United States v. Gary, No. 13-1788 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseAn undercover agent saw Gary talking on the phone in the passenger seat of a car when the agent bought heroin from the driver. The driver made no attempt to conceal the drug transaction from Gary. Gary was seized following a traffic stop. Officers stopped the car because a narcotics detective gave them the license plate number and told them to make a stop if they observed any violations. During the stop, officers discovered heroin on the driver during a frisk for weapons. Gary was also patted down. One of the officers spoke with Gary’s parole officer, who asked to see Gary. The officer then handcuffed Gary and searched him, finding two cell phones. Gary was transported to the police station. The arresting officer admitted that the sole reason he seized Gary was to bring him to speak with his parole officer at the police station. Gary was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that his mere presence in the car with a driver who was observed selling drugs was not enough to find probable cause and that the search of his cell phone exceeded the scope of a lawful search incident to arrest.
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