Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/13-1034_3dq4.pdf
Page Number: 7.0

4 

MELLOULI v. LYNCH 

Opinion of the Court 

state  prosecution,  Mellouli  acknowledged  that  the  tablets 
were Adderall and that he did not have a prescription for 
the drugs.  Adderall, the brand name of an amphetamine-
based  drug  typically  prescribed  to  treat  attention-deficit 
hyperactivity  disorder,2  is  a  controlled  substance  under 
both  federal  and  Kansas  law.  See  21  CFR  §1308.12(d)(1)
(2014)  (listing  “amphetamine”  and  its  “salts”  and  “iso-
mers”); Kan. Stat. Ann. §65–4107(d)(1) (2013 Cum. Supp.)
(same).  Based on the probable-cause affidavit, a criminal
complaint  was  filed  charging  Mellouli  with  trafficking 
contraband in jail.

Ultimately,  Mellouli  was  charged  with  only  the  lesser 
offense of possessing drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. 
The amended complaint alleged that Mellouli had “use[d] 
or  possess[ed]  with  intent  to  use  drug  paraphernalia,  to-
wit: a sock, to store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale
or  otherwise  introduce  into  the  human  body  a  controlled
substance.”  App.  23.  The  complaint  did  not  identify  the
substance  contained  in  the  sock.    Mellouli  pleaded  guilty
to  the  paraphernalia  possession  charge;  he  also  pleaded 
guilty  to  driving  under  the  influence.    For  both  offenses, 
Mellouli  was  sentenced  to  a  suspended  term  of  359  days 
and 12 months’ probation. 

In  February  2012,  several  months  after  Mellouli  suc-
cessfully  completed  probation,  Immigration  and  Customs 
Enforcement  officers  arrested  him  as  deportable  under 
§1227(a)(2)(B)(i)  based  on  his  paraphernalia  possession
conviction.    An  Immigration  Judge  ordered  Mellouli  de-
ported,  and  the  Board  of  Immigration  Appeals  (BIA)  af-
firmed the order.  Mellouli was deported in 2012.

Under federal law, Mellouli’s concealment of controlled-
substance tablets in his sock would not have qualified as a
drug-paraphernalia offense.  Federal law criminalizes the 
sale of or commerce in drug paraphernalia, but possession 

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2 See H. Silverman, The Pill Book 23 (13th ed. 2008).