U.S. v. Hanhardt
| Decision Date | 13 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 00 CR 853.,00 CR 853. |
| Citation | 424 F.Supp.2d 1065 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America v. William A. HANHARDT, Joseph N. Basinski, and Guy Altobello, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
John F. Podliska, United States Attorney's Office, Pretrial Services, Probation Department, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.
Carolyn Pelling Gurland, James John Cutrone, Jenson and Gillespie, Chicago, IL, Jeffrey Neal Cole, Cole & States, Ltd., Chicago, IL, William A. Von Hoene, Jr., Thomas P. Sullivan, Jenner & Block, LLC, Chicago, IL, James Andrew Klenk, Leslie Dean Davis, Natalie J. Spears, Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, LLP, Chicago, IL, Joseph R. Lemersal, Michael Joseph Kralovec, Nash, Lalich & Kralovec, Chicago, IL, Jeffrey Bruce Steinback, Law Offices of Jeffrey B. Steinback, Chicago, IL, Andrew Theodore Staes, Staes & Scallan, PC, Chicago, IL, Paul Augustus Wagner, Attorney at Law, Chicago, IL, Marc William Martin, Marc W. Martin, Ltd., Chicago, IL, Santo John Volpe, Chicago, IL, Raymond D. Pijon, Attorney at Law, Chicago, IL, John M. Beal, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.
Before the court is a limited remand from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals pursuant to United States v. Paladino, 401 F.3d 471 (7th Cir.2005), directing this court to indicate whether it would have sentenced the three Defendants differently, had the Federal Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines") been advisory rather than mandatory at the time of sentencing. For the following reasons, the court determines that it would not have sentenced these Defendants differently had the Guidelines been advisory rather than mandatory.
Defendant William A. Hanhardt ("Hanhardt") had a career spanning approximately thirty years with the Chicago Police Department ("CPD"), and he held several high-ranking positions in the CPD, including Commanding Officer of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, 14th District Police Commander, and Chief of Detectives. Hanhardt, however, betrayed his office, the City of Chicago, and the CPD in a most egregious manner. Beginning in the early 1980s, and continuing until 1998, Hanhardt acted as the leader of a sophisticated criminal enterprise which was associated with organized crime, and involved in jewelry theft. This enterprise consisted of Hanhardt, Joseph N. Basinski, ("Basinski"), Guy Altobello ("Altobello"), Paul J. Schiro ("Schiro"), Sam DeStefano ("DeStefano"), William Brown ("Brown"), and others.
The court will outline the nature of this conspiracy below, but in its simplest terms, these individuals were involved in the targeting and surveillance of traveling jewelry salespersons for the purposes of stealing their inventory. More than 100 jewelry salespersons were identified and targeted, and at least nine jewelry thefts were actually committed, netting the conspirators in excess of $5 million. These thefts occurred in at least seven states, including Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Hanhardt was the director of this conspiracy. In that capacity, he supervised Basinski and the other members of the conspiracy. Together, Hanhardt and Basinski commanded the activities of numerous individuals associated with the enterprise. Under Hanhardt's leadership, participants in this conspiracy, including Basinski and Altobello, gathered information on numerous potential jewelry theft victims through physical surveillance. Among those surveilled were: a Nafco Gems, Ltd. representative, his residence, car, and place of business in Arizona on various occasions in 1995 and 1996; a jewelry appraiser, his car and residence in Arizona in 1996; a Mayfield Company representative, her car, residence, and place of business in Arizona in 1996; a Baume & Mercier salesperson, his car and residence in Illinois in 1996; and a Kobi Katz, Inc./Lieber & Solow, Ltd. salesperson's residence in Illinois in 1996. Members of the conspiracy also physically surveilled jewelry stores in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Glendale, Arizona.
In addition to the physical surveillance of jewelry salespeople and jewelry stores, Hanhardt and Basinski attended numerous jewelry trade shows designed for jewelry wholesalers and retailers in order to identify individuals involved in the jewelry trade, and to evaluate the quality and quantity of merchandise offered by these wholesalers and retailers. Hanhardt and Basinski attended jewelry trade shows in Tucson, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Physical surveillance, however, was not the only means by which Hanhardt and the other conspiracy members were able to obtain information regarding potential theft victims. Remarkably, Hanhardt requested that CPD officers undertake database searches of CPD and other law enforcement computers to obtain information regarding jewelry salespersons. Among these database searches were: a search for the Arizona license plate of a Nafco Gems, Ltd. representative's car, utilizing the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System ("NLETS") on January 20, 1996; a search for the Arizona license plate of a jewelry appraiser's car, utilizing NLETS, on February 7, 1996; and four separate searches for Illinois license plates of various jewelry company salespersons or representatives in 1996.
