United States v. Murray, Criminal Action No. 18-30018-MGM
| Decision Date | 20 August 2020 |
| Docket Number | Criminal Action No. 18-30018-MGM |
| Citation | 480 F.Supp.3d 342 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, v. Matthew MURRAY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Alex J. Grant, United States Attorney's Office, Springfield, MA, for United States of America.
Andrew G. Levchuk, Andrew Levchuk, Counsellor at Law, LLC, Amherst, MA, Linda J. Thompson, Thompson & Thompson, Springfield, MA, for Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER REGARDING MOTION TO SUPPRESS
Matthew Murray ("Defendant") has filed a Motion to Suppress, seeking an order suppressing the fruits of a search of his residence, 8 Southbrook Lane, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He asserts, among other arguments, that the affidavit in support of the search warrant intentionally or recklessly omitted and misrepresented certain material information. Defendant therefore requests an evidentiary hearing pursuant to Franks v. Delaware , 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). For the following reasons, the court concludes Defendant has made the requisite showing to obtain a Franks hearing.
The warrant to search Defendant's residence was authorized by United States Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson on January 27, 2017. (Dkt. No. 93-1 at 17.) It sought permission to search 8 Southbrook Lane, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, including all structures and vehicles on the property, in relation to violations of 18 U.S.C. § 841 (marijuana trafficking) and 18 U.S.C. § 1956 (money laundering). (Id. at 17, 54.)
Attached to the application was an affidavit drafted by Massachusetts State Trooper Michael E. Scott, a member of the DEA Task Force in the Springfield Resident Office. Scott asserted the following in his affidavit.
On July 20, 2016, Special Agent Richard Winfield, of the Springfield FBI Field Office, "met with an individual later identified as Jonathan M. Giedrowicz who wished to give information about a large scale marijuana distribution ring that he was involved with." (Id. at 19.) Giedrowicz stated he was a distributor of marijuana in western Massachusetts and was trying to get out of the business. (Id. ) The affiant reviewed Giedrowicz's criminal history, which included an open case for failing to provide a DNA sample, a conviction of assault and battery, and charges related to larceny, false statement on an application, identity fraud, true name violation, and possession and distribution of narcotics, among others. (Id. at 20.)
On August 25, 2016, the affiant met with Giedrowicz regarding a marijuana dealer known to him as "Matt." (Id. ) "Giedrowicz provided a license plate and an address for ‘Matt’ which led to Matt's identity, Matthew Murray." (Id. )
The affiant explained that "Giedrowicz has admitted that he used marijuana and sold thousands of pounds of marijuana in the past." (Id. ) As such, "Giedrowicz is familiar with the handling, packaging, and characteristics of various controlled substances and ... is considered a member of the drug subculture." (Id. ) Moreover, according to the affiant, Giedrowicz has proven his reliability to the investigators by: (A) "allowing himself to be named and agreeing to testify in a court proceeding and by providing information against his penal interest"; (B) providing the "identification of criminal suspects," including "names, physical descriptions, addresses, family members, and associates, places of employment, telephone numbers, etc."; and (C) providing "detailed information on suspects criminal activity," including "methods of operation, primary territory, criminal associates, locations of criminal activity, vehicles used, license plates, etc." (Id. )
The affidavit next explained that "Giedrowicz stated the following about" Defendant: Giedrowicz had been obtaining marijuana from Defendant for the past one and a half years (December of 2014 to August of 2016), during which time he "picked up approximately 100 loads of marijuana," with between 49 and 100 pounds in each load. (Id. at 20-21.) Giedrowicz originally met Defendant through a third party, but the two eventually cut out the middleman and dealt with each other directly. (Id. at 21.) Defendant "lives in a gated community at 8 Southbrook Road in Pittsfield" and told Giedrowicz he has a business partner, but Giedrowicz was not allowed to meet him. (Id. ) Most of the sales between the two occurred in the Pittsfield area, either in a parking lot or one of two residences—100 Oak Hill Road, Pittsfield or 839 East New Lenox Road, Pittsfield. (Id. )
According to Giedrowicz, 100 Oak Hill Road is a single-family home and "[a]t the time of most of the deals at this address, the residence appeared to be unoccupied." (Id. ) More recently, however, Defendant told Giedrowicz the house belonged to Defendant, "and at the time of this writing this residence is occupied by [Defendant's] brother, James Murray." (Id. ) Defendant "did not store his marijuana at this residence and usually they would meet at Berkshire Crossing in the parking lot of Barnes and Nobel and [Defendant] would have Giedrowicz follow him to 100 Oak Hill Road"; Defendant "would bring the marijuana inside the residence to make the transaction." (Id. )
Giedrowicz reported that 839 East New Lenox Road "appears to have been used either by an associate or customer of" Defendant. (Id. ) Defendant "would occasionally bring Giedrowicz to this address to conduct the transaction and would usually leave approximately 15 pounds of marijuana in one of the bedrooms for the resident, in addition to serving Giedrowicz." (Id. ) However, "[i]t did not appear to Giedrowicz that the marijuana was stored at this address"; instead, it appeared Defendant would bring the marijuana with him into the house. (Id. at 21-22.)
