United States v. Hansmeier
| Decision Date | 08 May 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 13–30042–2,13–30042–2 |
| Citation | 38 F.Supp.3d 950 |
| Parties | United States of America, Plaintiff, v. Chad Hansmeier, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Central District of Illinois |
Bryan David Freres, U.S. Atty, Springfield, IL, for Plaintiff
Defendant Chad Hansmeier filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence (d/e 20) and Supplemental Motion to Suppress Evidence (d/ e 33). Hansmeier moves to suppress evidence seized from his residence on the morning of May 15, 2013 and statements he made subsequent to his arrest. Hansmeier also requests a full evidentiary hearing to determine whether the affidavit submitted in support of the search warrant was properly submitted.
The Motions are DENIED. The affidavit in support of the search warrant provided sufficient reliable information to support issuance of the search warrant. Even if the affidavit were deficient, the officers acted in good-faith reliance on the affidavit. Hansmeier is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing because he has failed to make a substantial preliminary showing that the officer intentionally or recklessly made false statements or misleading omissions in the affidavit or that probable cause would not have existed without the false statements or omissions.
On the morning of May 15, 2013, Michael Murphy, a special agent with the Northeast Missouri Narcotics Task Force, executed an Affidavit for No–Knock Search Warrant (“Affidavit”). The Affidavit provides the following information.
West Central Illinois Drug Task Force Agent Nick Hiland contacted Agent Murphy at approximately 1:15 a.m. on May 15, 2013. Agents Murphy and Hiland had worked together on several previous narcotics investigations.
Agent Hiland told Agent Murphy that the West Central Illinois Drug Task Force had a suspect (the “Confidential Source”1 ) in custody at the Quincy Police Department. The Confidential Source had been arrested while in the possession of approximately 68 grams of methamphetamine. Agent Hiland reported that the Task Force had previously made two controlled purchases of methamphetamine from the Confidential Source. Agent Murphy was familiar with the Confidential Source, who had previously lived in Lewis County, Missouri.
Agent Hiland told Agent Murphy that the Confidential Source was cooperating with law enforcement and wanted to share information about subjects living in Canton, Lewis County, Missouri, who were dealing in large quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, and heroin. The male subject was identified as Defendant Chad Hansmeier.
Agent Murphy was familiar with Hansmeier from previous investigations. Agent Murphy had also received information from another reliable source that Hansmeier was a multi-ounce methamphetamine dealer. Agent Murphy was aware that Hansmeier had been released from prison within the past year and was living at 1304 Wyaconda Avenue, Canton, Missouri, with his girlfriend, Kristina Ridgeway, who was the mother of one of Hansmeier's children.
After receiving the information from Agent Hiland, Agent Murphy contacted Special Agent Austin Snow of the Northeast Missouri Narcotics Task Force. Agent Snow had previously investigated Hansmeier and was familiar with him. Agents Murphy and Snow drove to the Quincy Police Department to speak to the Confidential Source.
The Confidential Source told Agents Murphy and Snow that for several months he had been receiving large quantities of methamphetamine from Hansmeier. Either the Confidential Source picked up the drugs from Hansmeier's residence or else Hansmeier or Ridgeway delivered the drugs to the Confidential Source in Quincy, Illinois. The Confidential Source agreed to point out Hansmeier's residence.
Agents Snow and Murphy transported the Confidential Source to Canton, Missouri. When they arrived in Canton, the Confidential Source directed them to Hansmeier's residence at 1304 Wyaconda Avenue. While driving there and back, the Confidential Source gave the Agents additional information about Hansmeier and Ridgeway.
The Confidential Source had been buying methamphetamine from Hansmeier for several months. Recently, the Confidential Source had been buying quarter pounds (4 ounces) of methamphetamine at least once a week and usually twice a week. Also recently, Hansmeier had been delivering a quarter-ounce of heroin each time he brought the Confidential Source a quarter-pound of methamphetamine.
Hansmeier charged the Confidential Source $2,000 per ounce for the methamphetamine. The Confidential Source currently owed Hansmeier between $3,500 and $4,500 because Hansmeier would deliver the methamphetamine and heroin without requiring payment until later.
