U.S. v. Rocky Mountain Corp..

• Decision Date: 27 October 2010
• Docket Number: Criminal No. 5:07CR00058.
• Citation: 746 F.Supp.2d 790
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Respondent,v.ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORPORATION, Petitioner.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia

746 F.Supp.2d 790

UNITED STATES of America, Respondent,

v.ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORPORATION, Petitioner.

Criminal No. 5:07CR00058.

United States District Court, W.D. Virginia,Harrisonburg Division.

Oct. 27, 2010.As Amended Nov. 2, 2010.

Bruce A. Pagel, United States Attorneys Office, Charlottesville, VA, for Respondent.SAMUEL G. WILSON, District Judge.

This is a petition for writ of coram nobis by petitioner, Rocky Mountain Corporation (“Rocky Mountain”), challenging the validity of its guilty plea, pursuant to a written plea agreement to conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) and a resulting fine of $1,415,640 and a forfeiture judgment, for which it and three of its codefendants were jointly and severally liable, in the amount of $2,000,000. Rocky Mountain maintains that its plea was not a knowing and voluntary plea because of the pressure the government placed on its president, that the fine and forfeiture the court imposed exceeded the amount authorized by controlling statutes and were constitutionally excessive, and that it received ineffective assistance of counsel. The court finds that Rocky Mountain knowingly and voluntarily waived its right to collaterally attack its plea and sentence and that all of its claims are within the scope of that waiver, and the court dismisses them on that ground. The court also finds that all of Rocky Mountains's claims are meritless. Accordingly, the court dismisses Rocky Mountain's petition.

I.

A grand jury of the Western District of Virginia returned a multiple count, superseding indictment charging five members of a family (Vern Odell Crawford, his wife Joyce Marie Crawford, their two sons, Kenneth Odell Crawford and Darrell Wayne Crawford, and Darrell's wife, Melissa Ann Crawford) with conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, possessing firearms in furtherance of that offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and with various other drug trafficking offenses. Melissa Crawford pled guilty to the drug conspiracy, and the other defendants pled not guilty and went to trial. The court granted Darrell Crawford's motion for judgment of acquittal as to the firearm charge. The jury acquitted the remaining defendants of that charge, was unable reach a verdict as to the drug conspiracy charge, and found Vern Odell Crawford guilty of 15 drug trafficking charges.

The court declared a mistrial and rescheduled the unresolved charges for retrial. In the meantime the grand jury returned a Second Superseding Indictment against all the defendants from the first trial, and added Rocky Mountain as an additional defendant. Rocky Mountain is wholly owned by Joyce and Kenneth, who are also its secretary and president. The new indictment re-alleged the unresolved drug conspiracy against the individual defendants, added a drug distribution charge against Joyce, a money-laundering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) against Vern, Joyce, Kenneth and Rocky Mountain, four structuring counts against Vern and Joyce for violations of 31 U.S.C. § 5313(a), and a notice of forfeiture count.

The Government elected not to proceed with the new charges against Vern, and entered into plea agreements with Kenneth, Joyce, Darrell, and Rocky Mountain. Each of those four defendants also agreed to a statement of facts. The statement of facts detailed a considerable methamphetamine conspiracy, as well as a conspiracy to structure financial transactions and launder the proceeds of the methamphetamine conspiracy through Rocky Mountain and other entities. According to that agreed-upon statement of facts, “Rocky Mountain Corporation was created and maintained to launder the illegal proceeds from the sale of methamphetamine.” The statement of facts also noted that from 2003 to 2007 alone, the defendants' deposits into various bank accounts and their other financial transactions exceeded their income from legitimate identifiable sources by more than $707,820.

Each of the defendants entered into a written plea agreement. Kenneth, Joyce, and Rocky Mountain each agreed to plead guilty to Count Three of the Second Superseding Indictment which charged a conspiracy to launder money in various ways, and Darrell agreed to plead guilty to a lesser included offense of the drug conspiracy alleged in Count One. Each agreement provided that if any defendant failed to plead guilty, the government had the right to void the agreement. The agreements also stated that the defendant waived the right to appeal and to collaterally attack the plea and sentence. The agreements also called for a joint and several forfeiture monetary judgment in the amount of $2,000,000, to be satisfied from the real estate listed as substitute assets in the Second Superseding Indictment which they agreed was “proportionate to the degree and nature of the offense.” The agreements also stated that the defendants specifically waived any challenge to the forfeiture amount. Kenneth's plea agreement was entered pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure (“Rule”) 11(c)(1)(C), and in addition to the forfeiture, specifically called for Kenneth to serve sixty months imprisonment and pay a fine of $225,000.

