us customs and border protection corruption/trial transcripts

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) )

Plaintiff, ) )

)vs. ) CR-11-2486-TUC-DCB ) ) LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZ, )

) Defendant. ) Tucson, Arizona

______________________________) February 11, 2012

BEFORE HONORABLE DAVID C. BURY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

405 W. CONGRESS TUCSON, ARIZONA 85701

TESTIMONY OF LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZ

A P P E A R A N C E S

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT: MR. JAMES LACEY ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY

MR. JOSEPH HANLEY ASSISTNT U.S. ATTORNEY

ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT: MR. STEPHEN RALLS ATTORNEY AT LAW

MR. BART REIDY ATTORNEY AT LAW

CHRIS WALLACE, RPR, CRR405 W. CONGRESS, SUITE 1500

TUCSON, ARIZONA 85701(520)205-4268

Proceedings prepared by computerized realtime translation.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 of 133

I N D E X

EVIDENCE ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENTPage

Testimony of LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. RALLS ...................... 3CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. LACEY ....................... 96


2Case 4:11-cr-02486-DCB-DTF Document 342 Filed 02/12/13 of 133

P R O C E E D I N G S

MR. RALLS: Thank you, Judge.

The defense calls Luis Vasquez.

EVIDENCE ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT

LUIS CARLOS VASQUEZ,

called as a witness for and on his own behalf, having been

first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:

THE CLERK: State your full name and spell your last

name for the record.

THE WITNESS: Luis Carlos Vasquez, V-A-S-Q-U-E-Z

DIRECT EXAMINATION

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Mr. Vasquez, I have a few questions for you.

Did you ever agree with anybody to allow marijuana to

come into the United States?

A No, sir.

Q Did you ever agree with anybody to import marijuana?

A No.

Q Have you ever committed a crime of importation or

possession of marijuana?

A No, never.

Q You are charged with four counts in an indictment

here of possession and importation, conspiracy. Are you guilty

of any of those counts?

A I am not guilty of any of them.


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Q You have heard the names in this case of Jesus

Chavez-Bustamante.

Do you know who he is?

A No.

Q You have heard the name Saul Lizzarraga-Roldan.


A No.

Q You have also heard the name of Marcos Sandoval

Lizzarraga.


A No, sir.

Q What about the name of Karla Prieto?

A No.

Q Never met her?

A Never met her.

Q What about Victor Stuppi?

A Yes.

Q Who is Victor Stuppi?

A He is my brother-in-law.

Q Let's talk about June 17, 2011.

How were you employed?

A I was employed with Customs and Border Protection in

Douglas, Arizona.

Q And how long had you been employed with them?

A Since January of 2008.


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Q Back in June of 2011, what were your duties back

then?

A I was assigned as a primary officer at the port of

entry.

Q What other duties and responsibilities did you have?

A I have done secondary, primary, worked cargo. I have

also done transportation for bringing people over here. When

they get apprehended, we bring them for prosecution, so that

was my job also.

Q Now, are you married, sir?

A Yes, I am.

Q And how long have you been married?

A Since 2000.

Q Do you have any children?

A Three kids.

Q Now, back in June of 2011, what kind of work was your

wife doing?

A She was also employed with Customs and Border

Protection. She was in the Naco Port of Entry.

Q And what is her name?

A Lizette Vasquez.

Q You say you have three children?

A Yes, sir.

Q Your oldest is how old?

A She is ten years old.


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Q And your youngest?

A She is five.

And my youngest boy is going to turn two years old

the 25th of this month.

Q At present where do you live, sir?

A I live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Q And back in June of 2011, where were you living?

A In Douglas, Arizona.

Q Was your wife and children living there with you?

A Yes, sir.

Q Let's talk a little bit about your educational

background.

Where did you go to high school?

A I went to high school in Douglas, Arizona.

Q And did you graduate from there?

A Graduated in '98.

Q From high school, graduating there in Douglas in '98,

where did you go from there?

A I graduated in '98. And from there -- actually in

'98, I went to NAU, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff,

Arizona. And I was there for a full semester -- half a

semester.

Q From NAU, where did you go?

A Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona.

Q How long were you there?


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A I was there for half a semester.

Q Let's talk a little bit about your employment

history.

And let's start from graduation from high school.

Tell us a little bit about that.

A When I was in high school, my parents, they would

tell me the main thing is your studies and make sure you get

that done, and I also played sports during high school, so I

wouldn't work during school. However, if I wanted something

more than what I had to go with my parents. My dad would go to

the field and pick onions, chile, tomato and they would cut

lettuce, so they would take me and my little brother. My

little brother was the smart one so we would take sandwiches

like to sell, and I would help my dad and do the whole field

thing, and that's the way I would make my extra money once I

got back to school, so I would have it.

Q You told us you went up to Northern Arizona

University in Flagstaff and came back to Cochise College.

Is that in Douglas, Arizona?

A That is in Douglas, Arizona.

Q So I take it that you were born and raised in

Douglas?

A I was born in Hermosillo, Sinaloa, Mexico, and then

we came to the United States and we were in Douglas.

Q Now, how much time did you spend at Cochise College?


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A It was just a half a semester.

Q From there what did you do?

A Actually, I had to go to work because we had just

gotten married, my wife and I, so I had to look for a job, and

I worked at Checker's Auto Parts.

Q How long did you work for Checker's?

A I worked for them for four years. I came in as a

regular associate and then two months later I became assistant

manager; about four months after that I became the first

assistant, and then my manager left to Nogales to attend the

store in Nogales, and I became the store manager for the

Douglas Checker Auto Parts.

Q What years are we talking about?

A 2000 to 2004.

Q You stayed at Checker's for approximately four years;

is that what you said?

A That's correct.

Q And where did you go from Checker's?

A When I was at Checker's, I actually applied with

Department of Corrections DOC, and I got hired by them in 2004.

Q And how long did you work for the Department of

Corrections?

A I worked with them from 2004 all the way to I got

hired by Customs and Border Protection. I received a phone

call in 2007, I believe.


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Q And Customs and Border Protection is what we have

been talking about working there at the port of entry as an

inspector?

A Yes, that's correct.

Q What was the date that you started with Customs and

Border Protection?

A January of 2008.

Q Did you have to go to the academy?

A Yes, I did; Glynco, Georgia.

Q And how long was the academy there in Glynco,

Georgia?

A I believe it was close to four months, three and a

half months.

Q Let's talk a little bit about what you learned there

at Glynco, Georgia.

Did they have a set up, for instance, to be able to

simulate vehicles coming into the port from one country to

another?

A Yes, they did. Like you heard from the other

testimony, it was limited time, it was only a mock port that

had to do with airport base, so you would go into the lane,

maybe pass a couple of cars, and from there you had to go to

the airport setting.

Q While we are on that topic, did they ever give you a

policy and procedure for inspecting vehicles, say, for


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instance, coming into the port of entry, a land port of entry

such as Agua Prieta-Douglas?

A No.

Q Do you know if any exist?

A I have never seen one.

Q Where do you learn these procedures and things of

that nature that you are supposed to do at the port of entry?

A When you come back from the academy, they put you

into a field training officer, which is just another officer

that has been there maybe a year more than you have, maybe a

couple of more years than you. They will put you with them for

about six weeks and that will be your training.

Q So actually you have no physical manual that you can

look at; it's what you learn from somebody else?

A That's correct.

Q And is each officer that works at the port of entry,

do they use different techniques?

A Yes, sir.

Q Let's talk a little bit about the techniques that you

have seen, you have observed -- use there at the port of entry.

Can you describe those techniques.

A It varies by officer. Some people go by people, some

people go by the vehicle. They look at you and they try to

spot nervousness or see if you are sweating, see if you are

shaking when you hand over the document, or some people look


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plain and simple at the vehicle and spend more time with that.

It just varies; it goes case by case scenario on each officer.

Q What is it that you do?

A Me personally, I go with the person, I go -- once I

see that person when they hand me the document, I want to see

if they are nervous, I want to see if they are sweaty, more the

totality of the circumstance at that specific time instead of

just looking at one specific thing.

Q Now, I want to go back a little bit.

You mentioned that your wife's name is Lizette. How

long had you been dating Lizette?

A We were actually dating in high school. We are

actually high school sweethearts.

Q And how long have you known Lizette now?

A Since 1994.

Q So about 18 years?

A Yes.

Q And you met her while you were in high school?

A Yes, sir.

Q And you have been with her 18 years?

A Yes, sir.

Q Was Lizette raised in Douglas?

A Yes, she was.

Q Do you know what her maiden name is?

A Castillo.


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Q Have you been able to meet all of Lizette's family?

A No.

Q How many of them have you met?

A She has a total of nine brothers and sisters, and I

have only met Ociel, Anna, Sandra, Victor, and I met their mom.

Q Let's talk a little bit about brothers and sisters

that you have met from Lizette.

You mentioned that you met Ozzie?

A Yes, sir.

Q And is he younger or older than Lizette?

A He is older. Lizette is the youngest one out of all

of them.

Q What is the relationship you have with Ozzie?

A Its okay. I kept my distance from him.

Q Okay.

What about your relationship with Sandra?

A It was good.

Q And what about her sister, Anna?

A And the same, I kept my distance from her.

Q Now, Ozzie, Sandra and Anna. Are they older or

younger than Lizette?

A They are all older.

Q Is Lizette the youngest in the family?

A Yes, sir.

Q And one that we haven't mentioned is a brother that


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she has, a brother named Victor.

How well do you know him?

A Well, I thought I knew him very well. Back then I

knew him very well.

Q Let's talk a little bit about the relationship that

you have with Victor. What is his last name?

A Victor Stuppi.

Q How close did you become to Victor Stuppi?

A We were very close. I considered him my best friend.

Actually at one point I considered him like my brother.

Q Having gone through this court process, do you

believe that Victor Stuppi set you up?

A Having gone through all this, there is no doubt in my

mind, sir.

Q At any point prior to June 2011, did you know that

Victor Stuppi was involved in marijuana trafficking?

A No, sir.

Q Did you have any reason to believe that he was

involved in marijuana trafficking?

A No, sir, he worked actually two jobs. He worked for,

I think it was Cochise in the morning and then he worked for

Auto Zone in the afternoon. So he would go to work, come back,

go eat lunch with us at the house, and then he would go home,

shower, change and then be going to Auto Zone.

Q When you say work for Cochise, what does that mean?


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A He worked for the -- it's like the ADOT kind of

thing, but it is Cochise.

Q The county of Cochise?

A Cochise County, correct.

Q So he worked for a government agency, a county

government agency?

A Correct, he worked for the state government.

Q Now, you mentioned he was working two jobs. He

worked for the county in kind of road work, similar to ADOT,

and then he would work at Checker's?

A Yes, he would worked at the county like I told you,

and then he would work at Auto Zone.

A Yes.

Q Auto Zone where?

A In Douglas, Arizona, and also he worked in the Sierra

Vista Auto Zone.

Q So at any point, did Victor flash or show large sums

of money, anything like that?

A No, never.

Q Did he ever say: Hey, look, I am committing this

crime?

A No.

Q Where did Victor Stuppi live in June of 2011?

A In Douglas, Arizona.

Q Now, do you know how old he is?


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A Yes, he is married and he has twins. They are the

same age as my oldest daughter, they are ten years old.

Q How old is Victor?

A Little Victor?

Q No, Victor Stuppi.

A He is older than me.

Q How much older?

A I believe he is 39, I think.

Q And how old are you?

A I am 33.

Q Now, you mentioned little Victor, things like that.

I take it that Victor Stuppi is married?

A Yes, sir.

Q And do you know his wife's name?

A Arlene Daniels.

Q How many children does Victor have?

A Two. A boy and a girl.

Q What are their ages?

A Same age as my daughter; ten years.

Q I take it they are twins?

A Yes, sir.

Q Now, would your family and Victor's family socialize?

A Yes.

Q Tell us a little bit about that.

A Christmas, parties, weekends. They were always


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there. If we were going to do some carne asada, we would call

them and they would go by and spend the whole afternoon with

us.

Q Say, for instance, on a weekly basis, you know, how

much contact would Victor have with either you or your wife,

Lizette?

A Very frequently.

Q Now, when you say very frequently, what are we

talking about?

A Maybe three to four times out of the week plus the

occasional phone call here and there.

Q Was Victor Stuppi and your wife fairly close?

A Yes.


A Victor Stuppi actually raised my wife, so my wife

looked up to him like a father figure.

Q And so would your wife Lizette have contact with

Victor on a very regular basis?

A Yes, very regular.

Q What kind of contact is that?

A Like I said, he would go over by the house or they

would be on the phone or texting.

Q I want to talk a little bit about your playing sports

in high school.

A Okay.


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A When I was in high school, I became All State in my

junior year playing baseball. Right after that, I actually

started playing professional baseball in Mexico with a local

team from south.

Q Did you continue to engage in sports after high

school?

A Yes, I did.


A I played baseball with a local league in Douglas and

I also played softball with a local league in Douglas, men's

softball.

Q Did you ever coach?

A I coached my kids' soccer, little league, T-ball; I

coached their softball.

Q Why don't you describe how often you would coach and

do those kind of programs in Douglas?

A It would be every time that they would have a season

for them. I would volunteer. I think the last season was

myself and another officer, Angel Vasquez. We both volunteered

and became a coach on the same softball team and T-ball team,

too.

Q Did you ever coach Victor Stuppi's kids?

A Little Victor in soccer.

Q How long did you coach him?


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A Well, as the sport itself, I coached him all the way

through, but when it came down to be on the team he was on my

team for maybe two years, I believe.

Q When you say you coached him all the way through,

what do you mean?

A When he came to the house, I would show him how to

kick, how to be able to move and pass the ball and dribble, and

things like that.

Q Did you play softball?

A Yes, I did.


A When we came back from Flagstaff into Douglas, I

started working at Checker's because I got married, and through

Victor we actually -- I ended up playing on a team with him, a

softball team, and after that, once I became employed by

Customs and Border Protection in Douglas, then I started

playing with Custom and Border Protection team out of the port

itself.

Q Now, did you ever buy baseball equipment?

A Yes, I had soccer, all the stuff for soccer because

of coaching. I also had all the stuff for little league, T

ball, and I also had all the stuff for the men's side of it,

bats, gloves, balls, the bases.

