The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa statute making it illegal to “manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance, a counterfeit substance, or a simulated controlled substance, or to act with, enter into a common scheme or design with, or conspire with one or more other persons to manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, a counterfeit substance, or a simulated controlled substance” is a controlled substance offense. The court rejected the defendants’ argument that aiding and abetting liability is inherent in the definition of all drug offenses, and Iowa’s doctrine of aiding and abetting is broader than the generic definition of aiding and abetting because it requires mere knowledge of the underlying crime, as opposed to an intent to promote or facilitate the underlying crime.

The court disagreed, finding that the intent requirement for aiding and abetting in Iowa was substantially similar to the federal definition of aiding and abetting.

The full text of US v. Boleyn can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/19/07/173817P.pdf

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