Peia v. U.S.
| Decision Date | 22 May 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ. 3:00cv2310 (PCD).,Civ. 3:00cv2310 (PCD). |
| Citation | 152 F.Supp.2d 226 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | Albert M. PEIA, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants. |
Albert L. Peia, Reseda, CA, pro se.
Ann M. Nevins, U.S. Attorney's Office, Bridgeport, CT, for U.S.
Timothy D. Miltenberger, Coan, Lewendon, Royston & Gulliver, New Haven, CT, for Richard M. Coan.
RULING ON DEFENDANT UNITED STATES'S MOTION TO DISMISS
The United States moves to dismiss all Plaintiff's claims. The motion is granted.
Plaintiff, pro se, sues under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, and the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 1346, 1402, 2401-2402, 2411-2412, 2671-2680. This court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1964(a) and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1346(b)(1).
The facts are taken as alleged in the complaint1. Plaintiff alleges a broad-ranging conspiracy involving the United States of America, the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, various U.S. District Court Judges, various U.S. Bankruptcy Trustees, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Donald Trump, the FBI, and fifteen John Doe defendants. The scheme involves the United States laundering proceeds from illegal drug sales through the New Jersey casinos of Donald Trump and systematically defrauding bankruptcy creditors and debtors through the theft of property and surplus funds generated through bankruptcy sales. Plaintiff further alleges fraud and a massive cover-up, effected by misrepresenting court proceedings and removing court documents, as part of the underlying crimes that give rise to his civil RICO claims.
In 1987, Plaintiff commenced an action alleging civil RICO violations in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to recover money owed to him by a Mr. Dilena. The case was assigned to District Judge Maryanne Trump Barry2. The thrust of his claim was that Mr. Dilena diverted funds owed to Plaintiff and comingled them with illicit drug profits that were then laundered through the Trump casinos. Contemporaneous to the 1987 RICO action, Plaintiff claims that he informed Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Lacey of the RICO scheme and provided him with documents to support his theory. After no answer from Mr. Lacey for several months, Plaintiff learned Mr. Lacey was no longer with the U.S. Attorney's office and that his documents could not be found. Plaintiff delivered another package of the same documents several months later to U.S. Attorney Sam Alito.3 After no contact for several months Plaintiff learned that Mr. Alito was no longer working in the U.S. Attorney's office and that his documents could not be located. Plaintiff then attempted to tell his story to agents of the FBI, but they were not receptive.
As a result of deliberately slow proceedings in his 1987 RICO action, Plaintiff filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey in 1988. Later in 1988, he sought to recuse Judge Barry because she was the sister of Donald Trump, owner of the Trump Casinos involved in the RICO scheme. At this time Plaintiff met with then U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee Hugh Leonard to convince him to join Plaintiff's motion to recuse. Mr. Leonard declined. The 1987 RICO action was dismissed in 1989.
In March 1989, Plaintiff filed a petition for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Connecticut. In September 1989, this action was dismissed. Also in September 1989, prior to when his 1989 Connecticut bankruptcy action was dismissed, Plaintiff initiated a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in Virginia.
The 1989 Connecticut proceedings were not consummated according to law, causing Plaintiff an undisclosed yet substantial financial loss. As a result, Plaintiff sent a notice of claim, pursuant to the FTCA, to the U.S. Attorney General sometime in late 1991.4 Apparently, the United States did not respond to Plaintiff's notice of claim.
In April 1992, Plaintiff filed a second RICO action against Mr. Dilena and others in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. That action eventually was dismissed without prejudice sometime in 1996. Also in 1992, Plaintiff filed two more separate Chapter 13 bankruptcy actions in Connecticut.
In January 1993, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Alan H.W. Shiff made false representations regarding a hearing date for one of Plaintiff's two 1992 Connecticut bankruptcy actions. This happened during contempt proceedings against Plaintiff for violating a ban on filing bankruptcy petitions. The contempt charges were eventually dropped, but not before Plaintiff suffered financial loss due to fines imposed and due to his inability to proceed with bankruptcy actions. Judge Shiff's use of fraudulently misdated notices of hearings was in furtherance of the scheme to conceal money laundering activities, theft, and bankruptcy fraud.
