Full Opinion

USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 1 of 40 FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-10300 ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus WILLIAM MICHAEL SPEARMAN, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 9:22-cr-80173-AMC-2 ____________________ Before ROSENBAUM, BRANCH, and KIDD, Circuit Judges. BRANCH, Circuit Judge: William Spearman was the lead administrator of an enormous network of child pornography orchestrated through a dark-web site referred to as “Website A.” After the FBI received a tip from a foreign law enforcement agency (“FLEA”) that an IP USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 2 of 40 2 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 address associated with the site was associated with Spearman’s address in Alabama, agents obtained a warrant to search his home and subsequently found incriminating evidence. Spearman moved to suppress all evidence obtained in the search. The district court denied his motion without an evidentiary hearing, and Spearman pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g). 1 He was sentenced to life in prison. On appeal, Spearman challenges the district court’s failure to hold an evidentiary hearing on his motion to suppress. He argues that he alleged facts that, if proven, would have shown enough “substantial participation” by the FBI in the FLEA’s search leading to the discovery of his IP address that a “joint venture” between the agencies occurred. He further argues that such a “joint venture” would implicate the Fourth Amendment because the FBI would have needed a warrant to obtain his IP address on its own. Spearman also challenges his sentence, arguing the district court failed to properly account for his “extraordinary mitigating factors.” The problem for Spearman’s suppression argument is that while he alleged some cooperation and technology sharing between the FBI and the FLEA, he failed to allege such 1 In exchange for his plea, the government agreed to dismiss two separate counts against Spearman: conspiring to advertise child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(d) and (e); and conspiring to distribute child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2) and (b)(1). USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 3 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 3 participation by the FBI that we must consider the FLEA’s actions as if they were taken by the FBI itself. And because such participation is a necessary element for subjecting a foreign search to Fourth Amendment scrutiny, the district court was not required to hold a hearing before denying Spearman’s motion. Likewise, the record confirms that the district court considered Spearman’s mitigating circumstances, and the government presented ample evidence of the depth and depravity of Spearman’s crimes, such that the district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing him to life in prison. We therefore affirm on both counts. I. Background In this section, we recount the facts relevant to Spearman’s challenges to the district court’s failure to hold an evidentiary hearing and to his life sentence. The facts recounted herein focus on the disputes central to those two challenges and do not recount the disturbing details of Spearman’s crimes in full. A. Spearman controls an online network profiting off child pornography The events leading to Spearman’s conviction begin with Spearman’s involvement with a dark web internet domain referred to only as “Website A.” “The [d]ark [w]eb is a general term that describes hidden Internet sites that users cannot access without using special software.” McMorris v. Carlos Lopez & Assocs., LLC, 995 F.3d 295, 302 n.4 (2d Cir. 2021) (quotations omitted). These restrictions on access make it the home of many criminals and USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 4 of 40 4 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 “other malicious actors” who utilize those restrictions to attempt to shield their actions from the view of law enforcement. Id. Spearman eventually became the lead administrator of Website A, which housed many such criminals and “malicious actors.” Id. In order to exist on the dark web and maintain anonymity, Website A operated over the Tor network. The Tor network allows users to operate or access websites available only to users within the network. It also uses technology that masks the internet protocol (“IP”) address of users. This masking ostensibly allows users to operate anonymously without the fear that others, including law enforcement, will be able to discover their identity. Website A’s main purpose was to provide access to child pornography, though it did not directly host child pornography on its servers. Instead, it maintained a series of chat rooms in which users could exchange child pornography by posting URL links that redirected to another Tor network website where child pornography was displayed or available for download. To better facilitate the sharing of child pornography, Website A contained a guide on how to share child pornography through links. When users posted the links, they used “tags” with words or phrases to describe the category of child pornography they were sharing. The tags used included an “age” tag specifying if the content involved babies, toddlers, or preteens; a “gender” tag specifying whether the content involved boys, girls, or both; an “activity” tag describing the type of sexual activity involved; and, for some