Editor’s Note: The Justice Department’s 2011 Press Release discussing the indictment is available here. ATF’s Tobacco Enforcement Fact Sheet which explains that the agency becomes involved in tobacco diversion cases that have “a nexus to violent crime” is available here.
From: v|lex
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-4803
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
BACH TUYET TRAN, a/k/a Julie Tran, a/k/a J. Bach, a/k/a Bach
T. Tran, a/k/a J. Tran,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Harrisonburg. Michael F. Urbanski, District Judge. (5:11âcrâ00005âMFUâ1)
Argued: October 31, 2014 Decided: January 6, 2015
Before DUNCAN, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished opinion. Judge Wynn wrote the opinion, in which Judge Duncan and Judge Diaz joined.
ARGUED: Aaron Lee Cook, AARON L. COOK, PC, Harrisonburg,
Virginia, for Appellant. Jeb Thomas Terrien, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Harrisonburg, Virginia, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF: Timothy J. Heaphy, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Harrisonburg, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
WYNN, Circuit Judge: Bach Tran appeals her jury conviction on 139 counts of trafficking in contraband cigarettes and money laundering.
Tran contends that the district court erred by: (1) denying her motion to suppress statements she made to federal agents while under custody; and (2) denying her Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 motion for judgment of acquittal. Finding no error, we affirm.
I.
Tran arrived in the United States as an immigrant from Vietnam in the early 1970s. After working in a bank as a teller and in the human resources department, Tran opened Armel Country Store in Winchester, Virginia, which she owned at the time of her arrest. Although the Armel store ostensibly functioned as a convenience store, the front doors were often chained shut during business hours, and its interior was dimly lit. Dust and expired product filled the shelves.
In 2008, federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (“ATF”) commenced an undercover investigation in response to trafficking in contraband cigarettes. As part of its operation, ATF set up a fake cigarette wholesaler, Valley Tobacco, which distributed cigarettes to suppliers in the Winchester, Virginia area.
***
We therefore conclude that the government produced substantial evidence such that a rational factfinder could have found predisposition beyond a reasonable doubt.
