U.S. v. Salyers

Decision Date20 November 1998
Docket NumberNo. 97-2735,97-2735
Citation160 F.3d 1152
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricky A. SALYERS, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Lawrence S. Beaumont (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Urbana, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

William E. Herzog (argued), Kankakee, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before COFFEY, MANION and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellant was indicted and charged with six counts of possessing destructive devices in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(d) and 5871, and one count of improperly storing explosive materials in contravention of 18 U.S.C. §§ 842(j) and 844(b). He originally pled not guilty to all counts, but after the district court denied his motion to suppress evidence, he entered into a conditional plea agreement whereby he pled guilty to one count of possession of a destructive device, while reserving his right to appeal the court's denial of his motion to suppress. In return, the government promised to dismiss the other counts on the condition that the sentencing judge could consider information from the charges as "relevant factors" at sentencing. Salyers was sentenced by Judge Harold A. Baker, United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, to 41 months in prison. Salyers now challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence, factual findings made by the court dealing with the length of his sentence, and the court's interpretation of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

From 1979 to 1995, Ricky A. Salyers was an active member of the U.S. Marine Corps ("Corps") and while in service he maintained an exemplary record instructing other Marines in demolition, sniper training, breaching, and the use and care of firearms. Over the years, for reasons unexplained in the record, Salyers saw fit to collect and stash away an array of firearms, ammunition, and dangerous explosive materials, thereby forming his own personal arsenal. Salyers gained possession of the majority of these weapons while in the Corps without the knowledge or consent of his superior officers. Sometime in 1993, Salyers transported at least a part of his stash of dangerous weapons and materials in a Ryder truck from his home in Virginia to Illinois. Salyers left the items at his father's farm in Iroquois County, Illinois, and shortly thereafter, returned to the south and took up residence in North Carolina. In December, 1995, while still on active status in the Corps, Salyers was convicted in North Carolina state court of two misdemeanor counts of Assault on a Government Official. The conviction stemmed from an incident in which Salyers tossed a live grenade (with the pin still in) in the vicinity of state law enforcement officers who were in the backyard of his place of residence to serve a state search warrant. Salyers pled guilty to the assault charge, and on January 16, 1996, was sentenced to 45 days imprisonment and eighteen months probation. As a condition of his probation, Salyers was ordered not to possess explosives, firearms, or other dangerous weapons of any type. Following his conviction, on July 12, 1996, Salyers was given a General Under Honorable Conditions discharge from the United States Marine Corps.

In January, 1997, after serving his term of imprisonment but while still on probation, Salyers returned to his father's farmhouse in Illinois planning to live there with his father and search for employment. Ricky's half-brother, Gary Salyer, also lived in the family farmhouse while another brother, Rusty Salyer, lived nearby. 1 Half-brother Gary is a convicted felon who in 1997 was also on probation, and like Ricky, under court order was not permitted to possess weapons. Not to be outdone, Ricky's other brother, Rusty Salyer, also had been in trouble with the law as evidenced by his three prior burglary convictions.

According to the record, sometime in mid-January, 1997, Gary telephoned the Iroquois County Sheriff's Office and accused his half- brother Rusty of committing another burglary. On January 21, 1997, Chief Detective Randy Eiman summoned Rusty to the Iroquois County Sheriff's Office and questioned him about the reported burglary. Apparently in retaliation, Rusty informed Detective Eiman that within the past few weeks, he had an opportunity to observe a number of dangerous weapons in the farmhouse where Gary and Ricky lived with their father, including mini-fourteen rifles and a sawed-off shotgun. Rusty suggested to Detective Eiman that Gary be arrested for possessing weapons in violation of the terms of his probation. Rusty also told Eiman that he had observed a "rocket launcher" stored in a Wells Cargo trailer parked outside the farmhouse. The trailer was owned by the defendant-appellant Ricky Salyers.

