## Facts

- A Texas cocaine distributor hired Wilfredo Rodriguez-Moreno and others to locate a New York drug dealer who had stolen cocaine and to hold Ephrain Avendano (a middleman) captive during the search.
- The group transported Avendano across multiple states, including from Texas to New Jersey, then to New York, and ultimately to Maryland, while keeping him restrained.
- In Maryland, Rodriguez-Moreno took possession of a revolver and threatened to kill Avendano.
- Avendano escaped, contacted police, and Rodriguez-Moreno and others were arrested.

## Issues

1. In a prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) for using or carrying a firearm “during and in relation to” a crime of violence, is venue proper only where the firearm was used or carried, or also in any district where the predicate crime of violence was committed?

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Third Circuit.
- Venue for a § 924(c)(1) charge is proper in any district where the predicate crime of violence was committed, even if the firearm was used or carried only in another district.
- Because the kidnapping continued through New Jersey, venue in the District of New Jersey for the § 924(c)(1) count was proper.

## Legal Principles

- Venue is determined by the offense’s “locus delicti,” requiring identification of the conduct constituting the offense and the locations where that conduct occurred.
- Courts are not limited to a statute’s action verbs when identifying conduct elements for venue; other statutory language may define essential conduct.
- Section 924(c)(1) contains two relevant conduct elements: (1) using or carrying a firearm, and (2) committing the predicate crime of violence.
- A predicate crime of violence can be an essential conduct element for venue purposes even when expressed in a prepositional phrase (“during and in relation to”).
- When a crime consists of distinct parts occurring in different places, venue is proper in any district where any part of the offense can be proved.
- Kidnapping is a continuing offense that persists until the victim is free; venue for kidnapping lies in any district where the detention continues, and that venue may support a tethered § 924(c)(1) count.

## Conclusion

The Court held that a § 924(c)(1) firearm prosecution may be brought in any district where the predicate crime of violence occurred, rejecting a venue rule confined to the district where the firearm was actually used or carried.


United States v. Rodriguez-Moreno, 526 U.S. 275 (1999)