Q Did you and Victor ever share softball equipment?

A Yes, we did. If you buy a bat by itself, you're


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looking at close to $300, so we would split it between a couple

of people and I would either store it or he would store it at

his house.

Q And did you do that quite often?

A Yes, on a regular basis.

Q Let me ask you this: Was -- you mentioned that

Victor Stuppi would visit your house?

A Yes, sir.

Q Was he familiar with the inside of your house?

A Very familiar.

Q Why do you say that?

A He would just walk in and go like any family member,

walk to the bathroom, or go to the room, go wherever he can.

Q Did he ever go into your bedroom?

A Yes.

Q And where are your -- where is your baseball

equipment usually stored at?

A It's stored in the closet in my bedroom, right by the

bed.

Q Where was your work schedule at?

A My work schedule is on my side of the bed on a

nightstand, and my wife's schedule is on her side of the bed on

the nightstand.

Q Do you know whether or not Victor was familiar with

where your schedules are kept at?


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A Yes.

Q Let's talk a little bit about the evening of June 16,

2011.

Now, you've become very familiar with this case, have

you not?

A Yes, sir.

Q And you have assisted as much as you can in the

preparation of this case?

A Yes, sir.

Q Now, you have had the opportunity to look at some of

the exhibits that the government has introduced in this case;

is that right?

A That's correct.

Q Now, let's talk about what happened on June 16th,

2011, towards the afternoon.

Did you talk to Victor Stuppi on June 16th?

A Yes, I did.

Q Tell us about that.

A On June 16th, he actually had a softball game. At

that time I played with the port team and he was playing with

his team. He went to the house and he borrowed a bat and on

his way out he goes: By the way I have to be in Agua Prieta,

that is across the line. I got to be in Agua Prieta in the

morning, I have to come back early, would you like for me to

bring you something to eat and I go: Yeah, sure, and I said,


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But hold on because I know I have transportation duty the whole

week, and the following week. Why don't you wait and I will

tell you whether I will be available for you to bring food or I

will have to go to Tucson.

Q Now, there has been some mention of Government's

Exhibit 163, which are text messages. Have you looked at

these?

A Yes, I have.

Q Why don't you tell us what these text messages are.

If I can just go ahead and -- do you know how many text

messages there were on this?

A A lot.

Q Hundreds?

A More.

Q Thousands?

A Thousands.

Q And the government has -- I want to show you page or

stamp 838.

These text messages here and I highlight the one

there because the government has placed some significance on

that. You see the number here, 838?

A Yes, sir.

Q Why don't we start at the top there and let's go

through the names that are here like Azalia, and -- at least

just go through half of it so we have an understanding at least


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a flavor as to what is going on.

A The top name Azalia, that is my aunt. I'm not going

to say what I said there, I was making fun of her. The second

one is Victor. They are in reverse order. It says Victor,

okay; because I asked him -- if you keep reading towards the

bottom of it.

Q Let me stop, because it's a little bit confusing.

This is all in reverse order; is that right?

A That's correct.

Q And GMT is not Arizona time, is it?

A That's correct.

Q GMT is Greenwich time?

A Yes, sir.

Q And that is about a seven hour time difference?

A I believe that is what the government said.

Q So when you look at this you have to deduct seven

hours from whatever time is written there?

A Yes.

Q Is that correct?

A That's correct.

Q So if it is -- for example, at the very bottom here,

a text to Angel. It would be on the`14th of June, 2011. There

it says 02:36, so you have to deduct seven hours from there to

get the actual time that the call took place; right?

A Yes.


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Q So if you deduct seven hours from 2:00 in the morning

you end up at what time?

A That would be 5:00, I believe. Or 7:00, that would

be 7:00 in the afternoon.

Q Anyways, it's a different time, okay.

Why don't we start over here and we will just go

where it starts mom princess, and just look at the contents of

each message and tell us what it is that's taking place during

that time.

A Mom princess, that's my wife. Angel Vasquez, that is

one of the guys that work with me with Customs and Border

Protection and he also coaches with me.

Then the top one is Victor, he asked, where are you

at? I put, right on top of it, I believe it says, At Huber.

I'll be on the way home in a bit.

And I asked him --

Q Let me stop you right there. Let's go back to mom

princess, and there, are you getting out on time?

What are those conversations about and what are you

making reference to that have been highlighted?

A The first one is Omar, that is the guy I play

softball with. He is asking me -- a gentleman by the name of

Ambriz if he can put me as a reference for the U.S. Border

Patrol and I put, yes, he can.

Then my wife texted me: Are you getting out on time


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from work? Yeah, I actually do have work but people I need are

gone and I ask her how bout you? And then Angel just texted me

right there just in case some kids get there. By then I am

doing coaching at that time.

He asked me where do you want to go, meaning where

are we going to go and do the coaching, and he also asked me at

what time.

And then from there we go into Victor.

Q Why don't you give us some details as to what you are

talking to Victor about right there. This is Victor Stuppi?

A Yes, it is. All this is softball related, all this

talk is about games, about what time -- about a bat -- that is

what this is. He goes into, where are you, where you at. I

answer at Huber, I will be home on the way in a bit. At what

time do you play? Meaning what time did you play the game?

Q Let me stop you there. What is Huber?

A Huber is a junior high in Douglas, Arizona.

Q Is that where you're coaching at?

A Yes, in the back they have three little league

baseball fields and that is where we are coaching at, myself

and Angel Vasquez.

Q You told us Angel is another Customs and Border?

A Yes, that's correct. Angel's another officer at the

port of entry.

Q Keep going.


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A So it says at Huber, I will be on the way home in a

bit. I ask him, at what time do you play, meaning what time do

you play softball. He put, they cancelled, they called and his

game.

Q Please identify the person. You say "he."

A Victor Stuppi, it said, they cancel.

So after that I put go by the house in 30 minutes so

we can talk.

After that my wife asked me, where are you at? And

then Victor replied to go by the house in 30 minutes, he

replied as okay. And the last one I asked my aunt if she can

take my girls golfing, but I called her something different.

Q So the thousands of texts, they are all legitimate

texts?

A Yes, sir.

Q There is nothing that is drug related in any of these

texts, is there?

A No, nothing.

Q You have had the opportunity to review all this,

everything that has been downloaded from your phone?

A That's correct.

Q Let me briefly go to another one and we will cover it

here while we are talking. I want to go to page 833.

This goes to 617.

Do you want to tap the side there to get rid of that


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mark?

Why don't you -- it would be easier to start from the

bottom here and tell us what is going on, who mom princess is

all the way up to where you get to Victor.

A The bottom one is Marsh. He's a Customs and Border

Protection Officer, Officer Marsh. I asked him, has it gone

close to anyone's home? I don't know if you guys heard about

this but the Huachuca fires, that's when all this is taking

place, during the Huachuca fires in Sierra Vista. I know his

house was close to the fires, so I was just asking if they were

okay.

Then my wife is asking me, oh, okay, so what do I do

with your tia? And I asked her, it's up to you, and she then

got mad and put, never mind.

Tell her not to leave, I will get there and give her

some money, and I'm done, and she put, no, I'll pay her later.

She's at her house, okay, so don't take money out from the

bank. I put K.

The top name is David Mata, another officer at the

port of entry. He is asking me, are you going to make it

tonight? If I'm going to make it to the softball game. After

that Victor texted me, to your house. And after that Manny

Davila, or Manny, the one that says Manny -- Officer Manny

Davila, he will text me, I'll be there.

So then Manny sends a massive text and he put, hey


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guys, game tonight at 8:25 against Casam. Let me know if

you're going to make it, we need players. So then Manny texted

me, is Ramirez going for sure, too? So then I answer -- and

then I texted Ram. I go, Hi Ram, it's Luis. We play today at

8:25, do you think you can make it?

David Rotalo (ph.), that's another player that plays

with us. I'm back in town, bro, sorry was working in Tucson

and I put welcome back carnal.

Bless you.

So after that Ramirez put: Okay, gracias, thank you.

And after that Manny at the end put carnal, so he

won't be able to go, and again it's all softball stuff.

Q You were pretty active with softball; is that

correct?

A Very active.

Q Coaching?

A Coaching.

Q Playing?

A Playing.

Q And I want to direct your attention here because 6-17

is really the date in question where this Avalanche comes

through your -- the port of entry.

What why don't you tell us what happened if Victor

went to your house that evening or what?

A Yes, he showed up to my house to return a black Miken


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bat that he had borrowed the night before.

Q What is Miken?

A It's a brand.

Q Did you notice anything unusual about Victor when he

got to your house?

A At the time I recall him being -- while he was

talking to me he was on the phone and back then it didn't

click, but he was on the phone all the time asking me questions

like how was work today? Did you hear anything different at

work today? Did anything happen, and I was like, No. Back

then I didn't think like nothing out of it.

Q I want to go back to what we started to talk a little

bit about.

Back on June 16th, the conversation that you had with

Victor. What time of the day did you have this conversation

with Victor bringing you something to eat at the port?

A It was in the afternoon because he had a game.

Q Who had a game?

A Victor.

Q Is that when he borrowed the Miken bat?

A That is when he borrowed that black Miken bat.

Q What did he tell you at that point in time?

A He showed up to my house and then he told me: Hey,

we have a game tonight, and I am going to borrow one of the

bats. And I say, go for it. And he goes in my room and comes


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back, and he has the bat on my hand, so I'm walking him

outside. As he is walking outside, he goes, by the way, I have

to go to Agua Prieta in the morning, Mexico, would you want me

to bring you something to eat? And I told him, yeah,

definitely. But first, hold on, because I know I have to do

transportation. I have not received a phone call yet saying we

have people for you to take to Tucson. So as soon as I know I

will let you know whether to bring me food or not to bring me

food.

Q So you told him that you were probably or maybe going

to Tucson the next morning, which would be June 17th?

A That's correct.

Q Now, transportation. How long had you been assigned

to transportation?

A Transportation is actually enforcement. I have been

with them for at least four, five months at that time.

Q Now, was it a regular thing that you were going

everyday to transportation, or was that when -- tell us a

little bit about that. You tell us.

A Enforcement and transportation is a rotational of

four officers at that time. It was a total of seven officers,

but three of them were always there, meaning that either one

female or one male would go. And out of the other four,

because we were new people, we would be rotating with them. So

at that time I was assigned to transportation, and I was


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supposed to be rotating -- going with them if we had something.

Q So an arrest takes place at the port of entry the

night before, and you get to the port the next morning, and you

are assigned to transport the arrestee from the port of entry

in Douglas to Tucson?

A That's correct. If they arrest them like early in

the mornings and they get all the paperwork done by 8:00, by

the time we get there, they have to wait to call it in here to

the courthouse. And then they call it in, and then the AUSA

would say, yes, we will take them, or, no, hold them for

tomorrow or kick them back. So if I was wearing my BDUs, my

uniform for work, something like that happened, they would tell

us you have to go to Tucson, then I would go back in my truck,

drive to my house, change into something similar like this

without a jacket, of course, and come up here and do

transportation.

Q Now, you let Victor know that you might be having to

transport individuals the next day?

A That's correct.

Q Did Victor tell you what time he was going to be in

Mexico?

A He said that he was going to be there early. I did

not ask him why.

Q Did you ever have any more contact with him after you

spoke to him, after you gave him the softball bag?


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A No, after that he left to go play his game.

Q What happened the morning of June 17th?

A I drive to work, I get to work. I go where we have

our schedule. When I get there, I heard one of the officers --

arvizu, the gentleman that was here before, and he stated to

the fact, oh, great, I'm the lead, and he doesn't like being

the lead, so I volunteered. I said, would you like for me to

take it? He could have said, no. He said, yeah, you will be

doing me a favor. Back then we went through the statements,

and he said it was his Friday so he wanted to go home early

because once you are the lead officer you have to stay over.

MR. LACEY: Hearsay, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Yes.

MR. RALLS: Hold up right there.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q If we could play 57A, please, starting at 7:46.

Tell us what you are looking at here.

A This right here is the briefing room. Those are our

lockers. The red ones are the bigger lockers and the other

ones are smaller lockers, nothing really fits in there so

nobody uses them.

Q When are the briefings held?

A We hardly have any briefings because of scheduling,

and we don't have people at the port of entry, so theres not

that many briefings.


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Q Is that why the briefing room is empty?

A Yes, sir.

Q So I take it that you drop off things in your locker,

and then you head from there to wherever you need to go?

A Me personally, I didn't have a locker because I

wouldn't take anything to work, so all I am doing is I'm just

walking through the briefing room. I'm going to go through

this door right here and say hi to the gentlemen sitting in

peds or the pedestrian lane, and then I will be walking towards

the head house.

Q Let's just watch. And as soon as you come into the

picture, would you let us know.

A Yes, sir.

(Tape being played)

A That's me walking into that room.

And that was me exiting towards pedestrian, officers

that are sitting down in the pedestrian lane.

Q So that door walks out into the pedestrian lane at

the port of entry?

A That's correct.

A And then you go through another door and then you

walk going towards the head house.

Q So you don't come back out that door?

A No, sir.

Q Go ahead and stop it there, please.


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And if we go to 57B, starting at 7:46:50.

You saw an individual right there, in a clip there.

Who was that?

A That is Officer Arvizu.

(Tape being played)

Q And right there you are looking at what?

A That right there, this building right here is called

the head house.

You have two doors you can enter through, and you

have -- that is the PECC on this side. The supervisors' office

should be right over here.

(Tape being played)

And that's me entering the head house.

Q We can stop it there.

What is it that you did inside the head house?

A Once I walk through that door -- as soon as you walk

in, made a left, and there is a counter. On that counter, the

supervisors put what is called the daily shift rotation, and

that's where I walked in, and Officer Arvizu was standing, and

that's where he said: Oh, great, I am the lead, and I told him

I will take it if you don't want it.

Q Hang on a second right there, Mr. Vasquez.

Let me show you what has been marked as Government's

Exhibit 117, it is already in evidence.

Is that clear where you are at?


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A Right there is okay.

Q Why don't you tell us what that is?

A This is a day shift rotation, the rotation schedule

that I was talking to you guys about.

Q Okay.

And who puts this together?

A This is done by a supervisor.

