United States v. Sariles, No. 10-50577 (5th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his conviction of importing and possessing with intent to distribute fifty kilograms or more of marijuana. Defendant sought to assert a public authority defense at trial on the basis that he had been acting on the apparent authority of a local law enforcement officer to permit his conduct. The court held that the public authority defense required a law enforcement officer who engaged a defendant in a covert activity to possess actual, rather than only apparent authority to authorize the defendant's conduct. Therefore, because it was undisputed that the officer at issue lacked actual authority to authorize defendant's violation of the federal drug laws, the court held that the public authority defense was unavailable. Accordingly, the district court's judgment was affirmed.
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