592 F.2d 131 (2nd Cir. 1979), 245, United States v. Swarovski

• Docket Nº: 245, Docket 78-1202.
• Citation: 592 F.2d 131
• Party Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Manfred SWAROVSKI, Defendant-Appellant.
• Case Date: February 08, 1979
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Page 131

592 F.2d 131 (2nd Cir. 1979)

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

Manfred SWAROVSKI, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 245, Docket 78-1202.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

February 8, 1979

Argued Oct. 18, 1978.

Page 132

Edward R. Korman, U. S. Atty. for the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, N. Y. (Harvey M. Stone, and Richard W. Brewster, Asst. U. S. Attys., Brooklyn, N. Y., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Richard H. Kuh, New York City (Warshaw, Burstein, Cohen, Schlesinger & Kuh, New York City, Marc Richards, New York City, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Before SMITH, TIMBERS and VAN GRAAFEILAND, Circuit Judges.

VAN GRAFFEILAND, Circuit Judge:

On May 31, 1977, this Court held that, when appellant was apprehended by United States Customs Officers at Kennedy International Airport as he was attempting to export a military aircraft gunsight camera without a State Department license, the officers had authority under New York law to arrest him without a warrant. United States v. Swarovski, 557 F.2d 40 (2d Cir. 1977), Cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1045, 98 S.Ct. 889, 54 L.Ed.2d 796 (1978). Thereafter, Swarovski pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to Count One of an indictment charging him with violating 22 U.S.C. § 1934 ¹ and associated regulations of the State Department. At the same time, he reserved by stipulation his right to appeal from the judgment of conviction. Appellant now attacks the constitutionality of the State Department regulations, the validity of the warrantless searches of his luggage, and the length of his sentence. Finding no merit in any of his contentions, we affirm.

Section 1934(a) authorizes the President to designate articles "arms, ammunition, and implements of war" and to control their export from the United States. Subdivision (c) makes it unlawful for anyone to violate the section or any rule or regulation issued thereunder. The general prohibitory regulation under the statute, 22 C.F.R. § 123.01, provides that equipment on the United States Munitions List shall not be exported until a license has been obtained from the Department of State. The Munitions List, 22 C.F.R. § 121.01, includes within the definition of arms, ammunition, and implements of war, "(a)erial cameras, space cameras, special purpose military cameras, and specialized processing equipment therefor." The camera involved herein was the KB25A Gunsight Camera, manufactured in California by Photo-Sonics, Inc., and intended for mounting on the gunsights of F-4D and F-4E fighter planes.

Appellant contends that the regulations were unconstitutionally vague in that they did not describe the regulated camera in sufficient detail and did not require that purchasers be notified somehow that criminal liability would follow upon the camera's unlicensed export. This argument comes with little grace from one who was fully cognizant of the wrongfulness of his acts. See Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91, 102, 65 S.Ct. 1031, 89 L.Ed. 1495 (1945). Appellant, an Austrian citizen, controls companies in both the United States and Canada. On March 8, 1974, he instructed Rodney Parker, the manager of his Canadian company, to obtain from Photo-Sonics information and price quotations on four sophisticated cameras, one of which was the KB25A. Shortly thereafter, he directed Parker to order one camera of each type. Three were delivered. Photo-Sonics advised Parker that a State Department export license was required for the KB25A and requested a separate purchase order for that camera. Parker submitted the requested order together with a State...