United States v. Ribota, No. 14-3026 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn 2002, Ribota was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, after a search revealed 25 kilograms of cocaine and two loaded firearms. Once a $50,000 secured bond was posted, on January 7, 2003, he was released under an order requiring him to report to Pretrial Services and to confine his travel within Illinois. On January 30, 2003, a bench warrant issued after he failed to appear at Pretrial Services. Ribota eluded capture for more than nine years, until he was arrested in Denver, in 2012 and was arraigned on the 2003 indictment. He moved to suppress evidence. The prosecutor, not the one who had obtained the 2002 indictment, agreed that the evidence was inadmissible. The court granted the motion and granted the government’s oral motion to dismiss the indictment. The day after the motion to suppress was granted, the government charged Ribota with contempt of court, 18 U.S.C. 401(3), alleging that Ribota willfully violated the court order by failing to report to Pretrial Services and to restrict his travel. Ribota moved to dismiss that indictment as based solely on vindictiveness. The Seventh Circuit affirmed denial of the motion.
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