, this evidence is sufficient to support the conclusion that Santos
supplied Salazar with methamphetamine to sell to Guerrero. Thus, this is not a
case where “all rational fact finders would have to conclude that the evidence of
guilt fails to establish every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id.
at 1165.
AFFIRMED.

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