## Facts

- Ade Lawrence (a Nigerian citizen) and Felicia Parker (a U.S. citizen) participated in a conspiracy to transport cocaine from South America to the United Kingdom using commercial airplanes.
- From late 2009 through July 2010, U.S.-citizen couriers traveled from the United States to South America, obtained cocaine (sometimes concealed in consumer items), and flew to London to deliver it.
- Lawrence coordinated logistics largely from Houston, Texas, including arranging travel, directing couriers, and paying participants.
- Parker participated in aspects of planning and documentation, including a passport-related application connected to an email linked to Lawrence.
- After some couriers were arrested, they identified Lawrence as the leader; communications and travel records corroborated Lawrence’s role and Parker’s involvement.
- A federal grand jury indicted defendants for conspiracy under 21 U.S.C. § 963, premised on an underlying violation of 21 U.S.C. § 959(b) (possession with intent to distribute controlled substances on board an aircraft outside the United States).
- The district court denied motions to dismiss challenging extraterritoriality, constitutional authority, and vagueness; a jury convicted both defendants, and the court imposed prison terms.

## Issues

1. Whether 21 U.S.C. § 959(b) applies extraterritorially to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances on board aircraft traveling between foreign countries.
2. Whether applying § 959(b) extraterritorially exceeds Congress’s constitutional authority or violates due process or international law.
3. Whether § 959(b), as applied to defendants and the indictment, is unconstitutionally vague.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences.
- The court held that § 959(b) reaches conduct outside U.S. territory, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine on aircraft on foreign routes.
- The court upheld the statute’s extraterritorial application as within Congress’s power, including as legislation implementing international narcotics-control treaty obligations through the Necessary and Proper Clause.
- The court rejected due process and international-law objections, finding a sufficient nexus to the United States based on U.S.-based planning and participation by U.S. citizens, including Parker.
- The court rejected the vagueness challenge, concluding the statutory prohibition and its application provided adequate notice.

## Legal Principles

- A federal criminal statute may apply extraterritorially when Congress’s intent is sufficiently clear from the text, structure, and context of the statutory scheme.
- 21 U.S.C. § 959(b) extends to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances on board an aircraft outside the United States, including flights between foreign states.
- Congress may criminalize certain extraterritorial drug-trafficking conduct as a reasonable means of carrying out international treaty obligations under the Necessary and Proper Clause.
- Due process permits extraterritorial prosecution when defendants have a constitutionally adequate nexus to the United States such that they could reasonably anticipate application of U.S. law.
- A statute is not void for vagueness as applied where its terms and context provide fair notice that the charged conduct is prohibited.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit sustained convictions for a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy tied to foreign air routes, holding that § 959(b)’s aircraft-based prohibition applies extraterritorially, is constitutionally authorized as treaty-implementing legislation, satisfies due process given substantial U.S. connections, and is not unconstitutionally vague as applied.


United States v. Lawrence, 727 F.3d 386 (5th Cir. 2013)