United States v. Yoshida

Yuami Yoshida (defendant) was prosecuted for helping smuggle three Chinese aliens, whose families had each paid a criminal syndicate $50,000, from Japan to the United States for commercial gain; a syndicate associate pointed Yoshida out to the aliens at a Japanese airport and told them to follow her, and Yoshida silently led them through the airport, boarded last, and sat directly behind them without ever speaking to them. After landing in Los Angeles, an immigration official found the aliens' baggage claim checks concealed in Yoshida's underwear, discovered she carried no bags of her own, and noted she had listed a nonexistent Las Vegas hotel as her destination and had traveled frequently through Southeast Asia in the prior two months. The jury convicted her on both smuggling-related counts, and she appealed, arguing insufficient evidence of her knowledge, involvement, or commercial motive.