United States v. Harpal Singh Ahluwalia

Harpal Singh Ahluwalia appeals the conviction entered on his conditional plea of guilty to conspiracy to bribe a public official, 18 U.S.C. § 371 . He bribed Gregory Ward, the Chief Legalization Officer at the Salinas office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to get temporary work authorization cards (TWACs). The district court denied Ahluwalia’s motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground of outrageous government conduct in a published opinion. United States v. Ahluwalia, 807 F.Supp. 1490, 1497-1500 (N.D.Cal.1992). The facts are set out in that opinion, id. at 1492-94 , and we do not repeat them. We have jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1291 ; 18 U.S.C. § 3742 , and reviewing the district court’s conclusion de novo, United States v. Garza-Juarez, 992 F.2d 896, 903 (9th Cir.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 724 , 126 L.Ed.2d 688 (1994), we affirm.

“for a due process dismissal, the Government’s conduct must be so grossly shocking and so outrageous as to violate the universal sense of justice.” United States v. Smith, 924 F.2d 889, 897 (9th Cir.1991). “This defense is similar to that of entrapment and may be applied where involvement by undercover police officers or…