United States v. District Iowa. Deano Babe Formaro

Submitted: May 12, 1998 Deano Babe Formaro appeals from a judgment entered upon a conditional guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. In the plea Formaro reserved his right to challenge the district court's denials of his suppression motions. 1 We affirm. On March 21, 1997, Officer John Van Haaften, who was assigned to a county drug task force, submitted an application for a warrant to search Formaro's house. Van Haaften stated that since January 1996 the task force had been investigating Formaro and his wife for illegal drug distribution and during that time confidential informants had made controlled purchases of marijuana and methamphetamine from Formaro's house. In attachments to the application, Van Haaften stated that the informants had given reliable information in the past and that their information as to Formaro had been corroborated. A state court Judge issued the warrant that day. On executing the warrant one week later, officers found one pound of methamphetamine, one-half pound of marijuana, over $29,000 in cash, a pistol, and drug paraphernalia.