Blake v. United States, 10 Cr. 349 (RPP)
| Decision Date | 03 August 2012 |
| Docket Number | 10 Cr. 349 (RPP),12 Cv. 1843 (RPP) |
| Parties | ALLEN BLAKE, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
On October 13, 2011, Petitioner Allen Blake ("Blake" or "Petitioner") filed a motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 ("§ 2255") to vacate and set aside judgment of his conviction for mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1342.
For the reasons set forth below, Petitioner's motion is denied.
From 2006 to November 20, 2009, Blake, a correctional officer employed by the City of New York Department of Corrections, was a board member of the Correction Officer's Benevolent Association ("COBA"). As part of his union contract with COBA, Blake was entitled to death benefits with Prudential Life Insurance Company of America ("Prudential") in the event of the death of his lawful spouse. (Trial Transcript ("Tr.") at 307, 332.) In May 2008, Blake filed for divorce from his estranged wife, Pearl Blake. (Gov't's Trial Ex. 7.) Blake was represented in the divorce proceedings by the law firm of Koehler & Isaacs ("K&I"), which had a contract to represent COBA and COBA members. (Tr. at 613.) The divorce was granted onJune 23, 2009. (Gov't's Trial Ex. 4.) Pearl Blake died three months later, on September 29, 2009. (Gov't's Trial Ex. 12; Tr. at 332.)
On October 23, 2009, Blake submitted a claim to Prudential for a $10,000 death benefit for Pearl Blake's death, listing his relationship to the deceased as "husband." (Gov't's Trial Ex. 3; Tr. at 322.) On or about November 17, 2009, Blake received $10,000 on the policy from Prudential. (Tr. at 328-29.) Shortly thereafter, other COBA board members learned about Blake's divorce. (Id. at 332-35.) At an emergency COBA Board meeting on November 20, 2009, Norman Seabrook ("Seabrook"), the President of COBA, confronted Blake and asked him to "[e]xplain to me how this death benefit [claim] is put in and you don't have the [supporting] documents." (Id. at 592.) Blake "just shook his head," and Seabrook demanded and received Blake's resignation that same day. (Id. at 593-94.) On or around November 25, 2009, Blake returned to Prudential the $10,000 he had received on the policy. (Id. at 410-11, 423-27.)
On April 20, 2010, Blake was indicted on mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1342, for devising a scheme to defraud an insurance company of life insurance benefits to which he was not entitled and in which the United States Postal Service (the "U.S.P.S.") was used. The critical issue at trial was whether Blake knew that his divorce had already been finalized on or before October 23, 2009, the date he submitted his claim for death benefits. (See United States v. Blake, No. 10 Cr. 349 (RPP), 2010 WL 3184487, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 9, 2010).) At trial, the Government presented documentary evidence and witness testimony supporting its position that Blake intentionally and knowingly submitted a false life insurance claim on behalf of the deceased Pearl Blake.
Documentary evidence presented by the Government included: (1) a copy of Blake's divorce judgment signed by the county clerk on June 23, 2009, and filed with the New YorkCounty Clerk's Office on July 7, 2009, (Gov't's Trial Ex. 4); (2) COBA mail logs registering received delivery of a letter from K&I to Blake at his COBA office on July 23, 2009, (Gov't's Trial Ex. 9); and (3) an opened envelope addressed to Blake bearing a barcode consistent with processing through the U.S.P.S., and postmarked July 21, 2009, along with a letter addressed to Blake from K&I paralegal Claudia Tejada ("Tejada"), dated July 21, 2009, (Gov't's Trial Ex. 6), confirming finalization of Blake's divorce.
At trial, Tejada testified that on July 13, 2009 she called Blake and "told him that . . . his divorce was signed." (Tr. at 508.) She also testified that on July 21, 2009, she mailed to Blake, via the U.S.P.S., a letter confirming his divorce and a copy of the divorce judgment in a K&I envelope. (Id. at 510-11, 519; Gov't's Trial Ex. 6.) Tejada further testified that the divorce judgment was dated July 7, 2009, "the date that it was actually filed in the [office of the] county clerk." (Tr. at 514.) The parties stipulated that the divorce judgment was "an official public record of the judgment of divorce," and it was admitted into evidence without objection. (Id. at 513; Gov't's Trial Ex. 4.)
