Opinion ID: 566066
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the Indictment's Aiding and Abetting Counts

Text: 3 Count 5 charged Rojas-Oquita and Martinez Medina with aiding and abetting the importation of cocaine and count 8 charged them with aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine. The jury found both defendants guilty on count 5. On count 8, the jury convicted Rojas-Oquita but acquitted Martinez Medina. They challenge the sufficiency of these two counts of the indictment. 4 The defendants rely on Londono-Gomez v. INS, 699 F.2d 475 (9th Cir.1983), which states that [b]ecause the aiding and abetting statute does not define a separate offense, 'an indictment under [18 U.S.C. Sec. 2] must be accompanied by an indictment for a substantive offense.'  Id. at 477 (quoting United States v. Cowart, 595 F.2d 1023, 1031 n. 10 (5th Cir.1979)). They read this statement to mean that an indictment for aiding and abetting must also indict a principal. 5 Such a reading conflicts with the law of our circuit. See United States v. Mehrmanesh, 689 F.2d 822, 835 (9th Cir.1982) ([defendant's] contention that the indictment was fatally defective because it did not name the principal whom he was charged with aiding and abetting ... is without merit.... [I]dentification of the principal is not an essential element of a conviction for aiding and abetting). 6 Londono-Gomez merely stands for the proposition that in order sufficiently to charge aiding and abetting under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2, the count must allege a violation of some substantive statute along with 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2. There can be no violation of section 2 alone.... Cowart, 595 F.2d at 1031 n. 10 (citing United States v. Campbell, 426 F.2d 547, 553 (2d Cir.1970)). An indictment for aiding and abetting may stand alone, so long as it recites the accompanying substantive statute along with Sec. 2 in the same count. That requirement was met in this case: count 5 alleged aiding and abetting the importation of cocaine in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2 and 21 U.S.C. Secs. 952(a), 960(a)(1) & 960(b)(2)(B)(ii); count 8 alleged aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2 and 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1) & 841(b)(1)(B)(ii)(II). Therefore, counts 5 and 8 of the indictment were sufficient. 7