Court Error – Motion to Suppress Evidence Denied

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Jonathan Eymann, et al.,

Case No.: 19-2090; 19-2101

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and SYKES and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Court Error – Motion to Suppress Evidence Denied

Jonathan Eymann and his uncle, Gary Lyons, were flying from California to Pennsylvania when they stopped around midnight at a small public airport in Litchfield, Illinois. Suspecting drug trafficking, law enforcement officers followed the pair to a nearby hotel and confronted them in the hotel’s parking lot. The encounter ended in their arrests and the discovery of 65 pounds of marijuana in their airplane.

Asserting that the officers had violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments in a number of ways, Eymann and Lyons filed a joint motion to suppress the evidence against them. After the district court denied the motion, Eymann conditionally pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, reserving the right to appeal the district court’s ruling on their suppression motion. Lyons proceeded to trial, where a jury convicted him of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and aiding and abetting the possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. Both men now appeal the district court’s denial of their motion to suppress. Finding no reason to set aside either the district court’s factual findings or its ultimate conclusion, we affirm.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.