Q Computer-generated?

A It's more of a -- there's a name drag and click, type

of thing.

Q Now, there is the name Vasquez up there where it says

lead officer. Who wrote that down?

A That's my handwriting.

Q And you went in and you saw Officer Arvizu?

A Yes, sir.

Q You heard him testify?

A Yes, I did.

Q Did you hear him say that he stresses when he has the

lead officer position?

A Yes, sir.

Q Do you know that to be a fact?

A Yes, I do.

Q Why don't you tell us how you are familiar with the

fact that he stresses when he has a position like this?

A We do a lot of immigration together. We do a lot of


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cases, impostors, people that are crossing the border that

shouldn't be crossing, and the situation we had maybe seven

cases at one point, and we all grab a case and just process

them and get them through. And he just gets one case, goes

into a corner and takes his time with it. And as soon as I am

done with whatever cases I have, I will go up to him and say,

are you okay, do you need help? And he will say, I am a little

overwhelmed, do you mind helping me, so I helped him out

before.

Q You had no intention of taking this position when you

walked in?

A No.

Q When he says, I don't want to be lead officer, what

did you do?

A As a friend I told him, I will take it from you. It

wasn't a big deal.

Q So it's not the first time that you have helped him

out in those situations?

A That's correct.

Q And what did you tell him at that point?

A After that, I told him I will take it from him, and

then he said something to the extent or what he testified to

that some supervisors don't like for the rotation to be

switched, and I go, well, it's up to you, if you want to. And

from there he didn't say anything, so I grabbed it and walked


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to the supervisor's office. And I actually walked and talked

to Shift Watch Commander Gomez, because he's the only one that

can approve a switch. So I went and I got it approved by him,

and I came back and said, it's all taken care of. And I put my

name where it says Vasquez. I put him down here where my spot

was supposed to be. And then after that, I went ahead and I

got the 2 to 10 people, the shift 2 to 10 people to come in so

we can have coverage for the people that we have 6 to 2, so

they can go home, and that's what I did.

Q As a lead officer, do you have more responsibilities?

A Yes, sir.

Q Tell us about that.

A As the lead officer, you are kind of a supervisor.

If something goes wrong, they will come to you and they will

come to you and tell you, hey, you know what, and say -- I will

give you an example. If Santiago has to push Stevens, meaning

he hasn't gone up there and told her, hey, I will take care of

your spot, then Stevens is going to be calling me, telling me,

hey, by the way, I'm still in the lane for an ex amount of

time, do you mind getting somebody to push me. So I have to

make sure that all is working nice, smooth, that nobody is

having problems like that.

Q Now, at that point you know you are going to Lane 5?

A That's correct.

Q Do you call Victor Stuppi?


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A I did.

Q Do you call him from your phone -- your personal

phone to his?

A Yes, sir, from my personal cell phone.

Q What do you tell Victor Stuppi?

A I told him, hey, I'm not going to transportation, I'm

going to be here, go ahead and bring me lunch, I will be on

Lane 5.

Q Now, when you tell him that, does he tell you where

he's at? Is it a short conversation? Tell us what happens.

A No, that's pretty much what it was, because after

that I have to make sure that I have coverage, meaning that the

people from midnight were actually taken care of so they could

go home, and I went around and made sure everybody was ready to

go, and the people that came in were there on time, because I

didn't want to keep anybody from midnight to 8:00, and I keep

them from 8:00 to 4:00.

Q Now, you told Victor Stuppi that you were going to be

in Lane 5?

A Yes, I did.

Q Why did you do that?

A The whole thing with the port is time. You cannot

waste time by doing excess stuff. The port of entry is time so

people can come through and they can go shopping in Douglas.

So the supervisors have told us, if you know it is a family


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member going across the lane, don't make them come through your

lane because it will take you time. Because the proper

procedure if a family comes to you, you log off your computer

and tell the officer next to you, hey, Altimirano, do you mind

coming in here and processing my family. After that, I will

move back, I will have a conversation with my family and the

officer will go log in, he's going to process my family. After

that he's going to log out and then he's supposed to go back to

his booth. And all that just took two lanes. He shut his

booth down and I shut my booth down because to process one

vehicle.

Q So basically -- is that a written policy or is that

an unwritten policy that you should not have family come

through your lane?

A I have not seen a written policy on it, but it is

more of an unwritten policy type of thing.

Q And so did you tell Victor that so he would not come

through your lane?

A Yes, sir.

Q Did you believe that Victor was in Agua Prieta,

Sonora?

A Yes, sir. I had told him before to bring me lunch

multiple times. He had done it before.

Q I want to show you or at least have you start looking

at Exhibit 57E starting at approximately 8:30.


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(Tape being played)

Why don't you tell us what we are looking at right

here on 57E?

A Right here we are looking at primary Lane 5, and we

are looking at a vehicle in that lane.

Q Who is working primary Lane 5 at that time?

A I can't tell the officer.

Manny Davila. That would be right there.

Q Why don't you describe this vehicle as it's moving

along.

A It's a pickup truck coming to his lane, dark tinted

windows. He's doing his inspection, he took the ID, he's going

to swipe it.

He's done with the inspection, did not look in the

back of the seat or anything like that. And, like I told you,

every officer is different. There is not one officer that is

the same as another officer.

A Vehicle comes in, again dark tinted windows, big

trunk on this type of vehicle, reached for the IDs, he goes

back in the booth. In my opinion the dark tinted windows, they

are not a big deal in Arizona.

MR. LACEY: He is volunteering without a question.

THE COURT: There is no question.

A Sorry, Your Honor.

That was me coming into camera and I am about to


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relieve where he is.

Q That is you walking up to replace Officer Davila?

A Yes, sir.

Again me and him are probably having a conversation.

He has not done no questions or anything to the driver as you

can see, and all he's going to do right now is just getting the

IDs, and gives them back to the driver.

Gave them the IDs, the vehicle is leaving, I walk

into the booth, and now I am logging into the booth. He is

just holding up traffic for me to make sure no vehicles are

coming up, and then we have are having a conversation again.

It could be about anything.

Q So Manuel Davila is coming off the midnight shift?

A No, he's actually my push. He would be my -- the

officer that we are going to be rotating through the whole day,

30 minutes on and 30 minutes off, me and him, and he's the one

that sent the mass text that day saying we have a game tonight.

I called for a vehicle to come forward.

Q What are you doing there with that Bronco?

A That Bronco shows up, so I am taking the driver's

B1/B2 visa, I get it, I swipe it.

Q What is a B1/B2 visa?

A Could you stop it for me, please.

A A B1/B2 visa is actually a visa that is given to a

Mexican border crosser. And just by looking at it you can tell


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it is just Mexico because it tells you B1/B2 and tells you

visa.

If it's an LPR, card which is a legal permanent

resident card, will look similar to the B1/B2 visa because the

pictures are reversed, and then there is also a United States

passport and a United States passport card. So they have all

types of crossing documents. But just by looking at the

document you should be able to tell from what country or

citizenship this person is.

THE COURT: Why don't we stop here to take our noon

recess.

(Thereupon, a brief discussion was had, which was

reported, but not transcribed herein)

A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N

(Motions were heard, which were reported, but not

transcribed herein afterwhich the proceedings resumed as

follows:)

Mr. Vasquez, if you would come on up.

(Witness resumed the witness stand)

THE COURT: Be seated, please.

Back on the record with our jury, counsel and the

defendant.

Mr. Ralls, you may continue.

MR. RALLS: Thank you, Judge.

DIRECT EXAMINATION (Resumed)


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BY MR. RALLS:

Q We are waiting for where we left off.

We were on 57E.

I think we are about -- can you go up to 8:37,

please.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q What is taking place there, Mr. Vasquez?

A Me and Manny Davila just switch. I went into the

booth and he logged out of the computer, I logged back in and

now I am in, now I am going to process my traffic.

Q You have a vehicle coming in right now?

A Yes, sir.

Q And that vehicle is a Ford Bronco?

A Yes, it is.

Q Watch that video and see what is taking place; what

it is that you do concerning that Ford Bronco?

A Okay. I was in the booth and doing the referral

slip. This vehicle has to be sent to secondary. I put the

slip with the B-1 B-2 visa inside the cone and I placed the

cone on top of the hood.

Q So that vehicle there will go where?

A That vehicle is going to go to secondary.

Q Is that the typical yellow cone you put --

MR. RALLS: Would you hold it there, please?

BY MR. RALLS:


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Q Is it typical of the vehicle you put that yellow cone

on there?

A You can do multiple things to refer a vehicle. You

can put the cone and the slip underneath it, you can also walk

a vehicle back or radio a vehicle, get on the radio and tell

the rover, can you rove in that vehicle for me. So there are

multiple things.

Q Where you are standing are you elevated?

A Yes, I am.

Q And when you are elevated like that, do you have a

better vision or perspective of the interior of the vehicle

that is coming towards you?

A Yes, you do.

Q Describe that.

A You are actually standing on a platform and looking

kind of down on an angle so you have a good view.

Q Can you see at that angle right there, can you see

the occupants of the vehicle?

A Yes, sir.

Q Can you tell whether or not there is any occupants,

say, for instance, seated in the back seat?

A Yes.

Q All right, please.

A The vehicle approaches by my booth and I grabbed the

driver document and asked him, que lleva, donde va.


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I asked that driver, que lleva, donde va, what are

you bringing and where are you going?

After that you get the B1/B2 visa and you wand it

into a little pad that is next to the computer and that is all

you do is wand and then -- if you are okay with the inspection

you give it back to them as it was.

Q How fast does it take for -- for instance, a return

to come back when you wand the visa?

A It is instant, like as soon as you do it it just pops

up.

Q Tell us about this wanding.

How do you do that? What is the set up in there?

A You have your monitor just like this, and on the

bottom of your monitor there is the actual hard drive for it,

on top of the hard drive you will see -- you can scan them

manually yourself and on the left-hand side of it there is a

little pad like this big, and all you do is just cross your

RFPD, your visa, you cross on top of it and it will read it, it

will extract information.

Q So is that a split second thing that you get a

return?

A Yes, sir.

Q All right. Where you are standing right there, what

is it that you are looking at?

A You are looking at incoming vehicles as well as the


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vehicle that just left your lane.

Q From that point where you are standing right there,

how long does it take for the vehicle that is behind this one

that we just seen come through, how long does it take to arrive

to where you are at?

A That depends on the driver. I can't tell them speed

up or slow down, just the driver.

There is also some bumps where they slow down when

they are coming to you.

Q We had another officer yesterday testify about will

stop, will start.

That is not the entire time you examine the vehicle;

is it?

A No, you examine the vehicle from the time you see it

until the time the vehicle actually leaves your eyesight.

Q So the observation is several times longer than that?

A That's correct.

Q Okay.

A I am looking at the vehicle that is coming towards

me.

MR. RALLS: Can we stop it right there?

BY MR. RALLS:

Q What is taking place right there?

A I am grabbing the visas from the driver and the

passenger and I am going to wand them again and give it back to


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them. The only difference in this instance is this van is a

church van from across the line and they are coming to the port

to pick up -- anything that we seize, vegetables, fruit, meats,

it gets all put in a place in agricultural refrigerators and

instead of us actually destroying them like we are supposed to,

we donate it to Casas de Los Ninos across the line.

Q So you are familiar with this vehicle?

A Very familiar.

Q And so you take the visas from them?

A I am going to take the visas and I am going to wand

them and give them back to them and the directions I give them

is just go to the agriculture and they will meet with them.

MR. RALLS: Please continue.

(Tape being played)

BY MR. RALLS:

Q That time period right there is not when you are

scanning the documents?

A Yes, I just put my hand in there.

Q Very rapid?

A Yes, very rapid.

Q So you just walk in, scan it and then you know

exactly what?

A Yes, sir. Right on the computer screen itself, it is

going to show up there, pictures from B-1, 2's and it will give

you a green light, red light.


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Green light means I see no problems with this, red

light means there is something wrong, so then you pay more

attention to that part of it.

Q Do you become real dependent on that green light, red

light?

A You become complacent eventually, because all you see

is -- it is a computer like this, the screen. On the top left

corner, you will see where it is red or green, so you kind of

ignore the rest of the screen, you focus more on the left-hand

side of it.

Q So green means what?

A Green means go pretty much.

Q And the red is stop, there is something you need to

look at further?

A That is correct. Red would mean there is a TECS hit;

there is something wrong with the vehicle, or something.

Q Okay.

MR. RALLS: Continue, please.

(Tape being played.)

BY MR. RALLS:

Q As this video is moving along, tell us what you are

doing?

A I am watching the vehicle come this way toward my

lane, I am going to grab the vehicle, swipe the document and

hand it back to them and have a good day. I am focusing in on


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their faces and on their hands, making sure they are not

nervous or shaking while they hand me the document and that is

what I am doing. Again I am looking at the vehicle coming up.

Q And you are able to see inside the vehicle?

A Yes, sir. Grab the IDs, just wand, give it back to

them, have a good day and I am going to look at the vehicle and

make sure -- as it is leaving, make sure there is nothing out

of the ordinary and I am also looking at the driver as he is

leaving.

Another vehicle, this guy is a regular crosser, que

lleva, donde va, gave him back the ID and he is on his way.

MR. RALLS: Let's stop it there for just a second.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q When the vehicle leaves your booth going in a

northbound direction, do you also study the vehicle?

A Yes, sir, I am always studying the vehicle but I am

also looking at the driver's side mirror, because you can see a

picture -- not a picture, you can see the face of the driver

and in some instances we got when you gave them back their ID

and as they are driving away, they have a smirk and you can

actually catch that.

Q Now, I want to show you what has been marked as

Defense 307, and just Defense Exhibit 307 and just ask --

Defendants Exhibit 307.

Are you familiar with what 307 is?


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A Yes, sir.

Q And what is that?

A This vehicle is actually leaving Lane 5 from where

the pictures were taken.

Q And does that depict a person looking through the

rearview mirror?

A Yes, sir. As you can see there, you can literally

see his face on it.

Q It is a side view mirror?

A You are correct.

MR. RALLS: I move for the admission of Defense

Exhibit 307.

MR. LACEY: No objection.

THE COURT: Admitted.

MR. RALLS: May be published.