content, an USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 5 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 5 “extreme” tag specifying if the video involved “torture,” “rape,” “crying,” or “strangulation.” Website A took various measures to reward and encourage users who were deeply involved in child pornography. New users of Website A were restricted to one chat room called the Website A “Gateway.” The Gateway’s description stated that guests who participated by chatting and sharing child pornography could be invited to other Website A rooms as “members.” Users who were promoted to “member” and beyond could access other rooms, including, for example, “Aphrodite’s Playground” (which encouraged users to post pornographic content of children between ages 5 and 15, but prohibited extreme content), “Tots-R- Us” (which encouraged users to post pornographic content of children 5 years and younger, but prohibited extreme content), “The Library” (which was a repository of links to child pornography without chat and which was limited to members who had contributed significantly to the website), and a “No-Limits Chat” (which was dedicated to “extreme topics” such as “Death, Gore, BDSM, Hurtcore, Bestiality, [and] Scat”). Spearman’s role in Website A started as a baseline user but grew over time.2 In his initial posts, he included links to hardcore child pornography. These posts allowed him increased access to the website, and over time, he rose through its ranks to become its lead administrator. As the lead administrator of Website A, 2 He eventually stopped posting child pornography once his leadership status gave him access to the various chat rooms on the site. USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 6 of 40 6 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 Spearman supervised and directed other Website A staff, helped clean up and organize links to child pornography on the website, ensured staff were present at all times in different sections of Website A, presided over staff meetings, promoted and demoted users and staff, and oversaw the day-to-day organization and maintenance of Website A. Spearman used the username “N****1” which he later changed to “K****,” 3 and other high- ranking Website A users referred to Spearman as “boss.” Hundreds of thousands of images or videos of child pornography were accessible and distributed throughout Website A. B. The FBI Investigation into Spearman The FBI began investigating Website A in 2020, but at first had very little success. Then, in June 2022, according to internal FBI documents, the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit (“CEOU”) “executed an operation that allowed CEOU to conduct offensive technical operations which eventually led to the identification of an IP address for who CEOU believes is ‘N****1.’” Details regarding what exactly occurred during that investigation are sparse, and no arrest was made involving Spearman at that time. 4 Instead, at around the same time (on June 30, 2022), the FBI 3 The usernames Spearman used have been redacted by the parties’ public filings and are not a matter of public record. 4 Notably, the N****1 username was inactive at this time and was thus not actively being used by Spearman, who had transitioned to the K**** username, and there is no indication in the record that the FBI knew at this time who the N****1 username was connected to. The inactivity of the N****1 username may help explain the FBI’s apparent confusion regarding USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 7 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 7 executed multiple search warrants regarding the website’s second- in-command, Selwyn Rosenstein (username “Tony”), who was subsequently arrested. The arrest of Rosenstein allowed the FBI to access his account, including its ability to message other members of Website A, providing the FBI with new tools as it continued its investigation of Website A. Through Rosenstein’s account, the FBI began interacting with members of Website A and attempting to discover the identities of other users. One of the tools the FBI deployed included sending “target files” with “offensive code” to other users of Website A. 5 When users downloaded the files, the offensive whose IP address it had obtained in June of 2022, as the IP address it obtained in June of 2022 did not belong to Spearman and was thus not the IP address of N****1, despite its original “belie[f].” 5 The FBI obtained several warrants prior to using them against various Website A users. However, despite allegedly having a warrant to execute this same operation for the username K****, the FBI claims it never executed the warrant. And indeed, such a warrant is not in the record. The FBI mentions it for the first time in its brief on appeal. The reason for this absence in the record, the FBI claims, is that Spearman did not allege below that the FBI gave the FLEA access to Website A’s servers and directed the FLEA to search his computer using a remote-access technique, so there was no need to produce a warrant showing the FBI would not have needed the FLEA’s help to do so. This may be true. However, for purposes of this appeal, given the warrant is not in the record, we assume, as Spearman alleges, that such a warrant does not exist. USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 8 of 40 8 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 code caused the user’s computer to contact an FBI server and convey to it the user’s IP address. According to the FBI, its focus