United States v. Elmore

Convicted after a jury trial of unlawfully possessing a controlled substance, heroin hydrochloride, with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), Alex Elmore now argues on appeal that the trial court committed reversible error in denying his motion to suppress. For reasons discussed below, we conclude that the drugs seized from Elmore were not the fruits of an unlawful stop and therefore the District Court properly denied Elmore's suppression motion. On Saturday, October 8, 1977, Paul J. Markonni and Gerald D. Chapman, special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), were conducting a routine narcotics surveillance at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Both agents had many years experience in the enforcement of federal drug laws.