United States v. Serge Lachapelle Elmer Dale Osborne

Having each entered a conditional plea of guilty to the charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, Serge LaChapelle and Elmer Dale Osborne appeal the district court’s denial of their suppression motions. We conclude that the district court correctly denied the suppression motions and therefore affirm the convictions of both men. We also find meritless La-Chapelle’s challenge to his sentence.

FACTS

On December 16,1987, Constable Beaton of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) in Great Falls, Montana, to inform them of a drug transaction that Canadian authorities had reason to believe would take place in the United States. Constable Beaton told DEA Agent Barnes, the agent in charge of the Great Falls office, that Canadian electronic surveillance had uncovered the information that Serge LaChapelle, a Canadian citizen, would soon be traveling to the United States to procure cocaine. Several subsequent calls from Beaton informed Agent Barnes that LaChapelle apparently intended to meet an unnamed drug courier at the Great Falls airport on December 23, 1987. The courier was scheduled to arrive on a 10:30…