United States v. Link, Case No. 1:14–cr–76

• Decision Date: 11 October 2016
• Docket Number: Case No. 1:14–cr–76,Civil Action No. 1:16–cv–688
• Citation: 214 F.Supp.3d 506
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. James Thomas LINK
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

214 F.Supp.3d 506

UNITED STATES of America

v.James Thomas LINK

Case No. 1:14–cr–76

Civil Action No. 1:16–cv–688

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Alexandria Division .

Signed October 11, 2016

Adam Block Schwartz, Jennifer Clarke, Karen Ledbetter Taylor, US Attorney's Office, Alexandria, VA, for United States of America.

James Thomas Link, pro se.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

T.S. Ellis, III, United States District Judge

At issue in this 18 U.S.C. § 2255 habeas petition is whether defendant's convictions and sentences for two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence should be vacated on the basis of (i) an alleged "sentencing miscalculation," or (ii) the Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. United States , ––– U.S. ––––, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), which invalidated the residual clause of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). For the reasons that follow, the petition must be denied.

I.

On March 12, 2014, defendant James Thomas Link pled guilty to two counts of brandishing a firearm during a "crime of violence"—namely, armed bank robbery—in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).¹ On the first § 924(c) count, defendant was sentenced to 102 months' imprisonment. On the second § 924(c) count, defendant was sentenced to a consecutive term of 318 months' imprisonment, for a total term of 420 months of incarceration.

Two years later, defendant, proceeding pro se , has moved pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate and set aside his sentences and convictions. Defendant asserts two grounds for his motion: (i) that a "sentencing miscalculation" occurred, resulting in the imposition of an "incorrect sentence" under the terms of defendant's plea agreement, and (ii) that the Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. United States , ––– U.S. ––––, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), operates to invalidate § 924(c)'s residual clause and thus, by extension, defendant's § 924(c) convictions. The government disagrees, contending (i) that defendant's "sentencing miscalculation" claim is not cognizable under § 2255 and is barred by the doctrine of procedural default, and (ii) that defendant's convictions and sentences are based not on § 924(c)'s residual clause, but on § 924(c)'s force clause, a provision unaddressed and unaffected by the Supreme Court's decision in Johnson .

Because the matter has been fully briefed and the facts and law are fully set forth in the existing record, neither oral argument nor an evidentiary hearing would aid the decisional process.² Accordingly, the matter is now ripe for disposition. For the reasons stated below, defendant's motion must be denied.

A.

Defendant's sworn Statement of Facts accompanying his plea agreement describes a crime spree in which defendant, along with co-defendants James Larry McNeal and Alphonso Stoddard, robbed or attempted to rob four banks in Maryland and Northern Virginia from October to December, 2013. The spree began on October 29, 2013, when defendant attempted an armed bank robbery at the Wells Fargo Bank branch located at 110 Congressional Lane in Rockville, Maryland. That day, McNeal drove defendant and Stoddard to the Wells Fargo Bank branch. Defendant and Stoddard entered the bank through the front door, which defendant then propped open with a sand-filled sock. Once inside the bank, defendant displayed a handgun and shouted, "Everyone get down and don't push the button." Stoddard jumped over the teller counter and unsuccessfully tried to take cash from the teller drawers. As Stoddard jumped back over the counter to leave, defendant fired one round from his handgun into the bank ceiling. The two then fled.

The very next day, October 30, 2013, McNeal drove Stoddard and defendant to the Bank of Georgetown branch located at 1850 Towers Crescent Plaza in Vienna, Virginia. After defendant and Stoddard entered the bank, Stoddard vaulted over the counter toward the victim teller, demanding, "Give me the money." For his part, defendant displayed a handgun, pointing the weapon at the floor in view of the victim teller while telling Stoddard, "Get the money," and "Let's go, come on let's go." Stoddard grabbed cash from the teller drawers and placed it in a black, plastic shopping bag. Stoddard and defendant then fled the bank on foot with $3,449 in cash.

Roughly four weeks later, on November 25, 2013, defendant and his accomplices struck again. This time, McNeal drove Stoddard and defendant to the Wells Fargo Bank branch located at 2213 North Glebe Road in Arlington, Virginia. After defendant and Stoddard entered the bank lobby, defendant, brandishing a firearm, ordered the bank's customers and employees to lie down on the floor. At the same time, Stoddard jumped the teller counter and, brandishing a gun, ordered the employees behind the counter to lie down. Stoddard then stuffed $19,001 in cash into his bag. As defendant and Stoddard left the bank with that money, they pushed past an 82–year-old woman, knocking her to the ground.