on Spearman began not with the June 2022 offensive operation, but from tips provided by a foreign law enforcement agency. On August 17, 2022, the FBI received two tips from a FLEA stating that, on August 14, 2022, the user of a specified IP address in the United States “was involved in the management” of Website A. The FLEA advised that it had “lawfully acquired” this information, though it did not disclose how it did so or provide any other information about its investigation. According to the FBI, these tips eventually led to the identification of Spearman’s home address. Once it received these tips, the FBI served an administrative subpoena on the internet service provider connected with Spearman’s IP address. The internet provider traced the IP address to Spearman’s physical address in Alabama. Now armed with Spearman’s home address (and his identity as the registered owner of that physical address), the FBI was prepared to move on Spearman. It took its findings to a magistrate judge and applied for a no-knock warrant in November 2022 to arrest Spearman and search his home. The warrant application did not mention or discuss any “offensive operations” by the FBI itself. Instead, the application focused exclusively on the tip provided by the FLEA and the information gained from Spearman’s internet provider. The FBI received the warrant. USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 9 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 9 That same month, FBI agents executed the warrant at Spearman’s home. After entering his home, FBI agents encountered and arrested Spearman. FBI agents also recovered several devices from Spearman’s garage which contained 19,422 images or videos of child pornography. This material included images and videos of older children being instructed to abuse toddlers, and of adults engaging in the sexual torture of physically restrained toddlers. The agents also interviewed Spearman, who told the agents that he used the names “N****1” and “K****” on Website A. He also told them that he was one of the four main administrators of Website A, that he began accessing it in early 2018, that he was an administrator of another child pornography website on the Tor network, and that he maintained a large collection of child pornography at his home. C. Procedural History After his arrest and arraignment before the district court, Spearman moved for an evidentiary hearing on his motion to suppress all evidence obtained from the search of his residence and personal devices, as well as his subsequent interview. He alleged that the FBI violated the Fourth Amendment in obtaining his IP address, such that all the evidence subsequently discovered in the warrant-based searches of his residence and interview were infected by that violation. Spearman argued that the FBI must have violated the Fourth Amendment because the only way to obtain his Tor- USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 10 of 40 10 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 protected IP address was through “offensive code,” possessed by the FBI, which can remotely access a server or computer and instruct it to send back its IP address. But, he alleged, rather than obtaining a warrant to perform such a search, the FBI engaged in a cooperative investigative partnership with the FLEA through which the FLEA obtained and shared Spearman’s IP address to the FBI instead. After all, Spearman pointed out, internal FBI documents reported that its own offensive technical operations in June 2022 eventually identified an IP address they “believed” was N****1, never mentioning a foreign government, suggesting that the FBI was so actively engaged in the joint operation that it considered it entirely its own. 6 Spearman thus argued that when the FLEA obtained his address, it did so as an “agent” of the FBI. As such, Spearman argued, the FLEA’s search that identified his address was an unlawful warrantless search in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The district court denied the motion to suppress and the request for a hearing. The court emphasized the general rule that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to searches carried out by foreign officials in their own countries. Thus, the court held that Spearman bore the burden to prove the “joint venture” exception to that general rule. The district court held that he failed to meet this burden because the evidence he cited showed no more than 6 As noted above, however, the FBI did mention the FLEA’s tips when it applied for the November 2022 warrant. USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 11 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 11 generalized cooperation and information sharing between the FBI and the FLEA. The district court likewise concluded that an evidentiary hearing was not required. The district court “credit[ed]” the documents attached to the pleadings—i.e., the warrant application for the search of Spearman’s home from November of 2022, the FLEA tip, and the internal FBI reports from June 2022. However, according to the court, Spearman’s allegations and inferences from those documents made only “general” and “conclusory” assertions about the relationship between the FBI and the FLEA. The court thus held an evidentiary hearing was unnecessary because there were no evidentiary issues to resolve and denied Spearman’s motion to suppress. D. Sentencing After his motion to suppress was denied, Spearman pleaded guilty. In the presentence investigation report (“PSI”), the