Silberman

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER RE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF 18 U.S.C. § 2518 (11)

The defendants’ motion to suppress the fruits of wiretap surveillance on the basis of the unconstitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 2518 (11) came on for hearing on February 6, 1990, at 9:00 a.m., before the Honorable J. Lawrence Irving, United States District Court Judge. Assistant United States Attorneys Charles Gorder and Carol Lam appeared on behalf of the United States of America; James Brosnahan, George Harris and Hannah Bentley appeared on behalf of defendant Richard Silberman; Oscar Goodman appeared on behalf of defendant Chris Petti.

Having considered the pleadings and oral arguments of counsel, the court hereby issues the following memorandum decision and order.

FACTS

Defendants Silberman, Petti, Myers, Na-katsuka and Ziegler are indicted for various money laundering and currency reporting violations. Approximately 21 months prior to the indictment, the government obtained an authorization pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2518 (11) to intercept defendant Petti’s telephone conversations by means of a so-called roving wiretap in connection with its investigation of defendant Petti’s activities unrelated to…