United States v. Rick K. Vo

Petitioner Rick Vo (“Vo”) and his wife Brenda (“Brenda”) were indicted for conspiring to possess more than fifty grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and for aiding and abetting each other in the possession of more than fifty grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. See 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1); 21 U.S.C. § 846 . The Vos were arrested after an employee of Mail Boxes, Etc., notified the Fedei'al Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) that a suspicious package had been dropped off for shipment to California by Federal Express. The shipping label stated that the shipment contained hair products and makeup, and the employee opened the box pursuant to store policy to ensure that it did not contain any aerosol products. Realizing that the. package was suspicious (because it did not contain hair products but rather contained fifteen pounds of an unknown substance), the store clerk notified the FBI, and the FBI obtained a search warrant from a federal magistrate judge. The FBI discovered four gallon sized bags of a substance testing positive for methamphetamine. The Vos were arraigned and indicted in October 2002 for charges stemming from the methamphetamine possession. In…