probation officer calculated Spearman’s total offense level at 43, the maximum offense level. Because of Spearman’s lack of previous criminal conduct, the probation officer calculated Spearman’s criminal history category as I. Based on Spearman’s criminal history category of I and his total offense level of 43, the probation officer determined that the guideline imprisonment range was a life sentence. i. Evidence Presented During Sentencing At his sentencing hearing, Spearman argued that he merited a downward variance from the guidelines range because of USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 12 of 40 12 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 extraordinary mitigating factors, which were wide-ranging in type and substance. In support of this argument, Spearman provided the following information in an interview with the probation office prior to sentencing. Spearman was diagnosed with PTSD while in the military in the late-1990s and with depression around 2008. He received treatment for, among other mental conditions, chronic PTSD, memory lapses or loss, primary insomnia, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Spearman noted that he had three children, including an eight-year-old son with his current wife. Spearman also pointed to his 22 years of service in the United States Army as a factor for the court to consider in his favor. Spearman received several military decorations, including a Bronze Star Medal, a Meritorious Service Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a Kuwait Liberation Medal, a Korean Defense Service Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a Master Parachutist Badge with Combat Distinguishing Device, and a Master Parachutist Badge. Spearman also served 3 years, 10 months, and 26 days of foreign deployments, including service in Panama, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Ecuador, Peru, Antigua and Dominica, and Thailand. Military performance reviews Spearman provided to the court described Spearman as “an invaluable asset to both tactical and strategic intelligence unit commanders,” “one of the most innovative officers in the Battalion,” “an officer of the highest caliber,” “[a] true visionary,” USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 13 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 13 “one of the Army’s finest counterintelligence technicians,” “[f]ully ready for the most senior warrant officer positions,” and “clearly among the finest Military Intelligence warrant officers in the U.S. Army.” Finally, at the sentencing hearing, Spearman presented the testimony of witnesses of his own, including the expert testimony of forensic psychologist Dr. Amy Swan. Dr. Swan testified that she had conducted a personality assessment inventory of Spearman and concluded that he suffered from a major depressive disorder, a generalized anxiety disorder, and a somatic symptom disorder. Dr. Swan also testified that Spearman “ha[d] one of the most severe cases of [PTSD]” she had ever seen and that it “had resulted in significant impairment in his ability to function on a daily basis.” Finally, Dr. Swan testified that Spearman’s sexual abuse as a child, ongoing business failures, and deaths within the family, when combined with his PTSD, led Spearman to self-soothe by engaging in irregular sexual conduct. Dr. Swan thus testified that, in her opinion, Spearman’s offense stemmed from “a perfect storm of events that caused him to . . . have impaired functioning.” Dr. Swan testified that based on her analyses of Spearman, he posed only a 2.4 percent chance of reoffending over the next 5 years. For its part, the government presented testimony at the sentencing hearing from several witnesses in support of a life sentence. First, the government solicited the testimony of FBI agent David Backlund, who described Spearman as the FBI’s most wanted child pornography offender in the world and as the FBI’s USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 14 of 40 14 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 “Osama bin Laden from the dark net.” Next, the government presented the testimony of FBI data scientist John-Robert Lee Marsh. Marsh described the content of some of the pornography recovered from Spearman’s devices, including, among other examples, a video in which an 18-month-old female is hung upside down while a woman beats the child and burns her with candle wax, several videos of the sexual torture of children 8 years old or younger, and an image of a topless child with blood across her body who appears to be dead. ii. The District Court’s Findings and Sentencing Before announcing the sentence, the district court said that it had heard “extensive testimony [and] hours of witness presentation” and had read, among other materials, the PSI, Dr. Swan’s report, the parties’ competing filings, and “the entire record.” The district court stated that it had “made sure to consider it all, given the severity of th[e] case and the government’s recommendation of a life sentence,” and that it had done so “against the backdrop . . . of the statutory factors in [§] 3553(a).” The court described the “seriousness of [Spearman’s] offense” as “off the charts,” citing, among other factors, the “very premise of [Website A] [as] encourag[ing] and incentiviz[ing] other deviant individuals into posting more and more child pornography and to do so with the expectation of rising through the ranks in the website to attain greater privileges.” The district court also addressed Spearman’s military