United States v. Vargas, No. 16-14714 (11th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine. On appeal, defendant challenged the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. The district court found that the traffic stop that led to the discovery of the drugs was not an unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The court reasoned that, under state law, the officer had a duty not to allow the driver or defendant, who were unlicensed, to drive the vehicle at issue; preventing them from driving off without a license is lawful enforcement of the law, not unlawful detention; and what prolonged the stop was not the officer's desire to search the vehicle but the fact that both occupants of it could not lawfully drive it away. Accordingly, the court concluded that the district court correctly determined that the seizure did not violate the Fourth Amendment and affirmed the judgment.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.