United States v. Joseph R. Carneiro, Terry L. Johnson, George L. Ennis, Larry Emerson, Thomas Francis Begley, Willie Williams, Thomas J. Boyd

In this criminal action the seven appellants entered conditional guilty pleas to narcotics offenses. They appeal from the denial of their motions to suppress incrimi nating evidence obtained by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) through the use of four judicially approved wiretaps. The wiretaps were issued by a district court judge under Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2520 (1982 & Supp. II 1984). The appellants argue that the four wiretaps were invalid because they failed to satisfy statutory and constitutional requirements. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

I

BACKGROUND

On June 25, 1985, Patrick Fazio contacted DEA Agents Williams and Sanchez in Spokane, Washington. Fazio claimed to have connections with numerous cocaine and marijuana dealers in eastern Washington and offered to sell information about these individuals to the DEA. At the time that he volunteered to sell the information, Fazio was not a suspect nor a target of investigation in any crime.

Fazio identified a Spokane drug dealing ring involving Thomas Boyd, Ray Harty, and numerous other participants. However, at the time that Fazio…