THE COURT: Yes.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q All right. Tell us, Mr. Vasquez, what are we looking

at right here in conjunction to where you are at?

A The vehicle is actually leaving, so I would be

standing by the booth, as the vehicle is leaving I will glance

over and look at his face. You can tell there is another

picture where the vehicle is a little more distance from me and

still see his face and another picture where the vehicle is

actually kind of turning, and then you are focused more on if


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anything is happening or anything -- no package or anything,

you can see anything like that.

Q Let me show you -- continuation of 307.

Is that a similar view but a little bit further?

A Yes, sir, he is starting to turn and you can still

see his face.

Q And then a continuation on page three of 307?

A Right.

Q Is that very similar?

A Yes, sir, and you can see the bottom of the -- of

where the spare tire would be.

Q Okay. So, in other words, from what point or what

vantage point did you start studying the vehicle and when do

you quit studying the vehicle and the driver?

A Well, it is a combination of things. You are looking

as the vehicle is approaching you, also in mind you just look

at the vehicle that left, so you are looking at multiple things

at once; not just focused on the one vehicle or anything like

that.

Q So the process is not, will stop, will start?

A No; not at all.

Q Tell us what you are doing there?

A The van approached, took the drivers B1/B2, give it

back to them, have a good day. Another vehicle is coming.

Q Can you tell whether or not these have tinted windows


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or light tint?

A They have tinted windows. The girl is actually

wearing sunglasses. It is just part day-to-day that we see

everyday at the port of entry.

(Tape is being played.)

THE WITNESS: Again, the vehicle came, took the ID,

asked que lleva, donde va, swiped it and it was on its way.

Vehicle approached, took the ID, swiped it, and I

give it back to them, he is leaving, and I am going to look

back, look at the mirror. I didn't like something that he must

have given me, so now I am going to reach for my radio and I am

going to call secondary if they can rove that vehicle in.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Now, when you make the call at that point on your

radio, your secondary, do you make it to a particular person,

or just to secondary?

A We make it to secondary, it is not a particular

person.

Q And you heard, I believe, it was Officer Macias

yesterday?

A That is correct. I believe Macias said that I

radioed him in his testimony, however, in his report that he

gave to the FBI was that --

MR. LACEY: Objection.

THE COURT: Sustained.


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BY MR. RALLS:

Q Do you recall having called Macias or did you just

say: Secondary, please stop?

A I said secondary officers, can you guys rove in that

vehicle.

Q Now, this is the vehicle in question, the Avalanche?

A Yes, sir, that's correct.

Q Why don't you describe what is taking place right

there?

A I am grabbing the driver's B1/B2, I am going to get

it que lleva, donde va, I am going to swipe it and give it back

to him

Q "Que lleva, donde va" means what?

A What are you bringing and where are you going.

Q Did the driver respond to you?

A Yes, he did.

Q If the driver does not respond, do you let them go?

A No, I would ask them more questions.

Q But here this term, at least for the Hispanic driver

coming into the United States, que lleva, donde va, is that

something that basically most Customs agents ask?

A Yes, we do. Actually I believe the driver even

remembers the same questions.

Q So it is pretty common for the Customs agents to ask

what do you have, where are you going?


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A Yes, sir.

Q And that is usually in Spanish?

A That is correct.

Q Anything about that vehicle that was unusual?

A No, nothing. It is not sitting low, anything like

that. I didn't see anything wrong with it.

Q And from the vantage point that we have, it is not

sitting low at all; is it?

A It is not.

Q There is nothing distinctive about that vehicle?

A Nothing, just a vehicle that came through my lane.

Q And the driver of this vehicle, do you recall ever

having seen him before?

A No.

Q He has sunglasses; is that right?

A That is correct.

MR. LACEY: I object to the leading questions.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Does he have sunglasses?

A Yes, he did. On the other view you can tell.

Q We will get the booth view here in a few minutes.

A Okay.

Q Your recollection is what that he has?

A He has sunglasses, yes.

Q All the Customs agents there that you have seen in


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these videos, do they also have sunglasses on?

A That's correct, everybody has glasses on.

Q It is Southern Arizona; right?

A Yes.

Q Tell us what you did or what you are going to be

doing when you take the visa from this individual?

A Actually, when I am looking at this video, I am not

really concerned with that video, I am still paying attention

to the other vehicle that I told the guys to rove into

secondary. That is, my mind is with the other vehicle, not

really on this vehicle, so I turn back and I ask for the ID,

que lleva, donde va, I swiped it and on the one hand I am still

talking about the other vehicle and I gave it back to him and I

told him, have a good day, and my mind was on the other

vehicle.

Q Now, was there an issue at that point in time

concerning the vehicle license plate being read?

A Yes, it was.

Q Why don't you tell us about that?

A On my computer screen it appeared a no license plate,

NLPR, no license plate read, that meaning the machine that

captures the picture of it is a speed trap, it malfunctioned so

it didn't work, so all I got was a yellow banner and I was busy

with the other vehicle so by the time I noticed it I went in

there and fixed it and I had put a different license plate.


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Q Was it off by a lot of numbers?

A No, it was a similar license plate, I think I missed

one number.

Q Did the vehicle license plate reader reread the

license plate?

A That is correct. As soon as I submitted that package

then the plate it showed up in my computer.

Q So it read it correctly then?

A Yes, it did.

Q Let me show you, if I may, Exhibit 306 which has

already been admitted into evidence.

And let's talk about cancelled packages and I think

this might be a good time to talk about it and then we will do

a little more later on.

This is 306. How often do misreads and cancelled

package occur?

A They are very common.

Q And you can see here that we are talking about a span

of time of four minutes?

A That is correct. 15:51 to 15:55.

Q And you have five lanes in operation there?

A Yes, sir.

Q The packages that are cancelled, they are not really

cancelled, are they?

A No, it stays in the system.


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Q Tell us why it stays in the system?

A It is a track like a record of everything, nothing

gets deleted, everything stays in there.

Q If you wanted to intentionally cancel a package,

could you do it and forever erase it from the system?

A No, you can't.

Q Would that be a very obvious way of putting attention

on yourself?

A That would be a very big way of putting a red flag on

yourself.

Q Now, if a package is cancelled, are supervisors

notified?

A Just what you see here, there is a screen that they

get, and it tells them every time a TECS want handled it, it

tells them whether a cancelled happens, it tells them a no LPR,

it goes to the supervisor and tells them something is going on.

MR. RALLS: Can we go back to 57, please?

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Did you compare the driver's face to the visa or the

visa?

A Yes, I did.

Q Tell us about this vehicle here?

A The vehicle again is coming up. I am going to grab

their information and swipe it again. Right now I am fixing

that no LPR, that is why it is taking me longer to come out of


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that booth.


THE WITNESS: Putting my radio away.

MR. RALLS: Can you stop it right there.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q What is going on with this car?

A This vehicle came to my lane. I am going to end up

referring this vehicle. The first thing that caught my eye, if

you look at the back of that Nova is it is really raised up,

that vehicle has a really raised up back. They are not like

that from factory, so that is the first thing that caught my

attention.

I notice on the other video you will see where the

driver is actually -- I believe he is sweating, and then he is

wiping his eyebrow and really really nervous.

MR. RALLS: Continue.


THE WITNESS: And like I told you -- like I said

before, there are three ways to refer the vehicle; one, you can

do the slip with the cone and send it back, the other one you

can call it in on the radio, and this one you can walk it back,

and there is no set way of how you are supposed to do or what

you are not supposed to do.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q So what is it that you are doing right there?


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A On this one I close the gate so no more vehicles come

through, I am going to walk by it because I perceive he is

nervous and trying to talk to him to keep him calm because if

it is a load. I am going more for a hunch and that is what I

am doing, walking back to make sure he is calm, that he does

not take off on me and run another officer over or the public

over and that is why I walk him back and I am going to get to

secondary and I am going to hand it over to another officer and

explain to him what I saw.

I am going to be coming back, and the guy from Lane

4, his name is Officer Altamirano, I played softball with him,

so --

MR. LACEY: Questions instead of monolog here.

THE COURT: Okay.

MR. RALLS: Hold on, Mr. Vasquez.

THE WITNESS: I will.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Let's talk about the individual that is in Lane 4

here.

Who is he?

A Officer Altamirano, and he plays softball on the same

port team that we have.

Q How long have you and him been playing softball?

A For about a year at that time.

Q Is that you coming back into the picture?


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A That is me coming back into the picture.

Q You open up your gate again?

A I am going to open up the gate and calling the

vehicle to come up, I am going to be walking towards the booth,

and me and him are just talking, I am going to go say hi to

him.

Q Okay. Can't really see what you are doing at that

point, but we will get a different angle.

A Okay.


BY MR. RALLS:

Q The driver in that blue vehicle, does he already have

his card in his hand ready to hand to you?

A Yes, he does.

Q You grab it?

A I grabbed it, look at the picture and looked at him

and I am going to get in the booth, swipe it and I am going to

release him.

I am still talking to the officer on Lane 4.

(Tape being played)

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Tell us what is taking place here?

A Again, I am getting their documents, asking them

questions, I am going to process them and give it back to them,

and they should be on their way.


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Q Are these people you know?

A No. They are probably asking some type of question.

Q But even at that point they are free to go at any

time?

A When I give them the IDs they are free to go. The

gentleman that is coming up --

Q Let me stop you right there.

Who is the gentleman that came up?

A The gentleman that came up in the picture he is

assistant port director, and he is there looking at the lines

making sure that everybody is doing their job and he will go

all the way to outbound, make sure everything is running

smoothly and go back.

Q So when you are working the booth here, do you have a

lot of supervision over you?

A Yes.

Q Probably this is a good time to talk about what the

layout there is at the port of entry, pre primary, primary and

post primary as to the number of individuals, for instance

other officers that are working in that area.

Why don't you tell us about that?

A You guys have seen a couple of pictures already. The

front side back there, that is called pre primary. That is

when the vehicles start lining up to come toward your booth and

then they come to you, primary booth and once they pass your


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area is called post primary, and that is between the booth and

that is the head house.

And then inside the head house you have supervisors

and officers, other officers. In pre-primary you have what we

call rovers, and some ACET. Macias spoke to you about that.

They will go in and walk around with the canine, two officers,

one dog and they will walk in looking at vehicles and see which

one they like. If they like a vehicle they will go to that

lane and have a casual conversation with the driver and after

that they will bring it back to me in the booth and they will

tell me, "we will take this one back," so I will do a quick

referral, give it to them and they will walk it back.

When the vehicle leaves my booth, there is what we

call rovers, people in secondary all the time, they are walking

around looking at vehicles and, again, it is to their

discretion whether they want to pull a vehicle in and search

that vehicle or just watch it go back.

Q Right here at primary do you have rovers that are

roving from one -- from Lane 1 up to Lane 7?

A Yes.

Q And do you know what their job is as a rover?

A The job as a rover, their whole job is to look for

the vehicle that they think might be loaded. So again, it is

more towards a hunch or a feeling, so they will be looking at

vehicles, they will be looking at the drivers and see if they


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appear nervous and that is what they will do.

Q On this particular morning, were there rovers there?

A I believe there were.

MR. RALLS: Go ahead and start the video.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Tell us what is happening here?

A Vehicle is coming up, I am going to take their IDs

and wand them again --

Q There are two people in the vehicle here?

A Yes.

-- gave it back to them and have a good day.

Q Tell us what happens here?

A Vehicle comes up, take the ID again. Sometimes they

won't read right, and I just give it back to her and told her

have a good day.

Right here I am talking to the guy in Lane 4 talking

about softball and on the other video you will see where I am

telling them how to swing a soft ball. He is a big guy, his

arm is bigger than my leg.

MR. LACEY: Can we have questions and answers.

MR. RALLS: Stop it right there, please.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q We saw you doing a demonstration, okay.

Who are you doing that demonstration to?

A With the officer on Lane 4, Altamirano.


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Q And is he conversing with you at that time?

A Yes.

Q Now, you and him had spoken about three, four minutes

prior to when you walked over to Lane 4.

Do you recall whether or not that was in relation to

softball?

A Yes, it was. You guys don't get to see the whole

part of it.

THE COURT: Mr. Vasquez, let me -- do not refer to

the jury as "you guys".

THE WITNESS: Sorry.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Okay. So you had that conversation with Altamirano

on four?

A Yes, I did. And while I am having that conversation

I am telling him how to do a proper swing because he says -- he

is a bigger guy. His arms are bigger than my legs, and he

asked me: "How come you being smaller how can you hit home

runs and I can't because I am bigger than you?"

I said, "It is the way you swing." And I told him

which way he should be swinging and on the other video you can

actually see.

Q We will get to the other one because we need to look

at that other angle.

So what is taking place with this vehicle here?


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A Getting the IDs, going back in there, process the

traffic and give it back to them.

MR. RALLS: We can go ahead and start?

(Tape being played)

BY MR. RALLS:

Q I realize it has been a long time since you were

there, but do you recall what it was that you were doing with

that vehicle?

A No, I don't.

Q I notice that you are looking at the vehicle?

A Right.

Q Is that part of your observations?

A That is still part of my inspection; yes, sir.

Q Okay.

A That's Macias; he's one of the rovers. He's coming

to my lane. He probably saw a vehicle that he liked.


Q Do you recall having any recollection what took place

between you and that vehicle there?

A No, I don't. It has been a while.

Q What is it that you are doing right there?

A I am referring the vehicle to secondary, again

putting the driver's B1/B2 and that paper in that cone on top

of it, and he will be going to secondary.

Q Okay.


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(Tape being played)

We can stop that video right there.

Mr. Vasquez, what we have had up to this point has

been known as a front view; is that correct?

A That's correct.

Q Now, what I want to do is I want to draw your

attention to 57D which is an even closer view of what it is

that you are doing in the booth and maybe we could go to 57D,

please.

And we will start it at that point in time.

Can you tell us what is going on right there?

A I believe this is Officer Davila doing an inspection

on this vehicle.

Q Have you arrived yet at Lane 5?

A I don't think that I am there yet.

Q In the clips that we have seen, have you seen Officer

Davila looking into the back of these vehicles?

A No, not yet.

Q So, in other words, it is not uncommon that an

officer would not look into the back of a vehicle?

A That's correct. All that is left to officer

discretion.

