United States v. Estes

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
February 11, 2004
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-50843
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
BRENDA LEE ESTES,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. W-02-CR-186-15
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Before SMITH, DeMOSS, and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Brenda Lee Estes appeals her conviction, following a jury
trial, of aiding and abetting the possession of pseudoephedrine
with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, a violation of
21 U.S.C. § 843(a)(6). She does not challenge her conviction
of another count charging her with conspiracy to manufacture
methamphetamine. The district court sentenced Estes to concurrent
87-month prison terms and three-year supervised-release terms.
On July 25, 2002, investigators found 312 pseudoephedrine
pills under the passenger seat of an Isuzu pickup truck that Estes

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was driving. Codefendant Randy Hunter, with whom Estes lived and
who was her former husband, was in the passenger seat. Estes does
not dispute that Hunter was a methamphetamine cook and that the
pills were to be used as an ingredient in a “cook.” Estes,
however, challenges the sufficiency of the trial evidence to prove
that she knew that the pills were in the truck.
The evidence was not insufficient to support an inference that
Estes knew that the pseudoephedrine pills were hidden under the
passenger seat. See United States v. Villarreal, 324 F.3d 319, 322
(5th Cir. 2000); United States v. Jones, 185 F.3d 459, 464 (5th
Cir. 1999). Although Estes’s control of the truck was not
sufficient by itself to establish that she knowingly possessed the
pills, see United States v. Crain, 33 F.3d 480, 486 (5th Cir.
1994), other evidence established her knowledge. Witnesses
testified that they had bought methamphetamine from Estes and
Hunter at their home, that Estes had used methamphetamine by
injecting it, that Estes appeared to be well aware of Hunter’s role
as a methamphetamine cook, and that Estes had served as a lookout
during Hunter’s cooks. On one prior occasion, Estes had
accompanied others to steal anhydrous ammonia, a necessary
ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Approximately
one week prior to July 25, 2002, Estes and Hunter had met Dulcie
and Woodrow Schuler and had arranged to assemble the ingredients
for a methamphetamine cook. The Schulers were to steal or
otherwise obtain anhydrous ammonia and Estes and Hunter would
supply other ingredients. The couples met again on the night of

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July 25, 2002, but the plan fell through when the Schulers were
stopped with stolen anhydrous ammonia and when Dulcie identified
the Isuzu pickup as belonging to the people to whom they were to
supply the chemical. Collectively, this evidence was sufficient to
prove Estes’s knowledge that the pseudoephedrine pills were in the
truck.
Estes’s convictions are AFFIRMED.

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