A jury convicted Raul Jiminez of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Jiminez challenges the proceedings below on two grounds. First, Jiminez contends that the district court improperly allowed certain evidence to be introduced which was unfairly prejudicial. Second, Jiminez contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. Because the distriсt court did not abuse its discretion in the contested evidentiary rulings and a reasonable jury could have found Jiminez guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
I.
Using a federal wiretap to intercept phone calls, law enforcement officials learned of a drug shipment that was to be delivered to Norfolk, Nebraska. On the morning of March 3, 2005, a Nebraska State Patrol official informed Trooрer Timothy Stopak of suspicions that a shipment of methamphetamine was being transported in a green Plymouth minivan, with the Minnesota license plate number NHB030, traveling north on Highway 81 toward Norfolk, Nebraska. Later that morning, Trooper Stopak saw the green minivan and pulled the vehicle over for speeding.
Trooper Stopak approached the vehicle and asked Jiminez, who was the only occupаnt of the minivan, for his driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. As Jiminez handed over some of the materials, Trooper Stopak observed that Jimi-nez’s hand was shaking. When Trooper Stopak inquired about Jiminez’s destination, he responded that he was driving to Norfolk, where he had family.
Trooper Stopak requested that Jiminez accompany him back to his police cruiser. Once they were in the cruiser, Trooper Stopak asked Jiminez where he began his trip. Jiminez did not answer the question. Indeed, despite being asked numerous times where he started his trip, Jiminez never answered the question. When Trooper Stopak asked who owned the minivan, Jiminez initially answered that his friend owned the vehicle, but subsequently said that it was owned by his wife’s cousin. In addition, Jiminez claimed that he had recently won money at a casino.
Trooper Stopak filled out a form authorizing a search of the minivan and read it to Jiminez, who signed the form. Trooper Stopak requested and received help from other officers in conducting the search of the minivan. The officers discovered that the minivan had a hidden compartment beneath a false floor. That compartment contained approximately 9.8 pounds of methamphetamine, whose value was estimated as somewhere between $80,000 and $120,000. In addition to the illicit drugs, the officers seized: a cell phone; a driver’s license issued to a person named Cesar Cruz Salas that was found in Jiminez’s wallet; a boarding pass for a February 8-9, 2005 flight from San Diego to Minneapolis; and a paper napkin, on which was written “Paulo,” a phone number, and “Norfolk.” When Jiminez was arrested for transporting methamphetamine, Trooper Stopak noted thаt he appeared dejected rather than surprised or angry. An in-car camera recorded the traffic stop, a video of which was played for the jury during the trial.
*1143 On March 24, 2005, a grand jury indicted Jiminez (along with five codefendants) for a charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Following Jiminez’s first trial, the jury could not reach a verdict and the distriсt court judge declared a hung jury.
Before he was retried, Jiminez filed, among other evidentiary motions, a motion seeking to exclude his cell phone records. The district court granted Jiminez’s motion because of a delay in the government’s production of the records. The district court did, however, leave open the possibility that the cell phone records could be admitted for the purpose of rebuttal.
At the retrial, a witness named Mollie Moler testified as part of a plea agreement. Moler testified that she had both used drugs with and made deliveries for Pablo Landin, whom she knew through Jesus Padilla. Not long before the events in question, Landin instructed Moler and another woman to purchase plastic bags and tape in preparation for repackaging a drug shipment that he was expecting. Because the vehicle containing the drug shipment did not arrive as anticipated, Landin told the two women to go out in a car looking for a vehicle with Minnesota plates, which contained the methamphetamine. After the drugs had still not arrived, Moler testified that Landin speculated that the courier may have stolen the drugs.
Drew Armstrong, a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, testified at trial about the wiretap that uncovered the planned drug shipment to Norfolk. On February 28, 2005, law enforcement officials learned of this Norfolk shipment from an intercepted telephone call between Landin’s cell phone and a person known as “Lupe.” Landin’s cell phone number was the same number as the one on the napkin that police retrieved from the minivan that Jiminez was driving. Agent Armstrong suggested that the name written on the napkin (“Paulo”) referred to Landin, whose first name is actually “Pablo.”
On the evening of March 2, 2005, officials intercepted another phone call between Landin and Lupe. Lupe gave Lan-din a ten-digit phone number, which turned out to be the number for the phone that officers retrieved from the minivan. Lupe further informed Landin that “the man’s name is Raul” and that he had just given Landin’s phone number to Raul so that they could communicate directly. While the telephone conversations between Lupe and Jiminez were not intercepted because neither of their phones was tapped, the records for Jiminez’s cell phone reveal three phone calls from Jimi-nez to a number for Lupe on March 2, 2005.