Q Now, we have this 300 that is coming up.

A Yes, sir.

Q Dark tinted windows?


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A Dark tinted windows.

Q And Officer Davila is not looking in the back?

A That's correct, sir.

Q Can you tell whether the driver of this vehicle has

sunglasses or not?

A I can't tell. She is wearing a hat.

Q Have you already arrived to switch over?

A Yes, I did.

Q And do you know whether or not that is the reason why

it is taking so long?

A Yes, he is logging off so I can log in.

(Tape being played)

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Is that Manny Davila?

A Yes, sir.

Q You have a vehicle coming up?

A That is the Bronco.

Q Okay. What is it you have done there?

A I placed her B1/B2 visa and her slip inside the cone

and put the cone on top.

Q You were able to scan that document, give it back to

that driver?

A Yes, sir.

Q Just a matter of a few seconds just to scan it and

ask the questions?


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A Yes.

Q Tell us about this vehicle here.

Is this the church van?

A Yes, that's why I shook her hand.

Q Pretty quick there, too?

A Yes, sir.

Q Now, a lot -- these wheels don't even stop before

they hand you the IDs; is that right?

A That's correct.

Q Same thing with this vehicle. The wheels have not

even stopped before he hands you the ID?

A Yes, sir.

Q So what is it that you are observing in this video

right here?

A The driver gives me the ID, I take it, scan it, and I

give it back to him.

Q Why don't you describe -- as you are seeing the

vehicle coming in, describe what it is that you are looking at?

A The vehicle comes up, I am going to take the ID,

right there I put it up so I can see the face, swipe it, give

it back to him.

Q The vehicle is not riding low or anything like that?

A No.

Q Anything unusual about this one that you are looking

at here?


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A Would you stop it, please.

Q Sure.

A As you can tell when he got there, he almost went out

to give me the ID out of the window; he was sweating, he

started wiping his eyebrow, he put his hand over his mouth as I

was asking him questions. This is the vehicle that had the

raised back. Just the totality of all that, I am going to walk

it back to make sure he gets to secondary.

Q Thank you. Are you making entries at any time at

that point in time into your computer?

A I did to the slip. If she can hit play.

(Tape being played)

THE WITNESS: He reached for his mouth again to wipe

it, and it was just the totality of all of that.

I am going to take that vehicle to the back.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Is that you coming back?

A That is me coming back to the lane. I open my lane.

Q Describe what you are doing at this point in time.

A I am walking over to say hi to the gentleman in Lane

4, Altamirano, and we are discussing his swing, and I am

telling him, "you have to use your legs," and you will see when

I hit my thigh and tell him, "you have to use the whole body

and not just your legs."

Q Now, he is not taking any vehicles in at that time


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either, is he?

A No, I don't believe so. I think he has one parked

that hasn't moved, also.

Can you stop it right there, please.

A When he came in view, you could see his hands like

this because that is the way he bats.

Q Okay. Is that something you look for?

A Yeah, we -- that is, when I was teaching him the

baseball thing we were talking about the way he puts his hands

up to his chest and leaves them here.

Q I see what you are talking about.

A You can hit play, please.


BY MR. RALLS:

Q So Altamirano is on the other side doing the same

thing to you?

A Yes, sir.


MR. RALLS: We can stop it right there.

BY MR. RALLS:

Now, Mr. Vasquez, you were telling us about

redirecting the family to other lanes and avoiding them coming

through your lane.

A Yes.

Q Have you ever had family come through your lane?


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A Yes, I have.

Q What do you do in that situation?

A You are supposed to log out of your computer, call

the officer from Lane 4, in this instance Lane 4 to come over,

and then they will process your family; they will go log into

your computer, they will process the family and then log out,

and then they will go back to their lane. That is the

process -- what you are supposed to do.

Q When you say "supposed," I guess there have been

times when the officer just comes in and processes a family

member?

A Yes, sir. There are instances where you call the

officer on Lane 4, "Hey, can you process my family?" I will

stay outside talking to my family and he will come in, use my

ID number.

MR. LACEY: Can we have a time frame this happened?

BY MR. RALLS:

Q During the time period you worked as a Customs

inspector in primary, have you had family members come through

your lane?

A Multiple times.

Q How have you handled that situation or not? Say, for

instance, if your dad or mom came through, how would you handle

that situation?

A If my parents came through, for example, I would call


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the officer from the lane next to me to come over. Instantly

they come over, and I move, and I am talking to my parents,

they will walk into the booth and process traffic -- not --

they will process my parent using my own ID because I am still

logged in. They will process them, go back out and say, I'm

done and walk back to their lane.

Q Is that a lot quicker, for instance, using your ID

than logging out and logging back in?

A Yes, sir, because it takes -- it could vary, anywhere

from a minute or five minutes for the computer to reboot.

Q Now, from where you are standing there, are you under

constant watch not only by a camera, but also by supervisors?

A Yes, sir.

Q Is there a supervisor's office that faces primary?

A Yes, sir, there are supervisors' offices -- all their

windows are facing us.

Q You -- up until 9:00 -- well, what time did you get

off primary post?

A I don't remember exactly. I think it was 9:00. I

don't remember if I got pushed early or -- I don't remember.

Q Did Victor Stuppi ever bring you food that morning?

A No, he didn't.

Q Did you call him?

A As soon as I got off that lane I did.

Q Where did you call him from?


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A From the head house.

Q Where there are supervisors there?

A Yes, sir.

Q What time was it that you called Victor Stuppi that

morning?

A From the call logs it says 9:03.

Q Did he answer you?

A He did.

Q What did you tell him and what did he tell you?

A I asked him "Where is my food?" And his answer is,

"I am in Bisbee eating food with my wife." And I said, "Oh,

great," and hung up the phone on him.

Q Was that the extent of your conversation?

A Yes, sir.

Q Was there another time that you spoke to Victor

Stuppi that same day, June 17th?

A Yes, I did, in the afternoon when he went by to the

house.

Q What time did he go by? Do you recall?

A I don't remember the time. I don't know if it was

7:00, 7:30, he went by to drop off the bat because I had a game

at 8:25.

Q When he dropped by your house is that when you

noticed he was on the phone?

A Yes, sir, when he was talking to me he was actually


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on the phone and asking me, how was work, if anything happened

at work, did you hear anything, that type of questions.

Q At that time did it seem unusual to you?

A At that time, no.

Q Now, did you know that Victor Stuppi was around the

port of entry at 8:00, 8:30, around the Douglas Port of Entry?

A No, sir.

Q Did you know he had been seen there by law

enforcement?

A No.

Q Let me show you what has been marked as Government's

Exhibit 177, which is already in evidence.

And there is a whole sum of $57,049.46 that was

deposited, cash amounts over the span of two and a half years.

Do you see that?

A Yes, I did.

Q Now, is there one penny of that 57,000 that was ever

obtained by any illegal activity?

A No, sir.

Q Is that all legitimate?

A Yes, sir.

Q Now, I want to start going from the very top on down.

How many bank documents have you reviewed during the

course of preparation for this case?

A Thousands of pages.


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Q Documents have been provided to you by the government

or at least to us and then us to you?

A Yes, sir.

Q And both you and your wife have reviewed thousands of

documents?

A Yes, sir.

Q And also documents that you yourself have obtained?

A Yes.

Q Who is the person that primarily handles the finances

in your house?

A My wife.

Q Back in 2009, what was the combined income that you

and your wife had?

A Back in '09?

Q Yes.

A I believe it was -- I am not a hundred percent sure,

but I think around 80,000.

Q Was she working as a Customs inspector?

A I believe she was at the end of '09.

Q End of '09?

A Yes. I am not sure, a hundred percent sure. I can't

recall when exactly she started working.

Q And in June of 2011, what was the combined income you

and your wife had?

A Like around $100,000.


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Q So between the two of you, you were making pretty

decent money?

A Yes, we were.

Q There are some deposits here which are assumed to be

cash deposits, and let's just go through them.

A Okay.

Q On May 14th, 2009, there was $900 that was deposited.

Do you know where that came from?

A Yes, that was from -- because I play softball, I was

in charge of ordering the softball shirts for the team.

Q Do you recall which team that was?

A Knuckleheads.

Q Is that the name of the team?

A Yes.

Q Is that Customs?

A No, that was with Victor.

Q So Victor Stuppi's team?

A Yes, sir.

Q And why were you the one that ordered the uniforms?

A Because I was the one that was always online looking

at shirts and looking at uniforms.

Q So this $900 is combined money that people put

together to buy for a softball team?

A That's correct.

Q On May 20, 2009 there is $868.01.


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Do you recall what that is?

A Yes, that's for the softball team, Beer Money.

Q What is it?

A Beer Money, and that's our traveling team.

Q That is your traveling money?

A Yes.

Q Tell me how you gather that money up?

A That came again, because we were going to go to a

tournament, and everybody puts in money, and they order the

shirts, and I take it and get it, and go and order the shirts.

Q So you are basically the one that is gathering the

money for the team?

A Yes, sir.

Q Now, on June 23rd, 2009 there is a $2,000 deposit.


A That was part of a payment from Diane Hurtado to my

wife.

Q Do you know what that was about?

A I don't know how much money was loaned to Diane. The

one thing I do know is we were the lien holders on the quad and

the trailer.

Q Okay. A quad and a trailer that you owned and sold

to them?

A No, no. That was Diane Hurtado's personal quad and

trailer that they put us a lien holder because of the amount of


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money my wife lent to them.

Q So prior to 2009, were there other bank accounts that

you and your wife, Lizette, had?

A Yes.

Q How many other bank accounts did you have?

A Again, my wife is the one that handled the accounts,

so I can't recollect.

Q There were accounts you had money in?

A Yes.

Q In other words, you don't start working or making

money in 2009?

A No, sir.

Q You have been previously employed by who?

A Previously employed by Checker's Auto Parts and

Department of Arizona Department of Corrections, DOC.

Q And your wife was, prior to going to U.S. Customs,

was working where?

A She worked at a hospital; she worked at a bank before

going to Customs.

Q So $2000 comes from Diane Hurtado?

A Yes, sir.

Q On the 24th of June, there is a $3,000 deposit into

your Wells Fargo account.

Do you recall what that was for?

A Those were two quads I had and I sold. That is


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actually a payment. There should be another one for the other

payment.

Q We will get to that.

But the June 2009 $3,000 is a quad or two quads that

you sold?

A That's correct.

Q The quads, who did you sell them to?

A Antonio Vasquez.

Q And again, did you have another quad inside?

A Yes.

Q Inside the residence when the police went there?

A Yes, sir. When the FBI went there, I had another

quad.

Q Now, the quad here that you sold, do you know what

year you bought that?

A We purchased it from my wife's boss, I believe, from

the credit union, I can't remember what year it was, and as

soon as we purchased it we just resold it because it was a

rancher style and I didn't have a need for that.

Q So you turned around and sold it to somebody else?

A Yes, sir.

Q Another individual like yourself?

A Yes.

Q And then June 30th, 2009 there is a $500 deposit.

Do you recall where that came from?


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A Me and my wife sat down and we had been going

through -- and I don't recall where the $500 came from, not in

2009. It has been a couple of years now.

Q And then on July 3, 2009, there was a $1200 -- $1250

deposit.


A Yes, that $1250, and then the $2,000 that's right

below that. All that was was a payment -- it was a loan I did

for my brother Orlando. I lent him some money and he gave me

$3500 at the time. I split the money, and I put a $1250 into

Wells Fargo Bank and $2,000 into Bank of America.

Q And on July 3rd, 2009 there is another $1000 deposit.

A That is for my wife's cundino.

Q What is a cundino?

A Cundino is like a social gathering that the wife did.

They would all get together, say a group of fourteen, and each

one of them would put $100 a week. Each one would take a

number and say week one, whoever has number one would take

those $1400, for instance would take the $1400. The following

week whoever has number two would take those $1400, following

week whoever has number three, again, everybody is putting in

$100, so whoever has number three take the $1400, and so on and

so on.

Q It's kind of like one would say a little bit of a

pyramid scheme. In other words, that's one way of being able


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to save the money?

A It is not a pyramid scheme because nobody wins money.

It's more of a way to save money, everybody is putting a little

bit of money into a jar -- think of it that way -- and you

can't touch it until you need it, fourteen weeks later, but

this time, since everybody put in their $100, you can touch it

right there and then.

Q Now, on July 10, 2009 there is a $2,000 deposit.


A I think that's the rest of the payment from the

$3,000 from the quad.

Q From the sale of the quad?

A Yes.

Q Now, go on to August 6th, 2009, $1,960 deposit made

to Wells Fargo.


A That came from my brother, Orlando.

Q What was that in relation to?

A My brother is a Marine and he loves going to

Craigslist and stuff like that, so he likes buying stuff.

I lent him $2,000 because he was going to buy a

vehicle, I believe, and he ended up not buying it, somebody

else outbidded him for it so he gave me the money back.

Q Your brother Orlando was a Marine in the Marines

during that time period, or he still is?


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A He still is. He is a Staff Sergeant now.

Q And then we go to the 31st of August, 2009, $970.


A That is my daughter's Elizabeth birthday, so my mom,

part of her cundino money she was going to use it to do the

birthday party, but since we did the birthday party, she just

gave the money and we deposited it into the bank.

Q That is your mom's money she gave to you for your

little girl?

A Yes.

THE COURT: Mr. Ralls, why don't you put a bookmark

there and we will take a recess for five minutes.

Ladies and gentlemen, be ready to go in five minutes.

Recall the admonition, please.

(Brief recess taken at 3:03 P.M.)

THE COURT: Back on the record with our jurors,

counsel and the defendant.

Mr. Ralls.

MR. RALLS: Yes, Judge.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q Mr. Vasquez, we were talking about the cash

transactions and the monies that were deposited into your Wells

Fargo, Bank of America statement accounts.

I think we left off with $970.

What was it you were telling us where that came from?


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A That was my daughter's birthday party money, given by

my mom.

Q And approximately a month later there is another

$1,000 deposit.

A That is one of the cundinos my wife was involved in.

Q How many cundinos was she involved?

A Sometimes multiple, but usually at least once every

three months she was participating on one.

Q Then you have two $500 deposits to Bank of America on

June 30th, 2009?