On December 5, 1996, Judge Shiff dismissed Plaintiff's Connecticut Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings.5 He did this in furtherance of the RICO conspiracy. As a result of Judge Shiff's false statements, a separate Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding begun in California was also dismissed.
In May 1996, Mr. Richard Coan was appointed U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee to Plaintiff's bankruptcy estate. Mr. Coan, as part of a cover-up for the RICO scheme, sold real property belonging to Plaintiff and in doing so unlawfully withheld surplus funds from the sale. Mr. Coan was also responsible for the theft of personal property belonging to Plaintiff.
In 1999, Plaintiff commenced an action in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Peia v. United States, No. CV 99-02633 (C.D.Cal. Nov. 24, 1999), aff'd, 246 F.3d 675 (9th Cir.2000) (unpublished), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 121 S.Ct. 1737, 149 L.Ed.2d 661 (2001), alleging the facts and injuries above. The action was assigned to District Judge A. Howard Matz. All claims against the United States were dismissed on the merits with prejudice. Plaintiff appealed. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal. Plaintiff now alleges Judge Matz, as part of the RICO conspiracy, fraudulently misrepresented the proceedings in Plaintiff's California case.
Plaintiff's final allegation is that fifteen John Doe defendants, presumably employees of the United States, acted in a negligent manner in furtherance of the RICO scheme.
On December 4, 2000, Plaintiff filed the present complaint. Plaintiff's claims include violations of RICO, theft, fraudulent concealment, fraudulent misrepresentation6, and failure to supervise. The United States now moves to dismiss. Plaintiff opposes the motion.
The United States improperly moves to dismiss all Plaintiff's claims under FED.R.CIV.P. 12(b)(6), arguing in part the statute of limitations and res judicata. A motion to dismiss under FED.R.CIV.P. 12(b)(6) looks to the sufficiency of the complaint only. Here the United States asks the court to consider other facts, namely, the date the present complaint was filed and the contents of the complaint in the 1999 lawsuit. When moving to dismiss based on facts beyond the bare face of the complaint, the motion is properly pursuant to FED.R.CIV.P. 12(c), judgment on the pleadings. The United States's motion is construed as such. Upon motion for judgment on the pleadings, pursuant to FED. R.CIV.P. 12(c), the court "appl[ies] the same standard as that applicable to a motion under Rule 12(b)(6)." Sheppard v. Beerman, 18 F.3d 147, 150 (2d Cir.1994).
A complaint may not be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) unless the movant demonstrates "beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); see FED.R.CIV.P. 12(b)(6). The factual allegations are presumed to be true, and all factual inferences are to be drawn in Plaintiff's favor. See Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). As a pro se party, Plaintiff is entitled to some deference in meeting pleading requirements. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972) (per curiam).
The present action was filed on December 4, 2000. The statute of limitations for civil RICO claims is four years. Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Assocs., Inc., 483 U.S. 143, 156, 107 S.Ct. 2759, 97 L.Ed.2d 121 (1987). All of the activity in all counts of the complaint, with the exception of Judge Matz's 1999 alleged misrepresentation of the record and Judge Shiff's 1996 order of dismissal, occurred on or before December 4, 1996. Accordingly, all civil RICO claims, other than arising from either of these two events, are time-barred7.
The statute of limitations for FTCA claims is two years. 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b). All of the activity in all counts of the complaint, with the exception of Judge Matz's 1999 alleged misrepresentation of the record, occurred on or before December 4, 1998. Accordingly, all FTCA claims, other than arising from this dismissal, are time-barred.
Plaintiff argues that the doctrines of fraudulent concealment, equitable estoppel, and equitable tolling preclude any of his claims from being time-barred. As to the doctrine of fraudulent concealment, "[t]he doctrine is properly invoked only if a plaintiff establishes affirmative conduct upon the part of the defendant which would, under the circumstances of the case, lead a reasonable person to believe that he did not have a claim for relief." Pincay v. Andrews, 238 F.3d 1106, 1110 (9th Cir.2001) (quoting Volk v. D.A. Davidson & Co., 816 F.2d 1406, 1415 (9th Cir.1987)). While Plaintiff does allege separate acts of fraud and concealment of documents by the United States, those acts serve as the basis for establishment of his claims, rather than conduct that led Plaintiff...
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