service and found that it was not a clear-cut mitigating factor. The district USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 15 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 15 court voiced its concerns that it was “almost as if [Spearman] took what [he] learned in the military and then perverted it into this frightening operation.” The court also stated that Spearman was a “pedophile” who was, “without a doubt, a danger to society,” citing the significant collection of child pornography found in Spearman’s home, his use of “concealment tactics and . . . sophisticated knowledge” he acquired in the military to run the website, his operation of other child pornography websites, and Dr. Swan’s testimony that Spearman had some interest in children. The court finally found that “[g]eneral deterrence” and the need to “send a clear message that engaging in these underground communities of child exploitation is . . . horrific and will be penalized accordingly” was also an important sentencing factor. The district court said that it had also considered Spearman’s “extensive” mitigation evidence and arguments. The court acknowledged that it was “hard to discount” Spearman’s 22 years of military service, but found that Spearman’s service did not warrant a variance or departure because of the “unspeakable nature” of Spearman’s crimes and because he seemed to use his military experience to operate Website A. Likewise, the court found that while Spearman suffered from severe PTSD, PTSD could not explain his decision to run a website dedicated to the exploitation of children. The court thus agreed with the recommendation of the probation officer and the government and sentenced Spearman to a guidelines sentence of life imprisonment. USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 16 of 40 16 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 Spearman timely appealed. II. Standard of Review We review a district court’s decision not to hold an evidentiary hearing on a motion to suppress for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Cooper, 203 F.3d 1279, 1285 (11th Cir. 2000). We review for plain error any theories supporting a motion to suppress that were not raised below. United States v. Young, 350 F.3d 1302, 1305 (11th Cir. 2003). We also review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Butler, 39 F.4th 1349, 1354–55 (11th Cir. 2022). III. Discussion On appeal, Spearman challenges the district court’s failure to hold a suppression hearing, arguing he alleged facts that if proven would have shown a “joint venture” between the FBI and the FLEA such that a warrant to obtain his IP address was required to comply with the Fourth Amendment. Spearman also challenges his sentence, arguing that the district court failed to properly account for his “extraordinary mitigating factors.” We disagree and affirm the district court on both counts. A. The district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to hold a suppression hearing Spearman argues that he was entitled to a suppression hearing because he sufficiently alleged factual issues in his motion to suppress that, if proven, would show that the FBI’s collaboration USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 17 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 17 with the FLEA to obtain his IP address violated the Fourth Amendment. He raises two arguments in support of this claim. First, he argues that he adequately alleged the FBI had engaged in a joint operation with the FLEA in order to obtain his IP address, thus implicating the FBI in a warrantless search. Second, Spearman argues (for the first time on appeal) that the FLEA performed a search of his computer on American soil, thereby independently violating the Fourth Amendment. The government responds that the district court did not err in refusing to hold a suppression hearing. Regarding Spearman’s “joint venture” argument, the government argues that the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement generally does not apply to searches made by foreign authorities, and that Spearman failed to allege any concrete facts that would suggest FBI involvement was so pervasive that the Fourth Amendment nonetheless applies. As for Spearman’s “any search on American soil” argument, the government points out that Spearman did not raise this issue before the district court, which they argue subjects the argument to plain error review only. And because no court has embraced this argument before, the government argues Spearman’s claims on this ground must also fail on the merits. We agree with the government and hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to hold an evidentiary hearing. USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 18 of 40 18 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 1. Spearman did not allege facts that, if proven, would show a “joint venture” between the FBI and the FLEA requiring Fourth Amendment scrutiny Spearman argues that the district court erred in denying his request for an evidentiary hearing on his suppression motion because he alleged sufficient facts that, if proven true, would have shown a “joint venture” between the FBI and the FLEA. In his view, he adequately alleged that the FBI evaded the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement by directing the FLEA to search Spearman’s computer to obtain his Tor-protected IP address. He argues that if it is true that the FBI directed the FLEA to search his computer to obtain his IP address, all of the evidence