Hanhardt also used a private investigator in the District of Columbia to conduct credit bureau database searches, along with other commercial database searches, to obtain personal and financial information regarding traveling jewelry salespersons. These database inquiries included numerous searches through credit reporting companies such as Database Technologies, Inc., Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc., and Trans Union Corporation. These searches occurred at various times during the years 1992-1996. Finally, Hanhardt used the telephone at his residence in Deerfield, Illinois, to gather information and direct the activities of the conspirators.
Hanhardt and the other members of the conspiracy also participated in the theft of jewelry. In all, the conspirators stole at least $5 million worth of jewelry. These thefts included the following: a theft from the vehicle of a Baume & Mericer, Inc. salesperson of approximately 180 watches worth $310,000 in Glendale, Wisconsin, on October 8, 1984; a theft from the vehicle of a Rolex Watch, USA, Inc. salesperson of watches having a value of approximately $500,000 in Monterrey, California, in October 1986; a theft of jewelry worth approximately $125,000 from a Gordon Brothers Corporation salesperson in Englewood, Ohio, in August 1989; a theft from a Gem Platinum salesperson of jewelry worth approximately $1,300,000, in Dallas, Texas, in June 1992; a theft from another Gen Platinum salesperson of jewelry worth approximately $1,000,000 in Flat Rock, Michigan, in June 1993; a theft from a H.K. Mallak, Inc. salesperson of jewelry worth approximately $240,000 in Mankato, Minnesota, on August 3, 1993; a theft from jewelry company representatives of jewels worth approximately $170,000 in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 7, 1994; and a theft from safety deposit boxes at a Columbus, Ohio hotel of jewelry and United States currency worth approximately $1,500,000, on August 27, 1994. Another victim of this conspiracy was subjected to an armed robbery in which he was threatened with a gun, struck on the head with that gun, and bound hand and foot. The conspirators also attempted at least two other robberies.
The government's investigation of this conspiracy lasted approximately four and a half years, and spanned several states. During this investigation, the District Court of the Northern District of Illinois authorized numerous wiretaps, in accordance with Title III of the Omnibus Crime and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq., and several pen registration/caller i.d devices. Many of these wiretaps were authorized by then Chief Judge Aspen, however, this court authorized between 20% and 30% of all the orders authorizing wiretaps and i.d. devices. These wiretaps resulted in the interception of numerous conversations on Basinski's Arizona home and cellular telephone, and on Hanhardt's home telephone in Deerfield, Illinois.
The FBI also observed the conspirators conducting physical surveillance of jewelers in Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Indiana. The government obtained photographs and videotapes of the conspirators engaged in criminal activities, and through the use of cooperating individuals, recovered some of the stolen jewelry. In addition, the government obtained telephone records which showed contact between the conspirators. Acting pursuant to a search warrant, the government obtained hundreds of documents maintained by the conspirators. These documents contained personal and financial information on jewelry salespersons, including credit reports, car rental agreements, bank account information, non-published home telephone numbers, home addresses, and travel itineraries. Again operating pursuant to a search warrant, the government seized twenty-eight briefcases, boxes, and containers holding the sophisticated tools used by the conspirators during these thefts, including electronic eavesdropping equipment, locksmith tools, hotel keys, key blanks, key cutting dies, and keymaking machines. Finally, the government recovered three loaded weapons: a Browning 7mm pistol, a Colt .38 revolver, and a North American Arms .22 revolver.
Hanhardt and the five Co-Defendants were indicted on October 19, 2000. Hanhardt, Basinski, DeStefano, Schiro, and Altobello were indicted for one count of racketeering conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d). Hanhardt, Basinski, Schiro, and Brown were indicted with conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Defendants then filed numerous pretrial motions. The court wrote and published several Opinions in response to...
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Hanhardt v. U.S.
...the Court wrote and published several Opinions. For an overview of these motions and the Court's Opinions, see United States v. Hanhardt, 424 F.Supp.2d 1065 (N.D.Ill. 2006). All five Defendants ultimately pled guilty to the indictment. DeStefano pled pursuant to a written plea agreement on ......