United States of America v. Jawed Ahmadi

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JAWED AHMADI,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 18-10121
D.C. No. 4:16-cr-00403-JD-2
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
James Donato, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted March 12, 2019
San Francisco, California
Before: W. FLETCHER, WATFORD, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.
Jawed Ahmadi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin in violation
of 21 U.S.C. §§ 959(a), 960(a)(3), and 963. He contends that he was denied due
process because the district court declined to engage in a pre-trial evidentiary
determination whether his conduct had a sufficient nexus to the United States.
Assuming arguendo that Ahmadi’s guilty plea did not waive his ability to raise this
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
FILED
MAR 28 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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argument on appeal, we affirm.
The charges against Ahmadi required the government to prove that he agreed
to distribute heroin “intending, knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe that
[it] will be unlawfully imported into the United States.” 21 U.S.C. § 959(a). Proof
of that element of the offense would have presumptively established a sufficient link
to the United States to comport with the Due Process Clause. See United States v.
Medjuck, 156 F.3d 916, 919 (9th Cir. 1998). Had Ahmadi chosen to go to trial, the
jury would have been required to decide whether that element was proved beyond a
reasonable doubt. Thus, because the existence of a nexus was “intermeshed with
questions going to the merits,” the district court’s denial of an evidentiary hearing
was not an abuse of discretion. United States v. Nukida, 8 F.3d 665, 670 (9th Cir.
1993). Because Ahmadi opted to plead guilty, his plea established the requisite
nexus to the United States. See United States v. Harris, 108 F.3d 1107, 1109 (9th
Cir. 1997).
AFFIRMED.

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