United States v. Jennings

The question is whether a governmental agent was sufficiently involved in the search of a package in the possession of American Airlines in Chicago as to bring into play the prohibition of the Fourth Amendment and the exclusionary rule. After a suppression hearing, the district judge held that he was not, and we agree. Immediately after picking up a package addressed to him at Washington National Airport in the Eastern District of Virginia, the defendant was arrested and later convicted of possession with the intent to distribute preludin, an amphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and of unlawful use of a facility in interstate commerce with the intent to distribute preludin in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(3). The arrest and the subsequent conviction were dependent upon information obtained during an earlier search of the package in O'Hare Airport at Chicago.