The Confidential Source told Agents Snow and Murphy that he had been to Hansmeier's residence about 18 times in the past six months. The Confidential Source reported that Hansmeier always kept methamphetamine, marijuana, and, the Confidential Source believed, heroin at his residence in Canton. Approximately one month earlier, the Confidential Source was in Hansmeier's residence and saw 30 pounds of marijuana. The Confidential Source saw shrink-wrapped drugs in a room in Defendant's house on more than one occasion. Every time the Confidential Source went to Hansmeier's residence, Hansmeier had methamphetamine to deliver to him. When the Confidential Source was at Hansmeier's home recently, he saw a large stack of money. The Confidential Source stated that that was money Hansmeier had made selling large quantities of drugs.
Hansmeier told the Confidential Source that he had recently received a large supply of methamphetamine and was going on a 30–day vacation within the next couple of weeks. Hansmeier told the Confidential Source that he (Hansmeier) would be able to bring the Confidential Source at least half a pound of methamphetamine prior to leaving on that vacation.
The Confidential Source last received a quarter-pound of methamphetamine and a quarter-ounce of heroin from Hansmeier a couple of days earlier. The Confidential Source believed Hansmeier had more than two pounds of methamphetamine at that time. Hansmeier told the Confidential Source that he (the Confidential Source) was the only person Hansmeier was delivering ounces of methamphetamine to in Quincy, Illinois but that Hansmeier had several people to whom he was dealing similar quantities in Hannibal, Missouri.
The Confidential Source stated that Hansmeier had two cameras set up at his residence. One of the cameras was inside the entry door of the house and the other faced outside the entry door of the house. The Confidential Source believed Hansmeier monitored the cameras so that he could see who was coming to his front door.
The Confidential Source told the officers there were three children between the ages of 2 and 11 years living in the home. The Confidential Source stated that both Hansmeier and Ridgeway used drugs in front of the children, particularly marijuana.
The Affidavit also provides that during a previous investigation, another confidential informant (“CI 648”) reported to Agent Snow that CI 648 had seen Hansmeier deliver “ice,” or crystal methamphetamine, to Cary Singleton at his residence in Palmyra. CI 648 reported he was present when Hansmeier delivered a full gallon-size Ziploc bag of methamphetamine and six or seven bricks of marijuana. The methamphetamine was purportedly worth $7,000.
Agent Murphy believed Hansmeier was currently on parole from the Missouri Department of Corrections and that Craig Tallman was Hansmeier's parole officer. Hansmeier had at least one prior conviction for distribution of a controlled substance. Hansmeier's criminal history showed arrests for Unlawful Use of a Weapon in 1997, as well as numerous drug-related arrests and convictions. “Case net” showed Hansmeier was convicted of Resisting Arrest for a Felony on November 3, 2009 and sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections but that the conviction did not show up on Hansmeier's criminal history.
Agent Murphy stated that, based on the information provided by the Confidential Source, Agent Murphy believed that Hansmeier and Ridgeway kept large quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, and heroin at their residence. Based on the quantities Agent Murphy had been told about, he believed Hansmeier was a large dealer, not a street-level dealer, of narcotics. Based on his training and experience, Agent Murphy believed that large dealers in narcotics almost always keep a supply on hand for their customers. Based on the information from the Confidential Source, Agent Murphy believed the drugs were being kept at the residence located at 1304 Wyaconda Street.
The Affidavit also contains the following statement in support of the request for a no-knock warrant:
During a previous search warrant at a residence where Hansmeier was an occupant, Hansmeier flushed drugs and drug paraphernalia after Law Enforcement Officers knocked and announced that they had a search warrant. Hansmeier has also resisted arrest by law enforcement in the past. According to Capt. Patti Talbert, since 1998 there have been three search warrants served on residences where Chad Hansmeier has resided. Due to the installation of cameras, Hansmeier's history of resisting arrest and attempting to destroy evidence, a no[-]knock search warrant is requested.
See Aff., d/e 20–1, pp. 5–6.
After Agent Murphy drafted the Affidavit, he took the Affidavit to Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Jules DeCoster for his review. DeCoster, a commissioned Notary Public in Lewis County, notarized the Affidavit. DeCoster also prepared the warrant application.
The associate judge who typically reviews search warrant applications in Lewis County was unavailable on May 15, 2013. Therefore, the Lewis County Clerk's Office notified the Missouri Supreme Court. On May 15, 2013, Chief Justice Richard B. Teitelman entered an order temporarily transferring the Honorable Rick R. Roberts, associate Circuit Judge of...
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