United States v. Yuk

Three defendants found by a jury to have engaged in a criminal conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A) challenged their convictions, contending that venue did not properly lie in the Southern District of New York, the place of their prosecutions. The Second Circuit affirmed their convictions, finding that, although the bulk of their joint criminal activity took place in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in Florida, the defendants’ activities and knowledge of the related travel to New York by one of the conspirators, who had left Florida with drugs obtained through the conspiracy and traveled to the New York area with plans to sell the drugs there, sufficed to support venue in the Southern District as to each defendant. The court upheld the denial of three suppression motions, which were based on searches resulting from DEA wiretaps, a protective sweep search of the master bedroom in the Florida residence in which a defendant was arrested, and a search of that defendant’s business, pursuant to a warrant. The court rejected a contention that the government failed adequately to disclose impeachment evidence regarding its lead witness and arguments that the court improperly calculated the defendants’ Guidelines ranges. View "United States v. Yuk" on Justia Law