978 miles (usually around 815 miles); and returned the truck the very next day. Hilts resumed almost the identical pattern of behavior in November 1998 and continued it until April 28, 1999, when, after detecting that he was under surveillance by ATF agents from the time he had left BJ's liquor store in Maryland until he had arrived in upstate New York, Hilts abandoned the Ryder truck that he had rented the day before on the side of the road. At the time that Hilts abandoned the truck, it contained 222 cases of liquor. Prior to abandoning the truck, Hilts successfully made several evasive driving maneuvers in order to escape the surveillance.


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The record also shows that during these same time periods, Hilts used the rented trucks to pickthat the liquor he was transporting would ultimately be smuggled into Canada without paying Canada or the Province of Ontario the applicable taxes due on such liquor. The fact that Hilts abandoned the liquor laden rental truck after detecting surveillance by ATF agents during a liquor run from Maryland to New York is strong evidence of his criminal intent. The same goes for his evasive driving maneuvers and the fact that his own vehicle did not cross the Rainbow Bridge after April 28, 1999. Furthermore, the mere fact that Hilts did not personally make the telephone call that is specifically alleged in Count I is of no import. The evidence supports a reasonable inference that the March 9, 1999 telephone call by David Pasquantino to Valley Wine &