derived from that IP address should have been suppressed. Thus, he argues, we should remand to the district court to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the veracity of his allegations. The government disagrees. It argues that the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement does not apply to searches made by foreign authorities, and that Spearman failed to allege facts showing that the narrow joint-venture exception applied. In the government’s view, Spearman’s allegations were speculative at best and, even if taken as true, would not require suppression. Under the Fourth Amendment, the government is prohibited from engaging in “unreasonable searches and seizures” of an individual’s person or property. U.S. Const. amend. IV. “Generally, the way to ensure the ‘reasonableness’ of any search is USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 19 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 19 by securing a warrant.” United States v. Holmes, 141 F.4th 1183, 1193 (11th Cir. 2025). When a warrantless search is conducted absent any “reasonable” excuse, the evidence obtained must be excluded under the “exclusionary rule.” Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533, 536–37 (1988). Thus, under the exclusionary rule, a defendant who believes evidence has been obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment may move to exclude the evidence. See Cooper, 203 F.3d at 1285. Upon receiving such a motion to suppress, a district court may elect to hold a hearing. See id. But it need not do so in all circumstances. Instead, for a hearing to be required, “the motion must allege facts which, if proven, would provide a basis for relief.” United States v. Richardson, 764 F.2d 1514, 1527 (11th Cir. 1985). A hearing is required only if the motion to suppress alleges facts that “are sufficiently definite, specific, detailed, and nonconjectural, to enable the court to conclude that a substantial claim is presented.” United States v. Smith, 546 F.2d 1275, 1280 (5th Cir. 1977) (quotation omitted). 7 In other words, the district “court need not act upon general or conclusory assertions founded on mere suspicion or conjecture.” Id. So to be entitled to a hearing, Spearman needed to specifically and concretely allege plausible, detailed facts that would show a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Richardson, 764 F.2d at 1527. 7 In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc), we adopted as binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit handed down before October 1, 1981. USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 20 of 40 20 Opinion of the Court 24-10300 Our analysis therefore begins with what is required to show a violation of the Fourth Amendment. When the United States receives evidence from a foreign government, “[t]he general rule is that evidence obtained from searches carried out by foreign officials in their own countries is admissible” and does not implicate the Fourth Amendment, much less violate it, for the Fourth Amendment binds only the government of the United States. United States v. Emmanuel, 565 F.3d 1324, 1330 (11th Cir. 2009). This “general rule” is not, however, an absolute rule. When federal officials receive evidence from another sovereign, the Supreme Court has said that such evidence may still be subject to Fourth Amendment scrutiny under what has become known as the “silver platter” doctrine. Lustig v. United States, 338 U.S. 74, 78–79 (1949). “The crux of that doctrine is that a search is a search by a federal official if he had a hand in it,” but “it is not a search by a federal official if evidence secured by [non-federal] authorities is turned over to the federal authorities on a silver platter.” Id. We have examined the “silver platter” doctrine in cases where foreign nations provide evidence and have identified two exceptions to the general rule that foreign-obtained evidence does not implicate the Fourth Amendment: (1) when the mechanism of obtaining the evidence “shocks the judicial conscience” and (2) when the exclusionary rule would still have a deterrent effect because the American law enforcement agency engaged in a “joint venture” USCA11 Case: 24-10300 Document: 50-1 Date Filed: 06/18/2026 Page: 21 of 40 24-10300 Opinion of the Court 21 with the foreign law enforcement agency. 8 United States v. Behety, 32 F.3d 503, 510–11 (11th Cir. 1994) (alteration adopted); United States v. Frank, 599 F.3d 1221, 1227–29 (11th Cir. 2010). The joint venture rule deters American law enforcement from using “circuitous and indirect methods” to circumvent the Constitution, 8 When foreign officials conduct a search outside the United States, we would find a “joint venture” if “American law enforcement officials substantially participate[d] in the foreign search, or if the foreign authorities actually conducting the search were acting as agents for their American counterparts.” United States v. Rosenthal, 793 F.2d 1214, 1231 (11th Cir. 1986); see also Stonehill v. United States, 405 F.2d 738, 744 (9th Cir. 1968) (finding no Fourth Amendment violation when American law enforcement provided information to foreign authorities but did not participate in what would have been an illegal raid had it been performed by American law enforcement, but was instead carried out by a FLEA). We have never found a joint venture when the search occurred abroad, even when American involvement was notable. See, e.g., Rosenthal, 793 F.2d at 1230–31 (finding no joint venture where American agents were pre