United States v. Skinner, No. 09-6497 (6th Cir. 2012)
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After a participant in West’s operation was stopped carrying $362,000 to a marijuana supplier, DEA authorities learned that Apodaca would send marijuana from Mexico to Tennessee via couriers, using pay-as-you-go cell phones for couriers to communicate. Apodaca provided false names and addresses and was unaware that these phones were equipped with GPS technology. Authorities obtained orders authorizing interception of wire communications from two phones subscribed in West’s name and learned that a truck driver, Skinner, would meet Apodaca in Tucson to pick up marijuana in a “nice [RV] with a diesel engine,” with his son driving an F-250 pickup truck. Authorities obtained an order authorizing the phone company to release data for two secret phones and discovered that one was in Candler, North Carolina, West’s primary residence. Continuously “pinging” the other phone, authorities located Skinner and his son at a rest stop near Abilene, Texas, with a motorhome containing 1,100 pounds of marijuana. The district court denied Skinner’s motion to suppress; Skinner was convicted of drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Skinner did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the data emanating from his cell phone that showed its location.
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