Joseph Bracco ("Bracco"), a member of the COBA Executive Board, testified that on or about September 29, 2009, the day of Pearl Blake's death, Blake told him that "it was messed up that he couldn't collect on the life insurance policy because . . . he had just recently became [sic] divorced in July," and that Blake asked him whether "there was a grace period" on the policy, to which Bracco replied there was not. (Tr. at 438.) Thomas Farrell, a COBA Board Member, testified that in September 2009, Blake told him that he was going to South Carolina for his "ex-wife's funeral," and that "[if] the bitch or broad would have died a couple of months earlier, [he] would have gotten the money." (Id. at 652-55.) Seabrook testified that Blake told him that his "exwife [sic] [had] died" sometime in September 2009. (Id. at 589.) Seabrook also testified thatwhen Blake was confronted at the November 20, 2009 COBA Board meeting, "[Blake] looked at me and he said, 'I fucked up.'" (Id. at 593.)
Elias Husamudeen ("Husamudeen"), the First-Vice President of COBA, testified that as he was cleaning Blake's former office at COBA on a weekend in February 2010 (approximately three months after Blake's resignation), he found an opened envelope and enclosed letter addressed to Blake, dated July 21, 2009, confirming Blake's divorce finalization. (Id. at 538; Gov't's Trial Ex. 6.) Husamudeen further testified that the letter had been received and logged into the COBA system on July 23, 2009. (Tr. at 542; Gov't's Trial Ex. 9.) Elizabeth Castro ("Castro"), the Third-Vice President of COBA, testified that she discovered a receipt of Blake's submitted claim to Prudential, and that the claim contained a representation by Blake that he was married to Pearl Blake, when, in fact, the two were divorced. (Tr. at 309-25, 329-33; Gov't's Trial Ex. 2.)
Blake, who was represented by attorney Anthony Ricco ("Ricco") at trial, did not testify, but presented the testimony of one witness and introduced one set of documents into evidence. The witness was Investigator Jacqueline Maquine ("Maquine"), of the New York City Department of Investigations, who testified that in December 2009, she conducted an interview with Bracco, and that she memorialized that interview in a written report.2 (Tr. at 712-15.) This report contained information which was somewhat inconsistent with Bracco's trial testimony. (Id.) The set of documents consisted of a file maintained by Prudential relating to Blake's claim (the "Prudential file") . (Id. at 731, 745.) The Prudential file was admitted into evidence over the Government's objection, and included a copy of the divorce judgment filed in the County Clerk's office on July 7, 2009, bearing a timestamp of July 11, 2009 (therebyconflicting with the timestamp of June 1, 2010 on the divorce judgment entered into evidence as Government Trial Exhibit 4).3 (Id. at 734-42.)
On June 15, 2010, following three days of trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the single count of mail fraud contained in the Indictment. (Id. at 873-74; see J. dated Nov. 1, 2010.) On July 5, 2010, Blake filed a motion for a new trial pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 33(b)(2) ("Rule 33"), on the grounds that (1) the testimony of Tejada was "patently incredible and defie[d] physical realty [sic]"; and (2) the prosecution failed to disclose the source of an exhibit in violation of Blake's due process rights. (Def.'s Mem. in Supp. Mot. New Trial dated July 5, 2010 at 3-4.) On August 9, 2010, the Court denied the motion on the ground that there was "substantial evidence corroborating Ms. Tejada's testimony" and that "source information appeared on the document itself undermin[ing] [Mr. Blake's] claim that this information was 'suppressed' by the Government." Blake, 2010 WL 3184487, at *6. On November 1, 2010, Blake was sentenced to three years of probation with three months of home confinement. (See J. dated Nov. 1, 2010.)
On February 24, 2011, Blake, pro se, filed a second Rule 33 motion, arguing that he was entitled to a new trial because (1) he received ineffective assistance of counsel due to the factthat his trial counsel did not present material evidence that would have impeached two key Government witnesses, (2) he learned after his conviction that federal mail fraud is limited to bribery and kickbacks, and as neither was alleged in his case, his conviction was invalid, and (3) he learned after his conviction that New York law does not criminalize life insurance fraud, and thus federalism concerns precluded the Government from prosecuting an act that New York state does not recognize as criminal. (Def.'s Mem. in Supp. Mot. New Trial dated Feb. 24, 2011 at 1-3.) Following the filing of this motion, Blake retained attorney Damond Carter ("Carter") to represent him in the matter. On April 4, 2011, Blake also filed a motion for a default judgment as a result of the Government's delay in responding to the motion for a new trial. On August 5, 2011, the Court denied both motions, holding that Blake's motion for a new trial was untimely and not based on newly discovered evidence, and thus procedurally barred. See United States v. Blake, No. 10 Cr. 349 (RPP), 2011 WL 3463030, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 5, 2011). Blake did not appeal his judgment of conviction.
On October 13, 2011, Blake filed the instant motion pursuant to § 2255 through his attorney Carter. Petitioner seeks to vacate his conviction on the grounds that (1) the...
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