Case: 17-12038 Date Filed: 08/26/2020 Page: 1 of 28 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 17-12038 D.C. Docket No. 4:16-cr-10032-JEM-2 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus ANDRES ALBETO DAVILA-MENDOZA, Defendant - Appellant. No. 17-12039 D.C. Docket No. 4:16-cr-10032-JEM-3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus OTMAR SING GONZALEZ, Defendant - Appellant. Case: 17-12038 Date Filed: 08/26/2020 Page: 2 of 28 No. 17-12742 D.C. Docket No. 4:16-cr-10032-JEM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus JULIO BRAVO PINEDA, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (August 26, 2020) Before JILL PRYOR, BRANCH, and BOGGS,∗ Circuit Judges. BRANCH, Circuit Judge: In this case, three foreign nationals in a foreign vessel in the territorial waters of a foreign nation were arrested by the United States Coast Guard with the consent of the foreign country and prosecuted in the United States for drug- ∗ Honorable Danny J. Boggs, United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation. 2 Case: 17-12038 Date Filed: 08/26/2020 Page: 3 of 28 trafficking crimes under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA), 46 U.S.C. §§ 70501–70508. The defendants unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the indictment, in relevant part, on the ground that the MDLEA was unconstitutional as applied to them because Congress lacks the authority to criminalize acts committed in the territorial waters of foreign nations. The defendants ultimately pleaded guilty to the drug-trafficking crimes, but preserved their right to appeal the denial of their motion to suppress. This appeal followed and presents us with a question of first impression—whether the MDLEA exceeds Congress’s authority pursuant to the Constitution’s Foreign Commerce Clause or, alternatively, the Necessary and Proper Clause, as applied to the drug-trafficking activities of these defendants in the territorial waters of a consenting foreign country. After careful consideration, and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that the MDLEA, as applied to these defendants, exceeds Congress’s constitutional authority, and we vacate their convictions. I. BACKGROUND The undisputed facts are as follows. On June 4, 2016, Andres Davila- Mendoza, Otmar Gonzalez, Julio Pineda, and a minor were on board a stalled go- fast vessel in the territorial waters of Jamaica. With the permission of the Jamaican government, U.S. Coast Guard officials who had been patrolling the area by air and sea boarded and searched the distressed vessel. They discovered that the 3 Case: 17-12038 Date Filed: 08/26/2020 Page: 4 of 28 vessel was loaded with 3,500 kilograms of baled marijuana. Pineda told the Coast Guard officials that he was the captain, that he was Nicaraguan, that the vessel was Costa Rican, and that they were traveling from Jamaica to Costa Rica. Another crew member stated that the vessel was overloaded with marijuana and its engines had stopped working. With the further permission of the Jamaican government, the Coast Guard seized the boat occupants and the drugs, and the United States prosecuted the three men. The three defendants ...
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