Joyce and Kenneth, as the sole shareholders of Rocky Mountain, signed a written authorization for Kenneth, as president of Rocky Mountain, “to enter into any plea agreement or agreed disposition with the United States Government [in the case] as he [deemed] appropriate and in the best interest of the corporation.” The authorization provided further that Kenneth was “allowed to direct each and every action of A. Gene Hart, Jr., attorney for Rocky Mountain ... with regard to [the case], to include without limitation directing that [Hart] endorse any plea agreement or agreed disposition with United States Government....”

In addition to the appellate and collateral attack waivers ¹ and the joint and several forfeiture monetary judgment in the amount of $2,000,000, Rocky Mountain's plea agreement provided that the court was free to “sentence Rocky Mountain up to the statutory maximum.” It expressly noted that the court could fine Rocky Mountain “$500,000 or twice the amount of the criminally derived property.” Rocky Mountain agreed that it was pleading guilty because it was, in fact, guilty. Further, Rocky Mountain acknowledged that it was fully satisfied with Rocky Mountain's attorney and the advice that Rocky Mountain's attorney had given, and it expressly agreed “to make known to the court no later than at the time of sentencing any dissatisfaction or complaint Rocky Mountain may have had with its attorney's representation.” The agreement concluded:

Rocky Mountain has consulted with its attorney and fully understands all its rights. Rocky Mountain has reviewed every part of it with its attorney. Rocky Mountain understands this agreement and Rocky Mountain voluntarily agrees to it. Rocky Mountain has not been coerced, threatened, or promised anything other than the terms of this plea agreement, described above, in exchange for its plea of guilty. Being aware of all of the possible consequences of its plea, Rocky Mountain has independently decided to enter this plea, and is affirming that agreement on this date by the signature of its representative below.Kenneth then signed Rocky Mountain's proposed agreement, the day before its plea, indicating his and Rocky Mountain's acceptance.

The next day Rocky Mountain, Kenneth, Joyce, and Darrell pled guilty in the same proceeding pursuant to their respective plea agreements. Gene Hart, Rocky Mountain's counsel, responded on Rocky Mountain's behalf to the court's questioning under Rule 11, as permitted by Rule 43(b)(1). The terms of Rocky Mountain's agreement were fully detailed in open court, as were the terms of the other defendants' agreements. The defendants denied under oath that anyone had forced them to plead guilty or had threatened them in any way. In fact, the court asked Kenneth at least five times whether anyone had threatened him or forced him to plead guilty, and each time he indicated that he had not been threatened or coerced. The court fully explored with the defendants the possible penalties provided by law as well as their appellate and collateral attack waivers. After an exhaustive inquiry, the court made the factual finding that each defendant's plea was a knowing and voluntary plea supported by an independent basis in fact. Accordingly the court accepted each plea.

Several months later, the court sentenced the Crawfords and Rocky Mountain. It sentenced Vern to 360 months and a fine of $1,000,000; Kenneth to 60 months, a fine of $225,000, and a joint and several forfeiture judgment of $2,000,000; Joyce to time served, a fine of $225,000, and a joint and several forfeiture judgment of $2,000,000; Darrell to 36 months and six days (70 months, with 33 months and 24 days credited for a discharged term of imprisonment pursuant to United States Sentencing Guideline § 5K2.23) and a joint and several forfeiture judgment of $2,000,000; and Rocky Mountain to a fine of $1,415,640 and a joint and several forfeiture judgment of $2,000,000.

Only Vern appealed, and his appeal is pending in the Court of Appeals. However, Kenneth filed a motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 alleging that his plea was not knowing and voluntary, that he was convicted upon insufficient evidence, that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct, and that counsel provided ineffective assistance on multiple grounds. The court found that Kenneth's plea was knowing and voluntary and that his remaining claims were procedurally barred or waived by his plea agreement. Accordingly, the court denied his motion, and an appeal from that decision is also pending in the Court of Appeals.² Finally, in direct contravention of its agreement not to collaterally attack its plea and sentence, fifteen months after the court sentenced it, Rocky...