U.S. v. Scheetz
| Decision Date | 06 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-4177.,No. 01-4243.,No. 01-4183.,01-4177.,01-4183.,01-4243. |
| Citation | 293 F.3d 175 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy Sean SCHEETZ, a/k/a Germ, a/k/a G, Defendant-Appellant. United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Thomas Walker Labuwi, II, Defendant-Appellant. United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Clifton Scott Brooks, Jr., a/k/a Blue Eyes, a/k/a Benjamin Michael Mendoza, a/k/a Benjamin A. Martin, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Joseph Bart Gilbert, McNeil & Gilbert, Jacksonville, North Carolina for Appellant Scheetz; Joseph Blount Cheshire, V, Cheshire & Parker, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant Labuwi; Joseph Edward Zestotarski, Jr., Poyner & Spruill, L.L.P., Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant Brooks. Christine Witcover Dean, Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: John Stuart Bruce, United States Attorney, Anne M. Hayes, Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Before NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge, HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge, and W. Craig BROADWATER, United States District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia, sitting by designation.
Affirmed by published opinion. Senior Judge HAMILTON wrote the opinion, in which Judge NIEMEYER and Judge BROADWATER joined.
In this consolidated criminal appeal, Timothy Scheetz (Scheetz), Thomas Labuwi (Labuwi), and Clifton Scott Brooks (Scott Brooks) appeal from the district court's judgment entered in their respective cases. We affirm.
In late 1993, Benjamin Brooks moved from Florida to a house in Fayetteville, North Carolina that his cousin, Scheetz, was sharing with Mary Olivas (Olivas) and Donald Hayes (Hayes). Shortly after he moved in, Benjamin Brooks began to assist Scheetz with his drug distribution operation by distributing marijuana and collecting money. In general, Scheetz's drug distribution operation purchased and sold drugs on the front.1
In January or February 1994, Scheetz and Olivas moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina, which allowed Benjamin Brooks, who remained at the Fayetteville house with Hayes, to become more active in Scheetz's Fayetteville operations. In addition to his responsibilities of delivering marijuana and collecting money, Benjamin Brooks began to receive marijuana shipments and prepare the marijuana for distribution. The marijuana shipments, weighing twenty to thirty pounds each, came from Scheetz's source in California and were delivered by way of Federal Express.
In April 1994, the house in Fayetteville was searched by law enforcement officers who found marijuana and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (Ecstasy). Following the search, Hayes and Benjamin Brooks were arrested and charged with violations of North Carolina state drug laws. In November 1994, Hayes and Benjamin Brooks left for Pennsylvania to avoid being convicted of the pending North Carolina state drug law charges.
In the spring of 1996, Todd Davis (Davis) met Labuwi at Sandhills Community College, which they were both attending. Labuwi distributed marijuana for the Scheetz drug distribution operation and also helped in breaking down marijuana shipments. In 1997, Labuwi introduced Davis to Scheetz, and, in the spring of 1997, Davis began buying marijuana from Labuwi. Around this same time frame, Davis, along with Labuwi, went to Scheetz's house to help breakdown marijuana shipments, which were now arriving from Scheetz's California source in crates delivered by various freight companies and were averaging 200 pounds.
Davis also performed several other tasks for Scheetz's drug distribution operation. He went to Pennsylvania to collect money from Benjamin Brooks and Hayes, made a trip to California to pay Scheetz's California source, and delivered money on several occasions to a courier for the California source at various locations in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina.
In July 1997, Benjamin Brooks and Hayes were arrested in Pennsylvania. After Benjamin Brooks was placed on bond, Scheetz and Davis went to Pennsylvania and brought Benjamin Brooks back to Southern Pines, North Carolina. A short time later, Benjamin Brooks moved to Wilmington, North Carolina and, once again, began selling marijuana for the Scheetz drug distribution operation.
In August 1997, Benjamin Brooks and Davis began selling marijuana to Scott Brooks. Thereafter, Scott Brooks became more involved in the Scheetz drug distribution operation. Scott Brooks went to Raleigh, North Carolina to obtain marijuana from Scheetz and also assisted Scheetz and others in breaking down the marijuana shipments which, at that time, were ranging between 150 and 300 pounds.
