United States v. Mykola Ihnatenko, United States of America v. Mykhailo Yurchenko

Mykola Ihnatenko and Mykhailo Yur-chenko appeal their convictions for conspiracy to possess cocaine aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States in violation of 46 U.S.C. app. § 1903(a) and (j) and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States in violation of 46 U.S.C. app. § 1903(a), (c)(1)(C), and (f). Ihnatenko, the vessel engineer in charge of fuel systems and refrigeration, and Yurchenko, the third mate machinist aboard the smuggling vessel, were co-defendants tried separately from the defendants whose convictions we upheld in United States v. Zakharov, 468 F.3d 1171 (9th Cir.2006), and United States v. Savchenko, No. 04-50045, 2006 WL 3825385 (9th Cir. Dec. 26, 2006) (unpublished disposition). We have jurisdiction to review appellants’ convictions pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I

Our opinion in Zakharov recounts the facts in this case, beginning with the April 2001 seizure in international waters off the coast of Mexico of over ten tons of cocaine aboard the F/V Svesda Maru, a fishing vessel registered in Belize. See 468 F.3d at 1174-75 . We will not reiterate…