Can a defendant appeal against his conviction for aiding and abetting the manufacture of a drug that was supplied by a government agent?

Appellants contend that these circumstances are analogous to the case of United States v. Barnett, 667 F.2d 835 (9th Cir.1982), in which the court overturned a defendant's conviction for aiding and abetting the manufacture of PCP because the government agent whom defendant instructed never actually manufactured the drug. In this case, however, the government agents did transport the aliens.

The government first notes that appellants' argument has no application to Fife's conviction on count five, as no government agent transported that alien. The government then demonstrates that the mere fact that government agents did the actual transportation in the other counts is of no consequence. In United States v. Norton, 700 F.2d 1072 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 910, 103 S.Ct. 1885, 76 L.Ed.2d 814 (1983), the court rejected defendants' contention that their convictions for transporting stolen explosives in interstate commerce were invalid because government agents transported the explosives. The court noted that the aiding and abetting instruction permitted defendants' convictions as principals irrespective of the role of the government agents.