Monday, March 01, 2021

Inert Explosive Is “Nonmailable Item” Triggering Criminal Liability

US v. YoungYoung was imprisoned for trying to kill his ex-wife and killing his ex-father-in-law. While incarcerated, Young used a contraband cell phone to run a drug conspiracy with the help of (among others) Volious. He also contacted whom he thought was a Russian bomb maker over the "dark web," who was actually an FBI agent, seeking a bomb to finish the job with his ex-wife. Young purchased what he thought was a bomb, which was delivered and prepared for shipping to the ex-wife's address, but it was, in fact, rendered inoperable by FBI agents and had only a small amount of explosives. Young and Volious were convicted of (among other things) aiding and abetting the mailing of a nonmailable item with intent to kill and were convicted.

On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed their convictions. The primary issue was whether the inert bomb met the definition of a "nonmailable" item. Noting that the definition of nonmailable items included both "all explosives" and "other devices or compositions which may ignite or explode," the court held that the Government had only proceed under the "explosives" definition at trial. Applying the common meaning of "explosives," but excluding devices that would fall under the other relevant portion of the statute, the court concluded that an inert bomb met the definition of explosive and was nonmailable. The court rejected the defendants' argument that the small amount of explosives involved did not meet the statutory definition since there was no actual threat posed to anyone handling the package, relying on the fact that the statutory definition includes "all" explosives. The court also concluded that the evidence was sufficient to sustain their convictions. 

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