United States v. Russell

Facts

On December 7, 1969, Joe Shapiro, an undercover agent, went to the defendant’s home and met with the defendant and his two codefendants, John and Patrick Connolly. Shapiro’s assignment was to locate a laboratory where it was believed that methamphetamine was being manufactured illicitly. He told the defendant and the Connollys that he represented an organization in the Pacific Northwest that was interested in controlling the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine. He then made an offer to supply the defendants with the chemical phenyl-2-propanone, an essential ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine, in return for one-half of the drug. Shortly thereafter, Shapiro and Patrick Connolly left defendant’s house to view the laboratory which was located in the Connolly house.

Shapiro returned to the Connolly house on December 9, 1969, to supply 100 grams of propanone and observe the manufacturing process. About a month later, Shapiro returned to the Connolly house and met with Patrick Connolly to ask if he was still interested in their “business arrangement.” Connolly replied that he was interested but that he had recently obtained two additional bottles of phenyl-2-propanone and would not be finished with them for a couple of days. He provided some additional methamphetamine to Shapiro at that time. Three days later Shapiro returned to the Connolly house with a search warrant and, among other items, seized an empty 500-gram bottle of propanone and a 100-gram bottle, not the one he had provided, that was partially filled with the chemical.

At trial, the defendant and Patrick Connolly testified that phenyl-2-propanone was generally difficult to obtain. The defendant was convicted of drug charges arising from the particular batch of methamphetamine made with the chemical supplied by the government and appealed, arguing that the investigation was an entrapment. The Court of Appeals agreed with the defendant and reversed his convictions.