United States v. Ardd

Confidential informants learned that Ardd wanted to buy cocaine and connected him with Memphis officer Tellez, posing as an out-of-state cocaine dealer. Before a scheduled meeting, Tellez obtained a warrant to search Ardd’s home for drug records and drug proceeds “[u]pon Ardd being arrested for attempting to possess th[e] cocaine.” Tellez’s affidavit described his experience in narcotics investigations and stated that a reliable informant told him about Ardd’s drug activities; Ardd contacted Tellez several times during the year about buying distribution quantities of cocaine; Ardd was ready to buy. The affidavit described Ardd’s residence and noted the police had surveilled it. Officers observed the controlled buy and arrested Ardd after he showed Tellez money, climbed into Tellez’s car, and took the bag of cocaine. Police searched Ardd and seized the cocaine, $9,800, and a loaded pistol. In his home, they seized 34 baggies of drugs, digital scales, and a loaded pistol with an obliterated serial number. Police gave Ardd his Miranda warnings and supplied a written copy. Ardd admitted that he came to the parking lot with a loaded gun to obtain cocaine, and that he had been making up to a thousand dollars a week in cocaine sales for years and that he had more drugs and another gun at home. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of a motion to suppress, Ardd’s convictions, and his 270-month sentence. View "United States v. Ardd" on Justia Law