United States v. Lorenzo Alvarado-Machado

JERRE S. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

On November 28, 1987, Lorenzo Alvarado-Machado (Alvarado) was arrested by INS agents. Alvarado was in the company of five persons identified by the INS as illegal aliens. He was indicted and convicted for transporting these “passengers” in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(B) (Supp. IV 1986). 1 Alvarado now appeals his conviction on all five counts.

Four of the passengers testified at Alvarado’s trial. Each stated that he was a citizen of Mexico. According to their testimony, defendant Alvarado met them in Juarez, Mexico, and guided them across the river and…