In February 1998, the apartment Benjamin Brooks and Davis shared in Wilmington was searched by law enforcement officers and Davis was arrested and charged with North Carolina state drug law violations. In July 1998, Scott Brooks was arrested and charged with violating North Carolina state drug law after his car was stopped for a traffic infraction by law enforcement officers in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. During a subsequent search of the car and Scott Brooks's person, the law enforcement officers recovered marijuana and a large amount of money.
In 1999, Labuwi began to distribute Ecstasy for Scheetz. According to Davis, the Scheetz drug distribution operation received at least four shipments of Ecstasy from a source in Florida.
After Davis had served his sentence on the North Carolina state drug law charges stemming from his arrest in February 1998, he resumed working for Scheetz. After resuming his association with Scheetz, Davis began distributing marijuana with Jeff Baker (Baker) and one of their customers was Michael Hagins. Michael Hagins became indebted to them for marijuana, and when he was unable to pay them, Davis and Baker paid Scheetz the money due. After Davis and Baker stopped supplying Michael Hagins with marijuana, they began selling marijuana to Michael Hagins' brother, Ed Hagins, who also got behind in his payments for the marijuana.
In February 2000, Davis was again arrested on North Carolina state drug law charges after a shipment of Ecstasy was seized. Scheetz was paying for the Ecstasy with money that was owed to his California marijuana source. After the shipment of Ecstasy was seized, Scheetz needed money to pay his California marijuana source.
In an effort to raise money to pay the California marijuana source, Scheetz called Michael Hagins, threatened to kill him and his family if his debt to Davis and Baker was not paid, and told Michael Hagins that he was responsible for Ed Hagins' debt because, while Scheetz knew Michael Hagins, he did not know Ed Hagins.
Meanwhile, Scheetz was trying to collect all monies owed to his organization in order to recoup the loss from the Ecstasy seizure because his California marijuana source was pressuring him for payment. Matthew Lamb (Lamb), another distributor for Scheetz, had a customer, Shane Hunsucker (Hunsucker), and Scheetz thought Hunsucker owed Lamb money. Consequently, on April 9, 2000, Scheetz, Scott Brooks, and Lamb went to Hunsucker's residence to collect the money. Scott Brooks held a gun to Patrick Lovette (Lovette), Hunsucker's roommate, while Scheetz did the same to Hunsucker. Scheetz gave his gun to Scott Brooks and told him to keep the weapons on both Lovette and Hunsucker. Scheetz then stuck a pair of clippers up Hunsucker's nose and threatened him. The next day, Lamb and Labuwi went to Hunsucker's house and Hunsucker paid them some money.
Thereafter, on the evening of April 10, 2000, Scheetz, Labuwi, Scott Brooks, and Lamb went to Pembroke, North Carolina intending to go to Michael Hagins' residence to collect the money he owed to Davis and Baker. On the way, they stopped at a Wal-Mart where they purchased black clothing for Labuwi. When they got near Michael Hagins' residence, Scheetz, Labuwi, and Scott Brooks changed into black clothing and put dark paint on their faces. Scheetz handed out guns to Labuwi and Scott Brooks. Lamb stayed in the car, while Scheetz, Labuwi, and Scott Brooks went to what they thought was Michael Hagins' residence, but turned out to be the residence occupied by Marcus Locklear (Locklear) and Jennifer Lester (Lester). The trio kicked in the door, told Locklear to get down, and Labuwi shot Locklear, killing him. Lester saw two of the people; the one whose voice she recognized as Scheetz's was standing across from her, and the other passed in front of her doorway holding a weapon. She heard a third person speaking from the door area. When they realized she was there, they left the residence, Scheetz leaving last and saying they would return. As they exited the residence, Michael Hagins' roommate, Ronald. Floyd (Floyd), drove up. Floyd was driving his Chevrolet Camero which Michael Hagins had borrowed when he had gone to pick up marijuana from Scheetz. As the trio went by, they shot at Floyd, striking him in both legs. After they returned to the car, Labuwi said that he had shot Locklear, and Scott Brooks said that he had shot at the car driven by Floyd to keep Floyd from following them.
On October 18, 2000, by way of a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of North Carolina, Scheetz, Labuwi, and Scott Brooks were charged in count one with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute in excess of twenty kilograms of Ecstasy and in excess of 1,000 kilograms of marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846, and in count three with using or carrying firearms during and in relation to the count one conspiracy (with said firearms being discharged) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). In count two, Scheetz was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of ...
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