Around midnight on March 2, 2005, officials intercepted two phone calls between Jiminez and Landin. In the first phone call, Jiminez said that he was “calling on behalf of Lupe” and rеceived driving directions to Norfolk from Landin. In the second phone call, Landin instructed Jimi-nez to spend the night in York, Nebraska because the roads were “pretty deserted.” Landin stated: “You rest there in York and — and that way you — you leave at the — the time people leave for work. At six.” This second intercepted phone call spurred law enforcement officials to identify vehicles in York’s hotel parking lots that might contain the drug shipment. One of the potential drug shipment vehicles that the officials identified was the minivan driven by Jiminez. In the morning, Jimi-nez and Landin spoke on numerous occasions, during which Landin offered Jiminez directions to Norfolk in general and to his house in particular.
*1144 In addition to his testimony about the intercepted phone calls, Agent Armstrong testified about drug trafficking practices more broadly. Agent Armstrong explained that drug traffickers often use code words to avoid detection when discussing drugs. Drug traffickers also often use many cell phones, Agent Armstrong explained, because the larger the number of cell phones, the more difficult it is for law enforcement officials to monitor the phone calls. With the changes that have occurred in air travel since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Agent Armstrong testified that he has noticed that drug shipments arе now often transported via motor vehicle. Agent Armstrong further noted that minivans are popular vehicles for drug transportation because they have many places where packages can be concealed.
Agent Armstrong offered testimony suggesting that Jiminez’s role in the drug trafficking scheme was not that of an innocent person. Examining Jiminez’s responses to Trooper Stopak, Agent Armstrong noted that Jiminez offered two different answers as to who owned the minivan. In addition, Agent Armstrong noted that Jiminez refused to answer Trooper Stopak’s question about where he began his trip. Finally, Agent Armstrong also testified that two items found on Jiminez when he was arrested were consistent with those of a drug trafficker: (1) Jiminez possessed a driver’s license issued to another person; (2) Jiminez had a one-way airline ticket stub that had not been purchased in advance from San Diego to Minneapolis. Agent Armstrong suggested that this unusual ticket purchase would be consistent with a trip for the purpose of drug trafficking.
During cross-examination, defense counsel asked Agent Armstrong questions about intercepted phone calls involving Jiminez. In doing so, defense counsel elicited testimony from Agent Armstrong suggesting that there were only three phone calls among the co-conspirators to which Jiminez was a party. The number of calls involving Jiminez was, in fact, substantially larger. The government requested that the district court reconsider its exclusion of Jiminez’s cell phone records because of the misimpression that the cross-examination of Agent Armstrong had created. The district court subsequently deemed the records relevant and admissible to correct this misimpression.
On May 11, 2006, the jury returned a guilty verdict. The district court sentenced Jiminеz to 144 months of imprisonment, which was to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. This appeal followed.
II.
On appeal, Jiminez makes two distinct arguments. First, Jiminez contends that the district court erred in admitting certain documents into evidence because those materials were unfairly prejudicial. Second, Jiminez contends that there was insufficient evidence supporting his conviction for conspiracy to distributе and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. We address each of Jiminez’s arguments in turn.
A.
Jiminez argues that the district court erred when it admitted into evidence the driver’s license issued to Cesar Cruz Salas, the one-way airline ticket stub from San Diego to Minneapolis, and his cell phone records. These documents, Jiminez suggests, should have been excluded under Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which provides in relevant part: “Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed *1145 by the danger of unfair prejudice.... ” Fed.R.Evid. 403. We disagree.
In assessing a district court’s evi-dentiary rulings, we review for an abuse of discretion.
See United States v. Guerrero-Cortez,
In order to fall within the Rule 403 exception to relevant evidence, the evidence must be “unfair[ly] prejudicial].” Fed.R.Evid. 403.
See Wade v. Haynes,
While the driver’s license issued to Salas was surely prejudicial to Jiminez’s defense, we cannot conclude that permitting these materials to be introduced was unfairly prejudicial to his case. The district court admitted the driver’s license that was issued to Salas because drug traffickers often carry another person’s identification to conceal their identity. That is a reasonable basis for admitting the identification, which was found in Jimi-nez’s billfold, into evidence. Thus, permitting Salas’s identification to be introduced strikes us as more probative than prejudicial.
