United States v. Joseph Charles Gramlich, A/K/A Joseph Charles Harris, James Allen Burch, Myrton Ray Lerstang & Joseph Keven Lawless

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal the appellants principally challenge the search of a dwelling that unearthed incriminating evidence used at trial. We agree that the search was invalid due to a lack of probable cause, but find the error harmless in this instance. We also find no merit to the other alleged points of error. Consequently, we affirm.

I. Facts

This story began when a ship containing a large supply of marijuana ran aground off the coast of Colombia. That ship was registered to one of the appellants, Lerstang. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) from that point on began to keep…