A Those were for my daughter's accounts and those were

deposited by my mom.

Q Okay. Your wife Lizette deposited them into your

daughter's account?

A Yes, from my mom. My mom gave her the money, and

then she deposited it into the account for the girls.

Q That is your mom's money?

A Yes.

Q Then approximately almost three months later there is

a $500 deposit.


A We sat together, we looked through all of our records

and 2009, I don't recall what that was.

Q And then a couple of months later there is another

$500 deposit.


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A That's the same one, isn't it?

Q On December 7, 2009, there was another deposit,

$1000?

A The December 7 and December 30, they're both cundinos

my wife was involved, specially around the holidays. She liked

doing that, getting two cundinos to get extra money for

Christmas gifts and in case we wanted to go on vacation.

Q Now, in January 2010, specifically January 25th,

there is a $5,000 deposit, cash deposit that is made.

Do you know where that deposit was made at?

A That was made in California.

Q And the one in February of 2010, in particular

February 1, 2010, there is a $5,000 deposit there.

A Also in California.

Q Do you know what that money is in relation to?

A Yes, my sister-in-law, Sandra, sold a property in

Mexico, and they are paying her through my bank.

Q And how was it that that money goes into your

account?

A At that time Sandra was with my wife. I don't know

exactly where. Sandra received a phone call, she asked my wife

for an account because she can't remember her own account, so

my wife gives her my and my wife's account and she asked if

they could deposit $5,000 into that account, I believe her name


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was Alma, Alma Mendez, and she can deposit that money as part

of the payments. My wife said yes without thinking, at that

time I had no knowledge this was going on, and then once I saw

the statement, I asked her what happened.

Q So it was from a sale of property from Alma Mendez in

California or actually it was from Sandra to Alma Mendez?

A That is correct.

Q And you have nothing to do with it other than the

fact that for convenience it was placed in your account?

A That is correct.

Q And there are documents to reflect that; is that

correct?

A Yes, we turned them in.

Q Then in February 18, 2010, there is a $3000 deposit.

Where is that from?

A That is from my brother, Orlando, the February 18 and

the 22nd, they are both from Orlando. He sold a 1979 pickup

that he had. I don't know exactly how much he sold it for.

Q Why did he deposit the money in your account?

A Because I lent him money previously and he was paying

me back.

Q Then on the 9th of March, 2010, there is a $500

deposit?

A That was part of that same.

Q From your brother Orlando?


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A Yes, sir.

Q And April 2nd, 2010, there is a $5,000 deposit to

Quebedeaux.

That was a down payment, not a deposit, it was a cash

down payment you made to Quebedeaux. Is that here in Tucson?

A That is here in Tucson; yes, sir.

Q And the $5,000. Where did that come from?

A At that time my wife -- she was hired by Customs and

Border Protection so she was making decent money, so we had

been looking to purchase -- we had a Yukon and we wanted one

with leather so he she told me, save up, give a down payment,

and I saved up and I gave that as a down payment.

Q Was that a point in time where your family was

growing?

A Yes, sir, we just had --

Q Where did that 5,000 come from?

A From saving from the time I told my wife I want to

upgrade to a Yukon or I want to upgrade my Yukon to one with

leather, she told me save up for the down payment and we have

no problem doing the payments on it because now we are both

making good money.

Q On April 22nd, there is $1100 deposit.

Where did that money come from, it goes into your

money market at Wells Fargo.

A That's from a cundino from my wife.


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Q And then approximately a month later there is a

$1,000 deposit on May 17, 2010?

A The next two, the one for a thousand and the one for

a thousand three hundred, they're both for softball. They

wanted to upgrade the uniforms to better material, and that's

what we did.

Q That money comes from the Customs team?

A No, no, this one -- I think one of them was from the

Customs team, and the other one was -- I want to say Beer

Money, they wanted different shirts.

Q Beer money?

A The traveling team.

Q That is the name of the team?

A Yes, that is the name of the team.

Q Beer Money?

A Beer Money.

Q So it is not beer money; right?

A Right.

Q Then on September 24th, 2010, there is 1500 dollars.

A That is actually -- it is a cundino and then my wife

split another cundino with my mom, so they went half and half

on that payment of the other one, this way they combined three

numbers.

Q So your mom is also involved in cundinos?

A Yes, my mom, my aunt, couple of coworkers' wives,


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actually.

Q Now, did we skip October 18th?

A No.

Q What is that?

A $500 deposit in 2010, again I sat with my wife and we

went over and over it and we don't remember that $500.

Q Cannot figure it out?

A No, cannot figure it out.

Q And you have about three months later a 3,000 dollar

deposit into the money market. Where does that money come

from?

A When I turned in that Yukon for the Yukon with

leather for Quebedeaux, the other one had 26-inch rims at the

time. When I turn the old Yukon, 2007 Yukon, I had it on 26

inch rims so when I traded the new one in, it came with factory

22's, so I took the old rims, put it aside and eventually sold

them and actually I took a loss and I sold them for $3,000 and

that is where that money came from.

Q And then on March 16, about two months later, I think

it was $500 deposit?

A Again, I could not come up with an answer for that

one. My wife and I sat down and went through it and we could

not remember.

Q And then on two months later there is an $800 deposit

to your Bank of America?


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A That is part of softball shirts.

Q For which team?

A I believe that one was Punisher.

Q Punisher?

A Yes.

Q The name of a team?

A Yes, the name of the team.

Q And then a month and a half later you have $1300

deposit to Wells Fargo.


A That came from my brother, Orlando Vasquez. He

actually gave me a thousand five hundred, and from there I kept

two. I deposited a thousand three hundred and I also deposited

a check from Sprint phone.

Q From where?

A From Sprint.

Q For what?

A For a $100.

Q Was that a rebate or what was that?

A That was a rebate.

Q So all the money that went into your account and all

the money you have, is there one penny that was obtained

illegally?

A No, sir.

Q And then I guess it was about 25 transactions of less


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than 500 in a span of two and a half years.

Do you know where those come from?

A No, it could have come from my brother, my parents,

my mom, my dad. It could have come from my wife's, maybe a

cundino she put a little money here or there, I don't know

where it came from.

Q I want to go back to Government's Exhibit 106A and

ask you whether or not you have ever seen this.

A Before this, I have never seen it.

Q In other words, there is some issue as to whether a

package was cancelled when Marcos Abram Sandoval-Lizarraga came

through your lane back on July 5th, 2010.

Do you recall some testimony as to that?

A Yes, I think so.

Q Let me show you what has been marked as Defendant's

Exhibit 308, and maybe if you can explain to the jury what this

is and whether it is in relation to that what is known as a

cancelled package?

A This right here is a screen or actually a shot of my

screen at the time I was working.

Q Can you tell from where you're at what it is that

we're looking at and let me see if I can focus it a little bit

more.

Q Can you tell right there what that is?

A That is the license plate.


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Q And from there -- is that the license plate?

A MM UX 24527. Appears to be the same one in the

picture.

Q You have looked at these documents; right?

A Yes, sir.

Q Can you give us an idea as to what these documents

reflect before we start going through them one by one?

A What this document reflects, it will show you what I

did, basically that day. It's going to show you a screen shot

second by second by second by second. That is what it is going

to show you.

Q I am showing you page 1 of Exhibit 308. Actually I

move for the admission of Exhibit 308.

MR. LACEY: No objection.

THE COURT: It will be admitted.

BY MR. RALLS:

Q You see that, Mr. Vasquez?

A Yes, sir.

Q Is that page 1 of Exhibit 308?

A Yes, it is.

Q Reference to a vehicle there?

A Yes, it does.

Q Let me go to page 2.

Can you tell us what is taking place as you get to

page 2?


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A It is still the same plate, all it is is one second

difference.

Q What about the top, can you see the name?

A Right here shows that I wand through the keypad, I

went ahead and wanded that I.D. through the key pad, that

border crossing card, and it populated the area, so

Sandoval-Lizzarraga, first name M A, date of birth 1989.

Q So the name did get sent through there?

A Yes, it did.

Q And let me go to page three here with where the name

appears again.

What are the issues that are taking place right now

as you look at this -- this printout.

A If you read this one, what happened was that it

appears that license plate came up. After that I took the

driver's ID and wanded it through the card and for some reason

it did not let me admit this package. As you can read here on

the bottom, there's no traveler on this package, are you sure

you want to admit this package? So I attempted to admit it and

for some reason it wouldn't let me, the system wouldn't let me.

Q When the computer says there's no traveler in this

package, the computer itself has rejected it?

A That's correct, sir.

Q You are not rejecting it?

A No, I am not.


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Q So there is no traveler in this package means that

you are not being allowed access through the computer; is that

correct?

A Correct.

Q And the computer itself asks are you sure you want to

admit this package without a traveler, and what do you try to

do at that point?

A I attempt to admit it and it would not let me admit

it.

Q And then let's go to page four of the same sequence,

you still have the name of Sandoval-Lizzaraga?

A That's correct. This one again I attempted to admit

it, and twice it would not let me admit it.

Q Computer, again, is telling you are you sure there is

no traveler in this package. Is that what the computer is

telling you?

A That's correct.

Q And again are you sure you want to admit this package

without a traveler?

A That is correct.

Q And what do you do at that point when you have

something like that? Which key do you hit?

A It did not let me do anything, so in order to keep

processing travelers or processing traffic, I had to delete

this package or cancel the package.


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Q And is this a continuation of that? Explain to us

what is taking place here. If you need me to put down a little

bit or push it up.

A After I attempted to admit it twice, it wouldn't let

me, so the screen goes away and takes me to this screen, so it

won't let me admit it anymore, the only thing it will let me

do --

Q In other words, the screen you are looking at here is

different than the screen I showed you?

A Yes.

Q What is RFID reader?

A That is the key card reader, the little B1/B2 reader.

Q And then you have the card reader?

A Yes, sir.

Q Let me go to the next one here?

A And then after that, after I attempted to admit

twice, it wouldn't let me admit it. The only thing it let me

do is do you want to cancel this transaction.

Q So when this vehicle came through your lane in July,

you attempted several times to get the computer to admit the

package; is that right?

A That's correct.

Q You never intentionally tried to not do it or to

cancel the package; is that right?

A That's correct.


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Q So you have a series of events that establishes that

you were doing or making every effort to have that package

admitted by the computer?

A Yes, sir.

Q All right. And then going to the last page on

Defense Exhibit 3, next to the the last -- would you look at

that and tell us what --

A Again, it is asking you do you want to cancel this

transaction.

Q And again what happens?

A And then after that I cancelled this transaction

because that is the only other thing it would let me do, so

from there the next page, it should be gone.

Q So how many efforts did you make at trying to process

that package and that driver and that vehicle in through the

computer?

A I attempted to admit that package twice.

Q Okay. So it's on the second computer, do you know

why it did not let you do it?

A No, I don't.

Q Have there been problems with the computers there at

the primary?

A Yes, sir.

Q I think we were talking about canceling packages and

ghost packages. What is a ghost package?


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A A ghost package when you're looking at your computer,

you have no vehicle next to you, and all of a sudden you will

see a family, mom, dad and three kids and then it is a van, but

you have no vehicle here.

If you happen to look to the side you will see in

lane one you will have -- it is actually that vehicle, so you

are getting the information from lane one into your lane, so we

call that a ghost package because that vehicle does not exist

in your lane.

Q Now, is that because the computer system in the other

lane will pick it up. Your computer system will pick up what

is happening in another lane?

A Yes, and not only that, we actually can pick up old

packages that were left behind by the computer sometimes.

Q Was your home searched?

A Yes, it was.

Q In July of 2011?

A Yes, it was.

Q And were you interviewed by the FBI then?

A I was.

Q And were you interviewed again by the FBI in August

of 2011?

A I believe so.

Q And have you always maintained your innocence?

A Always.


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Q Have you done anything wrong, Mr. Vasquez, as far as,

you know, involving yourself in any criminal activity or

anything else?

A No.

Q As you sit there before this jury, do you feel

comfortable that you are completely truthful and honest?

A As I sit here, yes. I got offers for plea and I did

not take them.

MR. LACEY: Objection, Your Honor, relevancy.

THE COURT: Sustained and you are instructed to

disregard that statement.

MR. RALLS: Thank you, sir.

THE COURT: Mr. Lacey.

CROSS EXAMINATION

BY MR. LACEY:

Q Good afternoon.

A Good afternoon.

Q You have told us a lot about your finances and your

incredible recollection of all these cash deposits.

Do you recall that testimony?

A Yes, I do.

Q You filed taxes?

A Yes, I do.

MR. LACEY: May I approach, Your Honor?

THE COURT: Yes.


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BY MR. LACEY:

Q Show you Exhibits 180 through 183, I believe.

Can you identify 180 for us?

A 2008 income tax.

Q Is that your tax return for 2008?

A Yes, it is.

Q And is that something you and your wife signed; is

that correct, next page?

A Yes.

Q Look to the next exhibit, please, and identify that

for us, what is the exhibit number?

A 181.

Q And for what tax year is that?

A 2009.

Q And did you also, and your wife sign that return?

A Yes, we did.

Q And the next exhibit?

A 2010.

Q And what exhibit number is that?

A 182.

Q Did you and your wife also sign that document?

A Yes, sir.

Q And the last document you have in front of you?

A Exhibit 183.

Q And that is what now?


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A 2011.

Q 2011 tax returns?

A Yes, sir.

Q For both you and your wife?

A Yes, sir.

Q And lastly Exhibit 179.

Q Can you identify that for us?

A That is 2007.

Q And is that also signed by you and your wife.

Q Look at the return, is that your tax return for 2007?

A It is not signed.

Q You had a tax person do your returns for 2007,

Constance L-I-N-D-E-N-R; is that correct?

A I don't recall.

Q Pardon?

A I don't recall.

Q Would you look at the return and see if that seems to

be accurate for you as far as the data that is contained within

that? Specifically it looks like the third page back, State of

Arizona, Department of Administration, when you worked for the

Department of Corrections.

Do you see that there?

A Yes.

Q Is that your W-2 for working for the State of

Arizona?


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A That is correct.

Q And the next page, please, can you identify that for

us?

Is that the W-2 for your wife where she worked for

the Southeastern Federal Credit Union?

A That is what it states right here.

