E.D. Wis. Notes Split Re Application of Drug Trafficking Offense Statute

Per U.S. v. Colla, Slip Copy, 2008 WL 1969600 (E.D. Wis. May 3, 2008):

The evidence is surely sufficient to create a reasonable belief that defendant violated 21 U.S.C. § 843(b), use of a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking offense. The Seventh Circuit has held that simply calling a drug dealer to obtain drugs for one's own personal use is sufficient to sustain a conviction under this statute. See United States v. Kozinski, 16 F.3d 795, 807 (7th Cir.1994); United States v. Binkley, 903 F.2d 1130, 1135-36 (7th Cir.1990).^FN2

FN2. There is a circuit split on this issue, see United States v. Abuelhawa, No. 07-4639, 2008 WL 1837358, at *4 (4th Cir. Apr. 25, 2008), but I must follow the Seventh Circuit's view.