Defendant capped off the year and this spree with one more bank robbery. On New Year's Eve, December 31, 2013, McNeal picked up defendant and Stoddard and drove to the Wells Fargo Bank branch located at 951 South George Mason Drive in Arlington, Virginia. After defendant and Stoddard entered the bank, defendant produced a handgun and Stoddard jumped over the counter. Stoddard then took approximately $47,913 in cash from the teller drawers and stuffed it into his bag. Defendant and Stoddard fled from the bank on foot, entered the vehicle with McNeal, but failed in their attempt to drive away because they were apprehended.

B.

On February 27, 2014, a federal grand jury indicted defendant on seven counts, including conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count 1), armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 2113(a) & (d) (Counts 2, 4, and 6), and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) (Counts 3, 5, and 7). United States v. James Thomas Link , 1:14–cr–76, 2014 WL 3924967 (E.D. Va. Feb. 27, 2014) (Indictment). For each § 924(c) count, the indictment specifically identified the predicate "crime of violence" as the preceding § 2113 bank robbery count. For instance, Count 4 alleged that on November 25, 2013, defendant committed a bank robbery, in violation of § 2113(a) & (d). In turn, Count 5 charged defendant with violating § 924(c) for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence—namely, the robbery charged in Count 4. Similarly, Count 6 charged defendant with a separate § 2113 bank robbery, and Count 7—the accompanying § 924(c) charge—specifically incorporated Count 6 as the underlying "crime of violence" for the § 924(c) offense.

On March 20, 2014, defendant pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to two counts (Counts 5 and 7) of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of § 924(c). See United States v. James Thomas Link , No. 1:14–cr–76 (E.D. Va. Mar. 20, 2014) (Plea Agreement). As the plea agreement explained, the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for Count 5 was seven years with a maximum term of life imprisonment, and the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for Count 7 was a consecutive sentence of 25 years, with a maximum of life in prison. The plea agreement further explained that

[D]efendant understands that the Court has jurisdiction and authority to impose any sentence within the statutory maximum described above but that the Court will determine the defendant's actual sentence in accordance with Title 18, United States Code, Section 3553(a). The defendant understands that the Court has not yet determined a sentence and that any estimate of the advisory sentencing range under the U.S. Sentencing Commission's Sentencing Guidelines Manual the defendant may have received from the defendant's counsel, the United States, or the Probation Office, is a prediction, not a promise, and is not binding on the United States, the Probation Office, or the Court. Additionally, pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker , 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), the Court, after considering the factors set forth in Title 18, United States Code, Section 3553(a), may impose a sentence above or below the advisory sentencing range, subject only to review by higher courts for reasonableness. The United States makes no promise or representation concerning what sentence the defendant will receive, and the defendant cannot withdraw a guilty plea based upon the actual sentence.

Id. at 3.

As part of his plea agreement, defendant also "knowingly waive[d] the right to appeal the conviction and any sentence within the statutory maximum ... (or the manner in which that sentence was determined) ... on any ground whatsoever, in exchange for the concessions made by the United States in this plea agreement." Id. at 4. Defendant further agreed "to cooperate fully and truthfully with the United States," including by "testify[ing] truthfully and completely at any grand juries, trials or other proceedings." Id. at 6. In return, the government agreed "to recommend a sentence no higher than the mandatory minimum term of 32 years" and, upon the Court's acceptance of defendant's plea, "to move to dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment against this defendant." Id. at 4, 6. The plea agreement also provided that if defendant violated any provision of the agreement, the government "will be released from its obligations under th[e] agreement, including any obligation to seek a downward departure [whereas] defendant, however, may not withdraw the guilty plea entered pursuant to this agreement." Id. at 11. In addition, the agreement stated that any breach by defendant would amount to a "waive[r of] any right to claim that ... the statement of facts accompanying this agreement ... should be excluded or suppressed under Fed R. Evid. 410, Fed R. Crim. P. 11(f), the Sentencing Guidelines or any other provision of the Constitution or federal law." Id. at 12.

Defenda...