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  Court Asked To Define Limits of Conspiracy
Posted by CN Staff on May 28, 2002 at 14:39:44 PT
Michael Kirkland, UPI Legal Affairs Correspondent 
Source: United Press International 

justice The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide when a conspiracy ends. At issue in the Idaho drug case, which will probably be heard next fall, is whether those who join an illegal conspiracy after the government frustrates its purpose are guilty of the crime of conspiracy.

In asking that the high court review the drug case, the federal government told the justices that an eventual decision would have a profound effect on a variety of investigations, from violent crime to terrorism.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 18, 1997, a Nevada police officer stopped a northbound flatbed truck occupied by Manuel Sotelo and Ramiro Arce.

The truck turned out to be carrying 369 pounds of marijuana and nearly 15 pounds of cocaine. Police placed a street value of between $10 million and $12 million.

The men told police they were supposed to drive the truck to Nampa, Idaho, and leave it at a mall.

Arce agreed to cooperate with a police sting. Once officers had parked the truck at the Nampa mall, Arce called an Arizona pager number.

When a caller returned the page, Arce told him the truck's location and was told the caller would send "a muchacho to come and get the truck."

About three hours later, Francisco Jimenez Recio and Adrian Lopez-Meza drove up to the parked truck.

Recio got out of the car and into the truck, and he and Lopez-Meza drove west on different back roads.

Eventually, police decided to stop them.

A federal grand jury in Idaho indicted the two men for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and with conspiring to possess cocaine and marijuana.

Both men were found guilty on both counts. A federal judge refused motions that the men be acquitted because of lack of evidence.

Eventually, a divided appeals court panel reversed the judge, ruling 2-1 that the government had presented no evidence the two men were involved in a conspiracy before the drugs were seized in Nevada.

The panel majority said the men appeared to have been hired at the last minute, and downplayed evidence that both had pagers when they were arrested.

When the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit refused to hear the case, the Justice Department asked for Supreme Court review.

The department pointed to a 1957 Supreme Court precedent that said a conspiracy agreement "determines the duration of the conspiracy."

As long as the agreement lasts, the department said, the conspiracy lasts.

The appeals court ruling "discourages legitimate law enforcement methods that can be of vital importance not only in drug cases, but also in violent crime, terrorism and other contexts in which prosecution of the conspirators and frustration of their goals are both critical objectives."

(United States of America vs. Recio and Lopez-Meza)

Note: From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk

Source: United Press International
Author: Michael Kirkland, UPI Legal Affairs Correspondent
Published: May 28, 2002
Copyright 2002 United Press International
Website: http://www.upi.com/
Contact: http://www.upi.com/about/contact.cfm

Related Article:

Court To Hear Case Involving Drug Smuggling
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12975.shtml

CannabisNews Justice Archives
http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml


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Comment #1 posted by qqqq on May 29, 2002 at 02:11:22 PT
...The Nightmare of Conspiracy.....
"A federal grand jury in Idaho indicted the two men for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and with conspiring to possess cocaine and marijuana."

...It has always seemed to me,that laws about "conspiracy",are really spooky...Even slight knowledge of an illegal activity can land you in prison...It's a shame that such laws dont seem to apply to corporate ripoffs like the Enron scam.,,but,,I guess the only guy who knew about the Enron rip-off was that guy who committed suicide...yup,,he was behind the whole thing..


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