Appleton-Lewis

MEMORANDUM **

Defendant-Appellant Lucio Appleton-Lewis appeals his conviction and 145-month sentence, imposed for violating 46 U.S.C.App. § 1903 (2005) (current amended and recodified version at 46 U.S.C. §§ 70502-06 ), conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute on board a vessel.

Appellant pled guilty to violating §§ 1903(a), (c) and (j), and acknowledged that each of the elements of the crime was present and that there was a factual basis for the plea. Appellant also conceded that he “was on board a vessel, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.” During the plea colloquy, Appellant admitted that his vessel was stateless.

Appellant’s conviction and sentence are valid even though the district court did not expressly determine as a preliminary question of law that Appellant’s vessel was “stateless” and therefore “subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.” 1 Section 1903(f) requires that “[a]ll jurisdictional issues ... be determined solely by the trial judge,” but does not mandate that district courts make an express finding of subject matter jurisdiction.

“Every court in rendering a judgment tacitly, if not expressly, determines its jurisdiction…