United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED April 29, 2025 No. 24-40031 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Clerk United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus Fidel Saldana Rodriguez,

Defendant—Appellant,

consolidated with _____________

No. 24-40047 _____________ United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus Noe De Jesus Martinez-Montelongo,

Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC Nos. 5:22-CR-1568-2, Case: 24-40031 Document: 97-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/29/2025

5:22-CR-1568-1 ______________________________ Before Smith, Higginson, and Douglas, Circuit Judges. Stephen A. Higginson, Circuit Judge: These consolidated appeals arise from the seizure by Customs and Border Protection of a tractor-trailer traveling from Mexico into the United States, carrying liquid methamphetamine in concealed compartments in the tractor’s fuel tanks. Appellant Noe de Jesus Martinez-Montelongo was driving the tractor-trailer; Appellant Fidel Saldana Rodriguez was the passenger. Following a jury trial, both Appellants were convicted of conspiracy to import and importation of methamphetamine. On appeal, Saldana challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions, while Martinez-Montelongo challenges the substantive reasonableness of his sentence. Finding no reversible error, we AFFIRM Saldana’s convictions and AFFIRM Martinez-Montelongo’s sentence. I A At approximately 5:30 p.m. on the evening of November 28, 2022, Martinez-Montelongo and Saldana arrived at the Columbia Solidarity Bridge Port of Entry in Laredo, Texas, seeking to cross from Mexico into the United States. The two men were traveling in a tractor-trailer, with a white tractor and an empty refrigerator trailer. Martinez-Montelongo was driving, with Saldana sitting in the passenger seat. Martinez-Montelongo presented Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Officer Gustavo Vila Cruz with his and Saldana’s visas and with a manifest stating that the trailer was empty. Vila Cruz noted it was odd that there were two people in the tractor-trailer because, generally, only a single driver is allowed through the Port of Entry when there is an empty trailer. When there are two people driving an empty trailer, CBP typically immediately turns the tractor-trailer away until it

2 Case: 24-40031 Document: 97-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/29/2025

No. 24-40031 c/w No. 24-40047 returns with only one driver or first sends the tractor-trailer for an inspection. Here, Vila Cruz sent the tractor-trailer for inspection after seeing that the vehicle was flagged in CBP’s TECS screening system for prior suspicious activity. Initially, the tractor-trailer was referred for x-ray screening, but the x- ray machine was not operational at the time. The tractor-trailer was referred instead to the seconda