United States v. Kevin Luis

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Kevin Luis (“Defendant”) pled guilty by way of a conditional plea agreement to conspmacy to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 846. He appeals from the district court’s denial of his motions to suppress evidence derived from the x'ecording of conversations Defendant had with a confidential iixformant (“CI-1”) and from the Govexmment’s use of wire taps. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

This court reviews de novo the denial of a motion to suppress. United States v. Peterson, 353 F.3d 1045, 1048 (9th Cir. 2003). “The factual findings underlying the denial are reviewed for clear error.” Id.

1. Defendant was not entitled to suppression of the recordings of his conversations with CI-1 because the Government recorded Defendant’s conversations with CI-1 with CI-l’s consent. This is specifically permitted under 18 U.S.C. § 2511 (2)(c), which provides that “[i]t shall not be unlawful ... for a person acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication, where such person is a party to the communication or one of the parties to the communication has given prior…