U.S. v. Wilson, 94-5872

Decision Date22 April 1996
Docket NumberNo. 94-5872,94-5872
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Eddie C. WILSON, Sr., Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Walter E. Black, Jr., Senior District Judge. (CA-93-494)

ARGUED: Beth Mina Farber, Branch Chief, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellant. Maury S. Epner, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: James K. Bredar, Federal Public Defender, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellant. Lynne A. Battaglia, United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee.

Before NIEMEYER and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and DOUMAR, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge DOUMAR wrote the opinion, in which Judge NIEMEYER and Judge LUTTIG joined.

OPINION

DOUMAR, District Judge:

This case presents the question of whether the trial court appropriately denied appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, where the appellant claimed that he never possessed the requisite intent for the crime to which he pled guilty. For the reasons set out below, we AFFIRM the denial of appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

I.

Because appellant's claim challenges the adequacy of the Rule 11 proceeding before the district court, a detailed review of the facts is necessary. Defendant-Appellant Eddie C. Wilson, Sr. ("Wilson"), as the owner and operator of Big Eddie's Carryout and Food Market in Baltimore, was authorized to accept food stamps by the United States Department of Agriculture ("U.S.D.A.") by way of both paper food coupons as well as electronic benefits transfer ("E.B.T."). These E.B.T. transfers were encoded onto E.B.T. cards which were distributed to qualifying Maryland food stamp program recipients, who then utilized the card much like a debit card at appropriate food vendors such as Big Eddie's. The U.S.D.A. then reimbursed vendors by making electronic funds deposits directly into the vendor's bank accounts.

Wilson, along with his employee and co-appellant James "Phil" Murray, conducted numerous E.B.T. transactions in which they collected food stamps or E.B.T. benefits in exchange for cash at a rate of approximately sixty cents per dollar. Appellant made numerous cash withdrawals from his business accounts and wrote a number of checks payable to himself, Murray, and his then-girlfriend and codefendant Karen Goldman. Some of these funds were converted into assets such as a motor vehicle and a diamond ring. Other proceeds were deposited into Goldman's personal account, and then withdrawn by Goldman at Wilson's direction.

Appellant was charged in all twenty-six counts of the indictment charging appellant, Murray and Goldman. Count One charged all three with conspiracy to launder proceeds of an unlawful activity with the intent to promote the carrying on of said unlawful activity or knowing that the transactions were to conceal those proceeds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and (B)(i). Paragraph five of the "Manner and Means of the Conspiracy" stated that the conspirators "utilized Karen Goldman's account at Nations Bank to facilitate and conceal the EBT card and food stamp coupon trafficking." Paragraph six stated that certain other transactions "were conducted with the intent to facilitate the unlawful theft, embezzlement and conversion of government property, i.e. food stamp benefits, and to conceal and disguise the proceeds thereof." Counts Two through Eighteen charged conversion of government property in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 641, and Counts Nineteen through Twenty-Six charged money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 641 and 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and (B)(i). Wilson and his counsel subsequently entered into a plea agreement with the United States, dated March 18, 1994, whereby appellant agreed to plead guilty to Count One as well as to forfeiture of certain property. The parties then entered an agreed statement of facts, attached to the plea agreement and signed by both appellant and his counsel. 1

The trial court held a colloquy pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 11 with Wilson, his counsel, and the Assistant United States Attorney on April 4, 1994. Wilson responded affirmatively to the questions of the district court as to whether he read the indictment and understood the charges against him. Wilson was asked by the court deputy clerk to which count he was pleading guilty, and Wilson stated, "I don't know the number of the count, but the charge I believe is money laundering." J.A. 45. Appellant was informed by the Court that he "should not hesitate" to tell the judge if he did not understand any question and should feel free to consult with his attorney. Appellant acknowledged the Court's statement. Appellant then represented that he finished high school and attended college, had no competency problems, and was satisfied with the representation of his attorney. After appellant acknowledged the rights that he was forfeiting, the Court summarized Count One of the indictment in full as follows:

