United States v. Gerardo Sanchez-Ramirez

MEMORANDUM

Gerardo Sanchez-Ramirez entered a conditional guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1), and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 210 months. He appeals the denial of his motion to suppress and his sentence. We affirm.

Sanchez-Ramirez contends, first, that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress. He argues that the affidavit in support of the search warrant failed to provide probable cause for the warrant because: (1) Gomez, the individual transporting the methamphetamine to the confidential informant, did not identify the specific address of his supplier, referring only to a house in Pasco, Washington; and (2) the police did not perform a field test to confirm that the substance seized was methamphetamine, instead stating in the affidavit simply that the substance seized was believed to be methamphetamine. We review de novo the denial of a motion to suppress, and review for clear error the finding of the issuing judge that a warrant is supported by probable cause, giving “great deference” to that finding. United States v. Hill, 459 F.3d 966, 970 (9th Cir.2006). The probable…