United States v. Alfred Romero

Alfred Romero pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to distribution of heroin, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3 (1976), and received a suspended sentence of five years. Appellant was sentenced to spend 179 days in custody and three and one-half years on probation. The district court imposed a special condition on appellant’s probation, that he “not associate with any person who has been convicted of any offense involving drugs, nor ... associate with any person who uses, sells, or in any other manner is unlawfully involved with any drugs.” Romero appeals solely to challenge this pro bation condition. Appellant novelly but gropingly argues that the condition is vague and overbroad, and hence impermissible, because it may permit revocation of his probation for associating with persons involved with narcotics even though he might not be aware of their drug activities. We reject the attempt to invalidate the reasonable probation condition on its face.

By imposing upon appellant’s probation the condition that he not associate with persons involved with drugs, the district court properly exercised its wide discretion in setting the terms and conditions of probation, United…