The Department of Homeland Security Air and Marine Operations Center (AMOC) notified Special Agent Harrington about an airplane that would be landing at the Litchfield Municipal Airport. SA Harrington concluded that the plane might be smuggling drugs, and called Lieutenant Jarman for a drug‐detection dog. Lyons (the defendant in this criminal case) landed a Cessna at about 12:05 a.m. Eymann and Lyons loaded its cargo into the airport’s courtesy car and left the airport. Officers followed that car and blocked it in. Eymann admitted that he had a small amount of marijuana in the car. The drug‐dog (Arie) arrived and alerted on luggage, which the officers searched, finding a small amount of marijuana. Harrington frisked Lyons, who had $2,600 in his pocket. Officers arrested the men and returned to the airport. Arie alerted at the Cessna and on bags from inside the plane. Officers found 65 pounds of marijuana and a firearm. The court suppressed the evidence because, although Arie had completed the necessary training, his certification had lapsed weeks earlier. The state dismissed the charges. The two were then charged with federal conspiracy to distribute marijuana and aiding and abetting the possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. Lyons was also charged with carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of a motion to suppress. The AMOC information established reasonable suspicion. Because the officers used little show‐of‐force, kept their questioning reasonable, and acted consistently with investigatory detention, a reasonable person would not have understood that his freedom was restrained to the degree associated with a formal arrest before the handcuffing. Eymann’s admission gave the officers probable cause to search the car. Once the marijuana was found, there was probable cause to arrest Eymann. The inevitable‐discovery doctrine then applied.
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