Detective Eiman was aware of the fact that Rusty Salyer had previously been convicted for burglary. Eiman was also aware of the fact that Rusty had provided reliable information to law enforcement officers in past criminal investigations. Detective Eiman decided to investigate Rusty's allegations, and on January 21, 1997, based upon his discussion with Rusty, Eiman applied for and received a search warrant to search the farmhouse and the nearby trailer. Rusty provided a statement to both the state's attorney and the state judge, and signed an affidavit which stated that in the past two or three months he had observed: (1) a modified shotgun with a shortened barrel stored in a red metal gun safe in a bedroom of the farmhouse; and (2) "an object in a green crate with United States military markings upon it, shown ... and described to him by Rick Salyer (sic) as a hand-held missile or rocket launcher capable of destroying a vehicle." In light of the contents of Rusty's affidavit, the state judge found probable cause and issued the warrant at 1:10 p.m. that same day. The warrant authorized search of the farmhouse as well as a "black cargo trailer marked Wells Cargo" located in the nearby vicinity of the farmhouse.

Detective Eiman and another officer, deputy Mike Coleman, arrived at the farmhouse with the warrant in hand at approximately 3:30 p.m. that same day, January 21, 1997, and observed Ricky Salyers, Gary Salyer, and their father in the garage working on a car. According to Ricky, the officers approached them and "said they wanted us to go into the house and that they had something they wanted to talk to us about, and when we got in they had us sit down at the kitchen table." The officers followed them into the kitchen, and informed them that Rusty had signed a complaint, and that the officers had a search warrant authorizing them to search their home and the trailer for firearms and the other items described in the warrant. Detective Eiman displayed the search warrant and allowed the men to read it, and also gave a copy of the warrant to Ricky. During the time period referred to, the men were never handcuffed nor was there any physical contact. The officers neither drew nor displayed their weapons at any time, nor did they block the door or any of the other exits. Ricky admits that he neither asked to leave, nor made any attempt to leave, during this encounter. Moreover, the relevant conversation took place at the kitchen table located in the farmhouse where Ricky lived. Later, at Ricky's suppression hearing, he challenged the admissibility of the statements made during this encounter and a later conversation, and testified he "didn't feel" he could leave the kitchen table, but agreed that "there was nothing physically done by the officers to corroborate [his] feeling that [he] should stay there at the table."

Following the reading, explanation and discussion of the search warrant, and Ricky's review of the warrant, the officers proceeded to search the farmhouse and came upon a red, locked combination safe in the father's bedroom, which the father unlocked at Eiman's request. Inside, officers found a number of guns owned by Ricky Salyers and his father, including a Ruger mini-fourteen assault rifle which Ricky admitted was his. Ricky also stated that during the search, he took "a tape measure and helped measure the shotguns" with the officers.

Following the search of the farmhouse, while Deputy Coleman remained inside the farmhouse with Gary Salyer and his father, Eiman and Ricky walked to the Wells Cargo trailer located some 75 yards from the farmhouse. The trailer contained a number of crates and boxes. Ricky unlocked the trailer and led Eiman inside where Ricky proceeded to describe the contents of each, including approximately five pounds of C-4 plastic explosives. At the suppression hearing, Ricky was asked if he was free to leave while inside the trailer. Rather than providing a direct response, Ricky unresponsively stated that "[Eiman] was pretty much up my rear on that." Eiman, on the other hand, made clear that during their walk to the trailer, and while inside the trailer and during the examination thereof, Eiman did not restrict Ricky's movement in any manner whatsoever.

Because Detective Eiman is not an explosives expert, he decided to contact personnel from the United States Army's explosive ordinance disposal unit ("EOD") at Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri, before continuing his inspection of the contents of the trailer. During this conversation with EOD personnel, Detective Eiman apparently attempted to glean information concerning the types of weaponry located in and about the trailer and to determine whether they were dangerous, but according to Ricky, Eiman "didn't know what he was talking about." Without prompting, and on his own, Ricky "volunteered" to explain the contents of the trailer to the Fort Leonard Wood EOD sergeant. During the phone conversation, Ricky joined in and described the weapons in the trailer, including telling the EOD sergeant that C-4...

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