Giedrowicz also stated that "he has received approximately 15 shipments where [Defendant] transported marijuana in [his] Audi A6 and another 50 shipments" in his Toyota Tundra. (Id. at 22.)1 "Giedrowicz estimates that conservatively he purchased 5000 to 6000 pounds of marijuana from" Defendant, which "equates to approximately $12,000,000 to $14,000,000 in total revenue for just one customer" between December of 2014 and August of 2014. (Id. )
Giedrowicz, however, "is unaware where the marijuana is stored." (Id. )
The affiant next explains that on October 12, 2016, he received a call from Giedrowicz, "who stated he received a text from [Defendant] requesting that they meet." (Id. ) Giedrowicz agreed to meet Defendant at an outdoor coffee shop in West Stockbridge. (Id. ) At the affiant's direction, Giedrowicz maintained "an open cellular telephone line with [the affiant]" so the conversation could be monitored. (Id. ) At 3:30 p.m., the affiant observed Defendant leave his residence, 8 Southbrook Lane, on his Ducati Motorcycle. (Id. ) The affiant, along with other agents, conducted visual surveillance of Giedrowicz's meeting with Defendant. (Id. ) "For the majority of the conversation Giedrowicz's portion of the conversation was clear and audible," but Defendant's "responses were muffled and hard to understand." (Id. at 22-23.) Nevertheless, the affiant reports Defendant and Giedrowicz "clearly did talk about the purchase of marijuana," discussing "prices and locations" for a possible purchase of 200-250 pounds. (Id. at 23.) Giedrowicz told Defendant "he was sitting on some marijuana from his Boston connect that he was having trouble moving and that he couldn't push that amount." (Id. ) Defendant stated "he was going to be re-upping from his friend in California" and "told Giedrowicz that he could trade product with a friend of his for product that came from British Columbia." (Id. ) After a West Stockbridge police officer approached Defendant's motorcycle and spoke with Defendant, Giedrowicz and Defendant entered a store and "their conversation turned benign"—they discussed "politics and current events." (Id. )
After the two parted ways, the affiant and another State Trooper debriefed Giedrowicz, while other agents followed Defendant. (Id. ) Giedrowicz reported "that after they encountered the West Stockbridge Officer they were speaking very quietly and [Defendant] was discussing the transportation of the shipment." (Id.) He further reported Defendant "was unsure who was going to transport the load from California to Massachusetts," but Defendant "was going to California on Sunday to make the arrangements for the shipment and to arrange for transportation." (Id. ) The affiant "was unable to hear this portion of the conversation." (Id. ) The other agents followed Defendant to 25 West Center Road West Stockbridge, "which has a sign for Colfax Farm," where Defendant remained "until approximately 6:00 PM at which point [the affiant] terminated surveillance." (Id. )
On October 14, 2016, the affiant and another task force officer met with Giedrowicz for another debriefing. (Id. ) The affiant took six photographs of text messages on Giedrowicz's phone, all purportedly sent to Giedrowicz by Defendant, which were included in the affidavit. (Id. at 24.) The messages dated October 10th stated Defendant was "almost out" and "[w]on't be good again til nov," but he had 35 to 40 "hours"2 of "work available"; they also discussed times for a meeting, which the affiant asserts were references to the meeting in West Stockbridge. (Id. at 24-25.) The message dated October 12th stated:
Last ditch effort to see if we can pick a time and place tonight to meet before I go. Listen man, if I don't hear from you ... just going to assume you have no interest in our business relationship at this point. I'm not going to keep chasing after you. So let me no or don't it's your call.
(Id. at 26.)
On November 9, 2016, Giedrowicz and Defendant had another meeting at a coffee shop in West Stockbridge. (Id. at 27.) The conversation "was monitored over an open line by Trooper Gero," who "noted that the two spoke of ...
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