THE COURT: Now specifically count One of the indictment Mr. Wilson, charges that from about October, 1992 continuing thereafter until about July, 1993 in Maryland and elsewhere, that you, Karen Goldman and James Murray, a/k/a "Phil", together with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, did unlawfully, willfully and knowingly conspire to knowingly and willfully conduct, and attempt to conduct financial transactions affecting interstate commerce, namely, the withdrawal of monetary instruments from Provident Bank and Maryland National Bank which involved the proceeds of a specified unlawful activity; that is theft, embezzlement and conversion of public property with the intent to promote the carrying on of said unlawful activity; and knowing that the transactions were designed in whole or in part, to conceal the nature, locations, source, ownership and control of the proceeds of the unlawful activity. And that while conducting, or attempting to conduct such financial transactions, knew that the property involved represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity.

That is a long-winded way of saying things, but do you understand exactly what you are charged with here?

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.

THE COURT: The indictment in Count One then goes on to describe in some detail the method and means of the conspiracy and then follows up with a list of overt acts that appear from paragraph 7 through paragraph 66 of the indictment.

Now, that as a whole, do you understand that is the charge to which you are pleading guilty?

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.

J.A. 53-54. The Court then advised Wilson of the statutory maximum and of other matters incident to the plea of guilty, such as the possibility of a fine, supervised release, the special assessment, restitution, and the sentencing guidelines.

The Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) then described the plea agreement in detail. The Court asked if the appellant understood the plea agreement and the appellant agreed. The Court then stated that Wilson would "not be allowed to withdraw the guilty plea [he was] offering [to the Court] unless there[were] exceptional circumstances," which Wilson understood. Wilson then proceeded to state, "I still wish to plead guilty to Count One." The Assistant United States Attorney then proceeded into a description of the facts as agreed by both parties in the "Agreed Statement of Facts" appended to the plea agreement. Relevant to this appeal, the agreed statement, read in open court, provided in part:

Cash withdrawals and checks were ... used to conceal and disguise the proceeds of the unlawful food stamp trafficking by removing them from bank accounts that had been disclosed to USDA and converting them to cash and assets that were more difficult to trace to the unlawful food stamp transactions.

Wilson utilized Karen Goldman's account at Nations Bank to facilitate and conceal the EBT card and food stamp coupon trafficking....

.... Certain transactions in the Big Eddie's Carryout and Food Market accounts were conducted with the intent to facilitate the unlawful theft, embezzlement and conversion of government property, i.e., food stamp benefits, and to conceal and disguise the proceeds thereof.

J.A. 66-67.

The Court then immediately propounded the following question to the appellant: "Mr. Wilson, having heard what the government would be prepared to prove if there were a trial in these charges, do you still wish to plead guilty to Count One?" Wilson replied, "Yes, sir." The Court then accepted Wilson's plea, found that the plea "was made by the defendant freely and voluntarily; not out of ignorance, fear, inadvertence or coercion," and found that the plea had a basis in fact.

At the scheduled sentencing date, against the advice of counsel, appellant claimed that he was guilty of food stamp fraud "under Title 7" rather than money laundering, and that he should be prosecuted for the former rather than the latter. He stated that his concern was with the possibility of losing his right to appeal based on the money laundering charge if he in fact continued to plead guilty. Wilson further admitted to all the facts as alleged in the indictment. The Court and the parties agreed that the best course of conduct was to interpret appellant's objection as a motion to strike or withdraw his plea of guilty, and the Court set the matter for briefing and oral argument.

Appellant again stated his objection at the hearing on his motion to withdraw. Appellant argued that he was discriminated against by the prosecutor's choice of charging him with money laundering instead of with food stamp fraud. On direct examination by his counsel, appellant stated that "a major factor" of his concern was the potential sentence he...

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