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United States v. Forbes-Suarez

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Jan 27, 2014
553 F. App'x 913 (11th Cir. 2014)

Opinion

No. 13-10711 D.C. Docket No. 8:09-cr-00486-SCB-EAJ-3

01-27-2014

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WALDIR FORBES-SUAREZ, Defendant-Appellant.


[DO NOT PUBLISH]


Non-Argument Calendar


Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida

Before HULL, MARCUS, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:

Waldir Forbes-Suarez appeals his conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. He contends that the district court plainly erred by failing to dismiss his indictment because the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act ("MDLEA") is unconstitutional as applied to his conduct. He points to United States v. Bellaizac-Hurtado, 700 F.3d 1245 (11th Cir. 2012); then, he argues that the phrase "through international waters" set forth in his plea agreement does not mean (and thus does not admit) that his boats actually left territorial waters.

Forbes-Suarez waived the right to raise his present challenge to his conviction by entering an unconditional guilty plea. See United States v. Ternus, 598 F.3d 1251, 1254 (11th Cir. 2010); United States v. Yunis, 723 F.2d 795, 796 (11th Cir. 1984). In addition, no decision of this Court or the Supreme Court supports Forbes-Suarez's contention that his admitting the vessels in his conspiracy used "international waters" fails to include inherently a concession that the vessels went outside of "territorial waters." In a case like this one, "international waters" has a customary meaning and is not ambiguous. For MDLEA proceedings, territorial waters ? international waters, at least in the absence of binding precedent saying something else. Therefore, the district court did not commit plain error by failing to dismiss his indictment sua sponte.

AFFIRMED.


Summaries of

United States v. Forbes-Suarez

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Jan 27, 2014
553 F. App'x 913 (11th Cir. 2014)
Case details for

United States v. Forbes-Suarez

Case Details

Full title:UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WALDIR FORBES-SUAREZ…

Court:UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

Date published: Jan 27, 2014

Citations

553 F. App'x 913 (11th Cir. 2014)

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