United States v. Garcia, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 6237

Garcia was convicted of ten counts of knowingly making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer (FLFD) on Form 4473, relating to purchases/attempted purchases of various firearms.
Pretrial, the government sought to introduce ATF Agent Ballesteros as an expert on straw buyers and cross-border firearms trafficking; the district court limited his scope but allowed some testimony.
At trial, Ballesteros testified about straw buyers and the U.S.-Mexico firearms dynamic, while expressly not detailing Garcia’s case-specific theories about cartels.
During sentencing, additional evidence showed Garcia’s purchases and some firearms recovered in Mexico, including items linked to the Zetas cartel.
The district court imposed a four-level enhancement for arms trafficking under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(5), based on evidence that Garcia transferred two or more firearms to others with knowledge or reason to believe they would be disposed of unlawfully.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Ballesteros' expert testimony was properly admitted	Garcia argues the testimony was irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial.	Garcia contends the testimony aided the jury and was probative of knowledge and intent.	Yes, admissible; testimony aided understanding and state of mind.
Whether the four-level sentencing enhancement for arms trafficking was supported by the evidence	Garcia contends insufficient circumstantial evidence to show knowledge or belief of unlawful transfers.	Garcia contends evidence showed she transferred multiple firearms and that they reached cartel elements.	Yes, the district court did not clearly err; circumstantial evidence supported knowledge/intent.

Norris v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 397 F.3d 878 (10th Cir. 2005) (gatekeeping under Rule 702; abuse of discretion review)
Rodriguez-Felix v. United States, 450 F.3d 1117 (10th Cir. 2006) (common-sense inquiry for expert testimony)
Becker v. United States, 230 F.3d 1224 (10th Cir. 2000) (importance of juror understanding of expert testimony)
U.S. v. Garza, 566 F.3d 1194 (10th Cir. 2009) (allowing law enforcement experts on drug trade context)
U.S. v. Juarez, 626 F.3d 246 (5th Cir. 2010) (circumstantial evidence supporting firearms trafficking enhancement)
U.S. v. Gambino-Zavala, 539 F.3d 1221 (10th Cir. 2008) (interpretation of sentencing enhancements in firearms cases)
United States v. Orr, 567 F.3d 610 (10th Cir. 2009) (standard of review for factual findings in sentencing)
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (Supreme Court 1993) (gatekeeping reliability of expert testimony)
U.S. v. Tan, 254 F.3d 1204 (10th Cir. 2001) (unfair prejudice balancing in Rule 403)
United States v. Juarez, 626 F.3d 246 (5th Cir. 2010) (circumstantial evidence for knowledge of illegal transfer)