United States v. Raoul Barrie Clymer

Opinion by Judge REINHARDT.

Once again, we are called upon to review a conviction obtained by the government as a result of its four-year sting operation at the Triple Neck Scientific company in Kearny Mesa, California. See, e.g., United States v. Bruce, 976 F.2d 552 (9th Cir.1992); United States v. Nichols, 956 F.2d 276 (9th Cir.1992) (table); United States v. Allen, 955 F.2d 630 (9th Cir.1992) (per curian). In exchange for an agreement by the owner of Triple Neck to provide the DEA with information about customers who purchased chemicals and equipment used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, the government purchased advertising to aid the company in generating business, and it allowed the owner to retain all profits he acquired through the sale of methamphetamine precursors. The Triple Neck Scientific operation reportedly led to the indictments of approximately 100 individuals, as well as a $9,000,000 profit for the owner of the company. In Allen , we considered the broad issues of the bounds of permissible government conduct raised by the manner in which the government carried out the sting. Today, however, we focus only on a discrete aspect of the district court…