The district court also did not err in admitting into evidence the one-way airline ticket stub from San Diego to Minneapolis. First, we think that it is significant that, as the district court noted, Jiminez had the contested boarding pass on his person when he was arrested. Second, although Jiminez does not expressly challenge Agent Armstrong’s testimony, we note that a district court “has discretion to allow law enforcement officials to testify as experts concerning the modus operandi of drug dealers ... in areas concerning activities which are nоt something with which most jurors are familiar.”
United States v. Boykin,
Turning to the introduction of Jimi-nez’s cell phone records, the district court initially decided to exclude Jiminez’s cell phone records in light of the delayed timing of production. Those records were not excluded because they were irrelevant or because they were somehow unfairly prejudicial to Jiminez. Where evidence is initially deemed inadmissible, this Court has previously determined that defense counsel’s questions can render the excluded evidence admissible.
See United States v. Beason,
B.
We now consider whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict convicting Jiminez of conspiracy to distribute illicit drugs. “In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, resolving evidentiary conflicts in favor of the government, and accepting all reasonable inferences (drawn from the evidence) supporting the verdict.”
United States v. Bustos-Tones,
“To establish that a defendant conspired to distribute drugs under 21 U.S.C. § 846, the government must prove: (1) that there was a conspiracy, i.e., an agreement to distribute the drugs; (2) that the defendant knew of the conspiracy; and (3) that the defendant intentionally joined the conspiracy.”
Espino,
Jiminez wisely does not contest that a drug conspiracy in fact existed. Rather, Jiminez asserts that he lacked the requi *1147 site knowledge and intent because he was unaware that the minivan he was driving contained methamphetaminе. This argument is unpersuasive.
Several aspects of Jiminez’s interaction with Trooper Stopak suggest that he knew that the minivan contained drugs. First, Trooper Stopak described Jiminez’s hand as trembling when Jiminez handed him documents. While a certain amount of nervousness is a part of most traffic stops, the jury could have reasonably concluded that Jiminez’s behavior betrayed knowledge of the methamphetamine.
See United States v.
Barajas,
Moreover, two statements made by Lan-din, the person to whom Jiminez was delivering the methamphetamine, undermine the idea that Jiminez was merely a dupe in the conspiracy. First, Landin told Jiminez to stay overnight in York not because he wаs tired, but because the roads were deserted. Most motorists attempt to avoid rush hour traffic if it is possible, but Lan-din explicitly instructed Jiminez to wait for it. Jiminez’s unquestioning acceptance of this instruction could be interpreted to suggest that he understood the true purpose of the trip to Norfolk.
See United States v. Thropay,
Jiminez attempts to demonstrate that he lacked knowledge of the methamphetamine that he was transporting by noting, among other things, that he: (1) “did not try to avoid the stop”; (2) “pulled over as soon as the trooper’s lights turned on”; (3) “was forthcoming that he was not driving his own vehiclе”; and (4) “[s]ign[ed] the permission to search.” Appellant’s Br. at 11-12. With respect to the first three reasons, Jiminez could have thought that Officer Stopak was pulling him over solely to issue a speeding violation. If that were the case, it would certainly have been in Jiminez’s interest to comply with the police officer, so that he could continue making his way to Norfolk. As to the fourth reason, permitting a police officer to conduct a search does not, of course, necessarily evidence an innocent state of mind.
*1148 Jiminez contends that Agent Armstrong’s testimony offers further support for the assertion that he did not know that the minivan contained drugs. Here, Jimi-nez notes that Agent Armstrong’s testimony reveals that Jiminez repeatedly got lost on his way to Norfolk, that he did not leave the hotel until approximately 7:43 a.m. (not 6 a.m., as he was instructed), and that he “stoрped at a casino,” which he notes is “[n]ot a wise move for someone transporting drugs.” Appellant’s Br. at 13. Jiminez, in effect, asks us to confuse ineptitude with innocence. We decline to do so.
Finally, Jiminez urges us to find that there was insufficient evidence to convict him because the seized methamphetamine was not dusted for fingerprints. See Appellant’s Br. at 14. Jiminez thinks that this is important because “such evidence could have tiеd [him] directly to the drugs, or exonerated him.” Id. This argument is wholly unpersuasive. In order to be a conspirator in a drug distribution operation, it is not necessary to physically handle drugs. An absence of Jiminez’s fingerprints on the methamphetamine would not undermine the jury’s conclusion that he was the courier in the conspiracy.
We conclude that the government presented more than sufficient evidence to support Jiminez’s conviction.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.