Q And the numbers reflected on the front of Exhibit 179

pick up that data; do they not?

That is the $59,822 total which is salaries, wages,

tips for the 2007 tax year?

A $60,302.

Q I was looking at the wages, salaries and tips.

A I am sorry. I thought you said total.

Q And is wages, salaries and tips $59,822?

A Yes.

Q And it says something about unemployment compensation

for $480?

A That is correct.

Q And the total adjusted gross income was how much?

A Sixty.

Q 60,302?

A Yes.

Q That is your tax return that you filed for the year

2007?

A Yes, sir.


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Q And you filed these returns under the penalty of

perjury, of course; is that right? You read the second page

where it says, These returns are being filed under the penalty

of perjury? Where it says, sign here under penalty of perjury?

Do you see that block down there?

A There is no signatures.

Q I understand that, does it say under penalty of

perjury you are going to submit these tax returns?

A That is correct.

Q And did you in fact submit these tax returns, the

ones we just covered, 2007, '08, '09, '10 and '11? If you want

to see --

A No, I am just looking for signature.

Q The copies we get through the government don't

generate that, but the data that is there, the W-2's do reflect

what you made; correct?

A That is correct.

Q And these returns are submitted by you and your wife?

A I don't know who sent them, there's no signatures.

Q I understand that, the data that is there, is that

data reflecting your income for the year 2009?

Let's go there. The front page of the document, does

it list your name and your wife's name?

A I don't have 2009 with me, only '07.

Q 2009.


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Would you look at that for us?

A Yes.

Q Does that have your full name and correct name and

your wife's at the top?

A Yes, it does.

Q And the last four of SS, we've blocked out the other

numbers?

A Yes.

Q And likewise the last four for your wife?

A Yes.

Q And it lists two kids here; is that correct?

Elizabeth and Stephanie?

A Yes, my daughters.

Q And for the year 2009, it lists 80,277 for a total

gross income, adjusted gross; is that correct?

A That's correct.

Q The W-2 for this particular form, the third page of

the document, Department of Homeland Security.

Do you see that document?

A Yes, sir.

Q And does that reflect your income and wages for the

2009 tax year?

A Yes.

Q And is that accurate?

A Yeah.


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Q The next page where it lists community health care of

Arizona, that is a W-2 for your wife; is it not?

A Yes.

Q Does that list her income for the 2009 tax year?

A Yes.

Q And the third page, it shows your wife started

working for the Department of Homeland Security in the 2009 tax

year; is that correct?

A Yes, sir.

Q And does it reflect her income from the U.S.

government back in the year 2009?

A I believe so.

Q Do you see it there?

A Yeah.

Q Where it says, for example, Social Security wages

$11,202. Do you see that there?

A Yes.

Q The next page of the document lists Hartford Life

Insurance, Hartford, Connecticut.

Do you see that?

A Yes, sir.

Q And what is that?

A Life insurance.

Q And was there moneys distributed to you for the 2009

tax year?


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A Federal income tax withheld, $174.

Q Does it also show a gross distribution of $869?

A No.

Q Do you see on the top of the page?

A Okay, yes.

Q Let's go to the 2010 tax year.

Do you see that in front of you?

A Yes.

Q Is your name and your wife's listed correctly on this

tax return?

A Yes, sir.

Q And likewise your two children?

A Yes.

Q And does it list your total adjusted gross income at

the bottom of 92,882?

A 92,802, yes, sir.

Q 92,802.

The third page of the document. It lists your

income, does it not, for the Department of Homeland Security.

A Yes.

Q Social Security wages 59,935?

A Yes.

Q Next page of the document for your wife, of Homeland

Security, Social Security wages 40,741; is that correct?

A That is correct.


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Q The 2011 tax returns, do you see that there?

A Yes, sir.

Q And is your name and that of your wife's on that

document?

A Yes.

Q And does it list at the bottom, about two-thirds of

the way down, an amount of 73,861?

A Yes, sir.

Q Would it be fair to say these tax returns reflect

your income for the years in question, 2007, '08, '09, '10, and

'11?

A Yes, sir.

MR. LACEY: Would offer the exhibits at this time,

179 through 183.

MR. RALLS: I object on relevancy grounds.

MR. LACEY: Money is an issue and we can talk about

it at sidebar, if you wish.

THE COURT: If you would approach for a moment.

(Thereupon, counsel approached the bench and

conferred with the Court as follows:)

THE COURT: I don't have a problem with '09, '10, and

'11, but the years 2007 and 2008.

MR. LACEY: Starts up some base numbers we are

looking at.

We have a lot of income. He talked about getting


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loans from certain people and we have some financial data we

have looked at that maybe will make it relevant.

MR. RALLS: It's not relevant at this point, it may

be at some point, but I don't see where it is relevant now.

Nobody has talked about him receiving any illegal profits from

anything, so I don't know how the relevancy comes in.

THE COURT: Yes, they have.

MR. RALLS: Who?

THE COURT:

MR. LACEY: We have monies being paid to some of the

co-conspirators.

MR. RALLS: Nothing that has gone to him.

MR. LACEY: It is implicit in what is going on here.

We offer at least the 2009, '10 and '11 tax

returns.

THE COURT: I have to hear more before '07 and '08

come in. Whatever '09, '10 and '11 there.

MR. LACEY: 81, 82 and 83.

(Thereupon, counsel returned to their trial tables,

afterwhich the proceedings resumed as follows:)

MR. LACEY: The government moves 81, 82 and 83 into

evidence at this time.

THE COURT: Yes, they may be admitted.

MR. LACEY: I am not going to publish them at this

time.


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BY MR. LACEY:

Q Sir, do you recall your testimony on direct

examination when you were talking about the events of June 17

of 2011 regarding Victor Stuppi and your conversation with him?

A Yes.

Q Let's go to that date.

When did you first have a conversation with Stuppi

about the port of entry and him getting you some food.

When did that first crop up in your conversation?

A What do you mean? On the 17th?

Q When did you and Victor Stuppi first discuss the fact

that Stuppi would get you some food?

A Ever since I have been working there.

Q Pardon?

A Ever since I've been working there.

Q Let's talk to the 17th of June of 2011 or just before

that?

A The 16th.

Q And what time of day was that?

A I know I had a game -- I know he had a game in the

afternoon, so 7:00, 7:30.

When you say he had a game in the afternoon,

afternoon is not six or seven, or seven or 7:30 in the evening.

When was the conversation?

A I don't recall. It was that afternoon.


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Q That afternoon?

A Yes.

Q And it took place where?

A My house.

Q Who was present?

A Me, him, my wife.

Q And what was the purpose in him being at your house

on the 16th of June, 2011?

A He was there to pick up a softball bat.

Q This bat. Is it something special?

A Yes, it is.

Q It's one of the $300 bats you talked about?

A Correct.

Q So you have a conversation sometime in the afternoon

on the 16th about loaning him a baseball bat that you share

with him. Is that the way that works?

A Yeah, I have maybe six, seven bats.

Q Three hundred bucks a piece?

A Yes, from the time I started in 2007, yeah.

Q So Victor comes over to your house, borrows a bat,

and what is the conversation from there?

A Like I told you, he said that: Hey, by the way, I'm

going to be heading out to Agua Prieta in the morning, would

you like for me to bring you something? And I told him, Yes.

I said: Hold on, I might be doing transport in the morning, I


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will let you know.

Q What did Victor Stuppi tell you that he was going to

do in Mexico -- this is a Friday morning on the 17th of June.

You told us he had two jobs at this time, working at some auto

parts store and somewhere else?

A He worked Monday through Thursday with I believe it

is Cochise. He would do that and in the afternoons he would

work in the Auto Zone and it was in the morning, I'm not going

to ask him what are you doing in the morning, no.

Q So you're telling us his work schedule did not

include Friday?

A He worked four 10s at that time, I believe.

Q And he had another job as well?

A Auto Zone.

Q And when did he work at Auto Zone?

A In the evenings.

Q What evenings?

A It would vary.

Q So you had a conversation with Victor Stuppi. I

am -- I am going to go to Mexico. Did he go to Mexico often?

A Not that often.

Q What was the occasion back on June 17th that he was

going to go there?

A I did not ask him.

Q I thought you were brothers, you were really good


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friends?

A That's correct. But I am not going to be asking him

what time are you going to be doing this, what time are you

going to be brushing your teeth, I mean it's not like that.

Q What are you going to Mexico for, it isn't the same

as brushing your teeth?

A It's not my business.

Q In other words, your response is you did not talk

about it?

A No, we talked about it. He was going to bring

breakfast. That is what we talked about.

Q You told us earlier it was lunch that you were going

to get brought. Do you remember that testimony?

A I said lunch or breakfast.

Q You wake up and you are working 8 to 4 shift on the

17th of June; correct?

A Yes.

Q You wake up in the morning. What time do you usually

get up?

A It depends.

Q Back on June 17th, 2011?

A I don't remember.

Q What time did you get to work?

A I think the time video say something like 8:35,

something like that. I don't remember.


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Q That is when the load vehicle went through your lane

that you did not inspect. We're talking about when did you get

to work?

A 7:30, something, I don't recall.

Q So, in order to get there, what time -- at 7:30,

7:35, 7:37, what time do you get up in the morning to brush

your teeth and do the other things you do?

A I don't know. Sometimes I slept in or sometimes I

woke up early.

Q You get up, take a shower, brush your teeth, whatever

else.

You have breakfast before you leave?

A No.

Q You don't eat before you go to work?

A Actually, no.

Q Never?

A Never.

Q When do you usually eat breakfast. What time of day?

A It depends, whenever we have a chance.

Q You go to work not knowing when you get a chance to

eat breakfast?

A Today I didn't eat until lunch.

Q We're not talking about today, we are talking about

when you worked in June of 2011?

Q This is very different.


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A No, exactly the same thing.

Q Let's talk about it, you get up and you are telling

us you go to work without any food?

A Yes.

Q And you start working, not knowing when you're going

to eat?

A That is correct.

Q What about refrigerators. Why don't you pack a lunch

and bring your lunch with you?

A I don't like left overs. I tell my wife: Hey, can

you please bring me something, I will call my sister or Victor

or my mom or brother, can you bring me something to eat.

Q Is there any McDonald's or Burger King or any of

those type of places close by, or place where you can by a sub,

Subway?

A Oh, yeah.

Q You don't stop there, but rather you're going to call

somebody to bring it to you, you would rather impose on someone

else to bring it to you?

A Yes, sir. I don't know what time I'm going to eat,

so by the time I'm going to eat, it's going to be cold. I

don't want to eat cold food.

Q You're talking about hot food. What about

sandwiches, do you need to have those hot?

A Ham and cheese.


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Q So you don't eat breakfast ever when you go to work?

A No.

Q What sort of range do you find before you can finally

eat food when you go to work back in June of 2011? Could it be

noon? Two in the afternoon? When do you eat?

A Sometimes not even until I get home until 4:00 or

5:00 in the afternoon.

Q Without having any food?

A Correct, nothing but water.

Q How many days do you do this where you don't eat all

day and you go to work?

A Plenty of times.

Q So you get to work. After you get there, you told us

on direct examination that you get there and with two minutes

after walking into the head house, give or take, you are able

to exchange lanes. You were working outbound initially that

day; correct?

A Yes, that's correct.

Q And outbound means what?

A You're working outbound traffic, the traffic going

from the U.S. into Mexico.

Q Would that be pedestrian or vehicle outbound?

A Multiple. It is not a set place you have to be at.

Q And when we looked at the photographs during the

course of this trial, and you saw the outbound pedestrian lane,


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you would have been, what, 10 feet, 15 feet away from that lane

or from the outgoing cars doing outbound?

A Actually that picture you have is recent. It was way

different back then.

Q How far away were you from the pedestrians either

walking south into Mexico back in 2010, 2011 ?

A From here to the last juror back there, probably,

maybe even more, maybe from here to the door.

Q So you're talking maybe 30 feet?

A I guess.

Q Give or take?

A Yeah.

Q The daytime shift obviously it speaks for itself,

there is no obstruction from anybody working outbound as a

pedestrian is walking by to see; is that correct?

A Yes, there is.

Q What is the obstruction?

A On the left-hand side of that outbound lane we used

to put the Border Patrol's vehicles there, it could be a huge

van, a small vehicle, it could be pickups, it would vary.

Q Would they have vehicles lined up one after the next

blocking the view of the pedestrians looking at the person

working outbound?

A At least one or two vehicles, plus if we actually had

a port operation, we would have two Border Patrols, local PD,


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which would be there in their vehicles and the sheriff's and

the highway patrol on the weekends.

Q So local PD, they have among other things the regular

squad cars we see that are this high?

A Douglas have Tahoes, I believe.

Q And are they bumper to bumper or are there gaps in

between the vehicles?

A No, bumper to bumper, because there is hardly

anywhere to park.

Q Is it your testimony that anyone walking outbound to

Mexico back in 2009 and '10, couldn't see someone working

outbound?

A It would vary on the day. It would depend whether we

had a port operation or we did not. Eventually they could see

you, but it would vary on the day.

Q And at night time, what is the -- what is light

conditions for someone exiting the U.S. through the outbound?

A When you're walking pedestrians through night time,

before we did not used to have spot lights, and I think when I

was leaving or when all this happened, we started getting the

Border Patrol spot lights and they started putting those on.

Q We kind of lights did they have as people were

walking southbound before these brighter lights?

A No lights. I believe there was one high at the

beginning at the pedestrian lane and one by Lane 7, I believe.


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Q Now, you as the person or whoever may have been

working outbound, would you be in a lighted area so people

would see you and not hit you with their cars as they're

leaving the country?

A No, you're by the booth and there's no light. We had

a Corvette that came and plowed all that, so all the lighting

we used to have, it went away, so the only thing we had was a

booth and now they have the new cones so that wouldn't happen

again.

Q When did a Corvette crash into a booth and wreck your

booth?

A If you ask Mr. Humphries, he would answer that. I

don't remember.

Q You've been at the port for how many years now?

A Since 2008.

Q You mentioned the policy of not letting family

members go through your lane.

A I said there is no set policy.

Q Is there any prohibition against people letting -- an

inspector, officer, letting family go through his a lane?

A Not that it's anywhere written.

Q Did you ever get advised not to let any family

members go through your lane?

