United States of America v. Dusty Ronald Harris

Tulsa, Oklahoma criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with selling fentanyl and meth.



The case grew out of a confidential informant's statement that Mr. Dusty Harris was selling fentanyl and methamphetamine. After providing the statement, the informant agreed to help a law-enforcement officer (Agent Brady Patrick) gather evidence against Mr. Harris. Agent Patrick gave the informant $500 to buy fentanyl from Mr. Harris on November 1. The informant gave the money to Mr. Harris, who entered a house to buy the fentanyl. Mr. Harris returned empty- handed, saying that his supplier didn't have the fentanyl.



On November 2, Agent Patrick gave the informant another $1,000 to pay Mr. Harris for the fentanyl. This time, the informant met Mr. Harris in the parking lot of a motel; and Mr. Harris gave the informant a pill bottle. But the bottle didn't contain fentanyl. (The bottle instead contained a combination of Aleve and a different controlled substance called

oxycodone.) On November 3, the informant told Agent Patrick that Mr. Harris would



• drive from Wyoming to Denver to buy more fentanyl,

• leave his truck in Denver as collateral, and

• drive another male in a black car and arrive at the informant's

trailer on November 4 at about 11 a.m.



\On November 4, Mr. Harris arrived at the informant's trailer. But when Mr. Harris left the trailer, he was driving a brown SUV (not a black car) and was accompanied by a female (rather than a male). Agent Patrick directed another officer to stop and search Mr. Harris's vehicle. Inside were methamphetamine, fentanyl, and a scale.



Mr. Harris moved to suppress this evidence, arguing that law-enforcement officers had lacked (1) reasonable suspicion to stop the car or (2) probable cause to conduct a search. The court upheld the stop and the search, reasoning that the informant's statements to Agent Patrick had supplied probable cause to believe that the vehicle would contain fentanyl.



See: . United States v. Neal, 500 F.2d 305, 308 (10th Cir. 1974).

The motion to suppress was denied.



Defendant sentenced to 142 months as to Count(s) 1 and 2 to run concurrently; 4 years supervised release as to Count(s) 1 and 2 to run concurrently, with special conditions; $200 special assessment; $500 community restitution.



Affirmed