United States v. Ralph Jeff Obregon, Julio Isaac Padron, Nelson Alberto Vasquez

HATCHETT, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, we affirm the district court’s rulings on sufficiency of the evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, and the validity of the search warrant.

FACTS

On May 13, 1987, a boarding party from the Coast Guard Cutter CAPEGULL boarded a forty-four foot vessel, the JANNIELL, which was anchored, without lights, in the vicinity of Nassau, Bahamas. The boarding party conducted a “space accountability search” to determine if the vessel con tained any hidden compartments. The vessel appeared to have been altered because an exhaust tube led to the center of the vessel,…