A No.

Q No one ever told you that?


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A No.

Q Never in training?

A Never.

Q Never anyone at the port that you work with for these

last five years?

A The only thing I was told was by a supervisor because

he saw my family come through my lane and he goes: Just FYI if

you know they're coming, don't make them come through your

lane, have them go somewhere else.

Q When was this that some supervisor told you no family

members through your lane?

A That was beginning of 2008 or '09. I don't remember

exactly when it took place.

Q What family member was it coming through your lane

that you should not have let go through your lane?

A I didn't let him go through his lane. He was there

and told me that.

Q Explain that to us. You'are working your lane,

family member comes, you're not sure who and what happens?

A Family member comes, I'm standing right there and as

you can see the supervisors walk back and forth through all the

booths and lanes, so when I was talking to my family member --

I don't remember exactly who it was, this was back in '08 --

I'm not going to remember, supervisor stopped me because of the

way they probably said hi to me, he probably asked me -- I


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don't know, who is this, I probably said so and so, and then he

probably took over the inspection and told me just let them

know not to come through your lane, make sure they avoid your

lanes.

Q And that was in 2008 you thought?

A I don't remember if '08 or '09. I don't remember.

Q How many times did this happen, you let family

members go through your lane?

A I didn't let family members come through my lane.

Q How many times have you done it that you're aware of?

A That they came and they were at my lane?

Q Yes. How many times did family members go through

your lane?

A Family members didn't go through my lane by me

inspecting them. They came through my lane by someone else

inspecting them.

Q Who at the port of entry would have assisted you to

let a family member go through your lane? Let's say your

mother came to your lane, what did you do on that instance

A All you do is go to the officer on lane four, or

whichever lane you are on, the officer next to you is like,

hey, that's my mom. Can you guys process traffic and they'll

be like, yeah, and then they'll do it.

Q Give us the name of one person at the port of entry

that you got to do this with you, to take over your booth, not


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log in and you log out and rather leave you on there, and

exchange this. One name.

A I don't remember.

Q On the one hand you have a booth, you have a

computer, you log on when you get there; correct?

A Correct.

Q Recall your testimony to this jury about what happens

when someone comes to your lane, like Victor Stuppi was

supposed to and you told us back to June 17th?

A Yes, I do recall.

Q Tell us about that again.

A Like I said, if it is a family member, what you are

supposed to do is you are supposed to log out, call the officer

and let them log in. That does not always happen.

Q You told us it doesn't always happen because you

never did it before?

A Yes, I did.

Q Give us some times when your family members come to

your lane and you logged off and let someone else log on for

you?

A Let me give you an example. My sister-in-law, she

crosses about four to five times a day. Eventually she is

going to hit my lane, so I don't remember exactly when, but I

am pretty sure I have done it.

Q And you know you're not supposed to do it because you


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had a supervisor tell you that; correct?

A Correct. If the supervisor said if knowing they're

coming through your lane. I didn't know she was going to be in

my lane at that time.

Q How many times have you called a relative and said

I'm working X lane, don't come through it, besides June 17,

2011?

A So my wife goes across the line all the time to get

her hair done, nails done, go eat, so on her way back I tell

her, don't come through my lane, at this time I'll be here.

Q You call her once you get your lane assignment and

say I'm working lane one or lane five?

A That morning before she left she said I'm going to be

in Agua Prieta and once I know I'm on the lane, I'm like hey,

don't come through my lane. Ore she'll call me and say, I'm

going to take you something to eat, I will be here.

Q On lane whichever it would be?

A Lane one, two, peds, whatever.

Q The proper procedure you told us as of June 17 of

2011, was that someone, a relative comes to your lane, you are

supposed to log off as you told this jury; correct?

A That is correct, you are supposed to log off.

Q And after you log off, you are supposed to get

someone else to come over and log off from their computer;

correct?


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A Correct, that is what you are supposed to do.

Q And come to your booth and log on?

A Correct.

Q He passes your relative?

A Yes.

Q Under his code and his Social Security number?

A What you are supposed to do, yes.

Q And then goes back to his booth and you then log back

on?

A That is correct, yes.

Q Logging off and logging on. How long does it take?

A It varies. It could be instant or take up to 15

minutes.

Q Do you recall testifying on a prior occasion

regarding this matter at a hearing where you said it took 5 to

15 minutes to log off?

A Yes.

Q And was that accurate testimony that you gave under

oath?

A At that time it was. Now looking back and talking to

a couple of like my wife because she used to be a officer, we

realize, no, sometimes it used to take a minute.

Q When did you come to a realize your five to 15

minutes is not the truth?

A It is the truth. It varies from the machine, it is


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not me logging in.

Q You just said instantaneously or now, correct?

A Not instantaneously, I said a minute and it depends

on the machine itself.

Q But you testified in a prior occasion it was five to

15 minutes for you and five to 15 minutes for the other person,

correct?

A And again, I said it depends on the machine that

they're using; yes, sir.

Q Depends on the machine you use?

A Simple. Each booth has its own computer. They're

exposed to the elements, they have sand, dust, they have us

when we walk in there it's raining, it's dripping all over the

machine, so it depends on that whether it's working or not.

I'm not going to tell it to hurry up, it's a computer, it takes

whatever long to reboot. That's a computer, I can't help that.

Q It was your impression, your testimony when you

testified on a prior occasion was five to 15 minutes; is that

correct?

A That is what I recalled at that time; yes, sir.

Q Have you had occasion to review your testimony from

that occasion?

A Yes, I did.

Q You said under oath five to 15 minutes there?

A Yes, and like I'm telling you, it depends on what


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machine it was, it wasn't a specific machine.

Q Did you hear testimony in this proceeding from other

officers that work there it doesn't take five to 15 minutes but

a lot less?

A The system now is different from back then. Once you

have the officers that will come in and testify to that, they

will tell you that.

Q I want to talk about the family members that you

passed in the past?

A I didn't pass no family members.

Q Let's go back to January 16 of 2010.

Do you recall back on that occasion and I can show

you some documents.

A Could I see documents, because I don't recall.

Q Absolutely.

MR. LACEY: May I approach, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Use the viewer.

MR. LACEY: Okay.

BY MR. LACEY:

Q 122, please. Sir, can you identify this, 122?

A Huasica, Sandra.

Q And she is related to you, that is the Sandra you

told us about earlier about this $10,000 cash deposit into your

account?

A Yes.


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Q Same one?

A Yes.

Q She is your sister-in-law?

A She is my sister-in-law, that's correct.

Q Does this document reflect that you're working at the

time of this passage of your sister-in-law?

A That reflects that I was logged in to that terminal.

That's all that reflects.

Q What is the date and time you are logged into your

terminal when your sister is coming through your lane?

A Crossing date 2-15-11 at 6:46 at the bottom.

Q It has the inspector code, correct?

A That is logging into the computer.

MR. LACEY: I will offer 122 at this time.

THE COURT: May be admitted.

BY MR. LACEY:

Q For the jury's benefit, this land border crossing

personal information, what is this document?

A It is a land border crossing, it is somebody crossing

through the port of entry, through terminal ID, lane one.

Those are my last four numbers that I was logged into the

terminal; however, it doesn't tell you that I inspected that

vehicle or not inspected that vehicle. That is what that tells

you.

Q So, in other words, when your sister-in-law came to


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your booth at the port of entry back on February 15 of '11 at

6:45 p.m., you didn't let her through?

A I called the officer at the next lane to inspect her.

Q What is his name?

A I don't remember.

Q Do the officers who you were able to commandeer to do

this function, did you know that they should have logged off

and logged on?

A They should have.

Q And you did not have them do that. Is that what you

are telling us?

A No.

Q It just takes a minute or so?

A No, it takes longer, and not only that it's up to the

officer's discretion, it's not up to me.

Q So you invited some other officer to leave his lane

with cars that were backed up and come over and help you out is

what you are telling us?

A Yes, because I am not to inspect my family members.

Q When the officer leaves his booth and goes to where

your sister-in-law was ready to come through, what are you

doing during that time?

A When the officer -- when I yell at him: Hey, I have

a family member, he will go close the gate and he will walk

over. At that time I am outside the booth, actually speaking


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with my family member. I am going to be telling them, how are

you, whatever, once he gets there he will take over the

inspection.

Q So does he log off his booth?

A I don't know what he does.

Q When he helps you out?

A I don't know what he does. I know what he's supposed

to do, but people don't do it.

Q What are you supposed to do that you didn't do?

A Apparently I didn't log off.

Q I want to direct your attention next to the next page

of that particular package dated March 3rd of 2011.

Q Is this your SS number at the bottom?

A Yes, it is.

Q And is this someone crossing by the name of Sandra,

your sister-in-law, again?

A Yes.

Q Would offer page 2 of this document. I guess it's

all part of one package.

Let's go through this one.

A Okay.

THE COURT: Is that part of a prior exhibit?

MR. LACEY: It's part of one exhibit which would be

122, the second page.

THE COURT: Go ahead.


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BY MR. LACEY:

Q So we have your sister-in-law again, Sandra come into

your lane, correct?

A That's correct.

Q March 3rd of 2011?

A That's correct.

Q At 3:53 p.m.?

A Yes, sir.

Q And you are telling us that once again you did not

let her through despite the fact that the codes in this

document says otherwise?

A I didn't inspect my sister-in-law. Is that what you

are telling me?

Q So you once again went to the adjoining booth, said,

hey, close it down, come over and help me out?

You didn't pass her through.

A Correct.

Q Third page of Exhibit 122.

Q Let's look at this one. Who is this person depicted

on the top of the document?

A Stuppi, Anna.

Q And who is that? Sister-in-law?

A Sister-in-law, yes.

Q Does it show your code on the bottom of this page?

A Yes, it does.


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Q And what is the date on this document showing that

Sandra Stuppi came through your lane when you were logged on?

A Not Sandra Stuppi.

Q Ana Sonia -- Ana Stuppi?

A 4-13-11.

Q At what time?

A 12:22 a.m.

Q Anna Stuppi comes to your lane on April 13, 2011, and

what happens?

A I don't remember. I haven't been working the lanes

for a long time.

Q Would you have done what you said you did on these

other occasions where you went and got somebody from the

adjoining lane?

A I should have, yes.

Q To close down their lane to walk over to yours so you

could let her through?

A Yes.

Q Exhibit 123.

Can you identify this for us.

A Maria Olivarria.

Q Last name? What is the full last name?

A Olivarria de Stuppi.

Q And who is that?

A That is my wife's mother.


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Q Again, is this your code on the bottom?

A Yes, it is.

MR. LACEY: I would move to publish Exhibit 123,

first page.

MR. RALLS: No objection.

THE COURT: Admitted.

BY MR. LACEY:

Q So we are talking Maria Olivarria de Stuppi; is that

right?

A Olivarria.

Q What time did she cross through the lane you had

manned?

A 10:49:37.

Q On what date?

A 3-17-2010.

Q Why didn't you call your on the other occasions and

and say, I'm working a lane, don't come through it?

A Like again, I didn't know she was going to be in

Mexico. If I would have known she was going to be in Mexico, I

would have told her.

Q So on none of these occasions we discussed so far did

you ever give them a heads up, I'm working the lane, don't come

through?

A Not on this one, on the other ones I have because I

knew they were going across the line, especially when they were


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going with my wife.

Q We just went through three others with Sandra

Huasica?

The ones we just went through, that didn't happen

either where you called and said, don't go through my lane.

A I didn't know she was going to be across the line.

Q The second page of 123.

What is this?

A Maria Olivarria de Stuppi.

Q Same person?

A Yes, sir.

Q And your code on the bottom again?

A Yes, sir.

Q The date of crossing when this person is purportedly

going through your lane.

A 3-29-2010.

Q At what time?

A 4:40 p.m.

Q And you didn't call her on this occasion to say,

don't come through my lane?

A I didn't know she was going to be in Mexico.

Q The next page of the document 123.


A Same person.

Q And your code on the bottom, your lane was open when


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she came through your lane according to this document?

A I didn't do the inspection.

Q What date and time do we have that this person that

came to your lane with your code on it where you didn't do the

inspection?

A 12-25-2010.

December 25th 2010 at 5:06 p.m.

A Correct.

Q Next page at 123, please.

Q Can you identify this.

A Same person.

Q And again your code on the bottom?

A That is correct.

Q Date?

A Yes, sir, 3-17-2011.

Q And time?

A 8:36:20 p.m.

Q You are telling us once again, despite the fact your

lane is open and code is on, you didn't put her through?

A That's correct.

Q And you did not call her either, did you?

A If you have seen the crossing history on her, she has

more --

Q Answer the question.

A I didn't call her because I didn't know she was going


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to be in Mexico.

Q Next page of the document, please.


A Same person.

Q Your code again on the crossing code on the bottom?

A Correct.

Q What time did she cross on this occasion?

A 6-23-2011 at 9:19 p.m.

Q And what happened this time?

A Same thing, I'm pretty sure.

Q Same thing pretty sure what?

A Called another officer to do the inspection.

Q Can we go to one officer you can refer us to that

will come and say that he didn't close down his lane, did not

log on to your computer and pass this person through?

A If I remember the officer, I'm pretty sure they would

tell you.

Q We have gone through lots so far, any names come back

to you?

A Yeah, but no names come back.

Q Next page of the document 123.

Q Who is this?

A I don't know.

Q The last name?

A Olivvaria de de Stuppi.


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Q And that last name?

Q Who goes by that last name that you are aware of?

A I don't know. Not this lady, Haria.

MR. LACEY: Go to Exhibit 124, please.

THE COURT: Let's go to 124 tomorrow.

We will take an evening recess, ladies and gentlemen,

to 9:30.

We will start at 9:30 tomorrow morning, have a good

evening and recall the admonition, please.

(Thereupon at 04:29 PM the jury exited the courtroom

and the proceedings were concluded.)


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C E R T I F I C A T E

I Chris Wallace, certify that I took the shorthand

notes in the foregoing matter; that the same was transcribed

under my direction; that the preceding pages of 132 typewritten

matter are a true, accurate and complete transcript of all the

matters adduced, to the best of my skill and ability.

s/Chris Wallace ______________________ CHRIS WALLACE, RPR, CRR

Dated: February 11, 2013


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