United States v. Jose Gerardo Mendoza-Gonzalez

BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge:

I. Background

On May 8,1998, Jose Gerardo Mendoza-Gonzalez (“Mendoza”), the appellant, drove up to a permanent immigration checkpoint along Interstate 10, approximately four miles west of Sierra Blanca, Texas. United States Border Patrol Agent Reynaldo Ramos (“Ramos”) was on duty checking the citizenship of the occupants of the vehicles passing through. Three days prior, over twenty illegal aliens had been found inside a truck bearing the logo “Mesilla Valley Transportation” at another checkpoint in the same sector. Ramos had been instructed to be on the look-out for…