United States v. Santiago
| Citation | 775 F.3d 104 |
| Decision Date | 24 December 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 14–1219.,14–1219. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Alibal SANTIAGO, Defendant, Appellant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit) |
Victoria M. Bonilla–Argudo, with whom Bourbeau & Bonilla, LLP was on brief, for Appellant.
Donald C. Lockhart, Assistant U.S. Attorney, with whom Peter F. Neronha, United States Attorney, was on brief, for Appellee.
Before LYNCH, Chief Judge, HOWARD and BARRON, Circuit Judges.
This case involves the guilty plea of a coconspirator, Jose Alibal Santiago, in a 2010 murder in Rhode Island. This court earlier issued an en banc decision about the state's obligation to honor a federal detainer in this same murder for his codefendant, Jason Pleau. See United States v. Pleau, 680 F.3d 1 (1st Cir.2012) (en banc).
On September 5, 2013, Jose Alibal Santiago pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery affecting commerce; robbery affecting commerce; and possessing, using, carrying, and discharging a gun in relation to a crime of violence with death resulting. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 924, 1951(a). The government concedes that the district court erred at the change-of-plea hearing by omitting sufficient notice of the possible sentence accompanying the third charge, which involved both a consecutive sentence and a ten-year mandatory minimum. Counsel for the government also failed to provide such notice in his description of the case at that hearing. On plain error review, we find that Santiago's substantial rights were not affected by this error and affirm.
On September 20, 2010, Santiago and a coconspirator, Kelley Lajoie, drove from Springfield, Massachusetts to Woonsocket, Rhode Island to accomplish a planned-out crime. There, they met their coconspirator, Jason Pleau. The three planned to rob a gas station manager, David Main, of the Woonsocket Shell Station's receipts as he went to deposit them at a nearby Citizens Bank.
Santiago, Pleau, and Lajoie first went to the Shell Station. There, Santiago spoke with the cashier, who was an acquaintance. The three saw Main and identified a car they believed belonged to him. They then split up into assigned tasks: Santiago drove his truck to an apartment complex near the Citizens Bank, Pleau waited with his gun near the bank, and Lajoie observed the gas station.
Just after 11:00 a.m., two and a half hours later, Lajoie called Pleau and told him that she saw Main leaving the gas station. Main traveled to the bank, just down the road, with the receipts. At the outside of the bank, he encountered an armed and masked Pleau, who demanded the money. Main did not comply but ran toward the bank doors. Pleau followed him, shooting repeatedly. Main was struck in the head and collapsed at the entrance to the bank. Pleau took the money ($12,542) and ran to Santiago, who drove them away in his waiting car. Two witnesses identified Santiago as driving the truck.
The two drove to Pleau's house in Providence, where they met Lajoie and Pleau's girlfriend and divided the money. Santiago and Lajoie made their way back to Springfield. Santiago, after attempting to evade capture for two days, surrendered himself on September 22 to the Woonsocket police.
On December 14, the grand jury indicted Santiago, Pleau, and Lajoie for (1) conspiracy to commit robbery affecting commerce (in violation of the Hobbs Act), 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) ; (2) committing robbery affecting commerce (in violation of the Hobbs Act), id.; and (3) possessing, using, carrying, and discharging a gun in relation to a crime of violence with death resulting, id. § 924(c)(1)(A), (j)(1).1 The first two counts of the indictment each have no mandatory minimum and a twenty-year statutory maximum. Id. § 1951(a). The third count carried a possible death sentence and required a mandatory minimum of ten years, to be served consecutively to any other sentence. Id. § 924(c)(1)(A)(iii), (D)(ii), (j)(1). The government gave notice that it would not seek the death penalty as to Santiago.
On December 9, 2011, Lajoie pleaded guilty to the three charges and agreed to cooperate. She was sentenced to 188 months. On July 31, 2013, Pleau pleaded guilty to the three charges. Pleau was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On September 4, 2013, the district court began voir dire for Santiago's trial. The next day, Santiago changed his plea to guilty, without a plea agreement. On February 13, 2014, the district court sentenced him to forty years: twenty for the first two counts, served concurrently, and twenty for the third count, served consecutively. This appeal followed.
Santiago seeks to vacate his plea on the grounds that, at the change-of-plea hearing, he was informed of the statutory maxima for the three charges, but was not informed of the mandatory minimum for Count Three nor the requirement that the Count Three sentence be served consecutively. This omission, he argues, is a violation of Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(b)(1)(I), and the government agrees. See id. (); United States v. Rivera–Maldonado, 560 F.3d 16, 19 (1st Cir.2009) ().
As Santiago failed to object at the hearing or to move to set aside his plea in the district court, we review for plain error. See Rivera–Maldonado, 560 F.3d at 19. To satisfy plain error review, the defendant must show “1) there was an error, 2) the error was plain, 3) the error affected substantial rights, and 4) the error seriously affect[ed] the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id. (alteration in original) (quoting United States v. Vonn, 535 U.S. 55, 62–63, 122 S.Ct. 1043, 152 L.Ed.2d 90 (2002) ) (internal quotation marks omitted). The government concedes that a Rule 11 error occurred and that it was plain. The next issue is whether it affected Santiago's substantial rights.
To satisfy the third prong, Santiago “must show a reasonable probability that, but for the error, he would not have entered the plea.” United States v. Dominguez Benitez, 542 U.S. 74, 83, 124 S.Ct. 2333, 159 L.Ed.2d 157 (2004). We must be satisfied, after review of the entire record, “that the probability of a different result is ‘sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome’ of the proceeding.”Id. (quoting Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) ); United States v. Ortiz–García, 665 F.3d 279, 286 (1st Cir.2011).
Santiago's arguments on this prong have no merit. The record shows what Santiago knew before, during, and after the Rule 11 hearing. Considered cumulatively, the record clearly shows that Santiago was aware at the time of that hearing of the mandatory ten-year minimum for Count Three and that it was consecutive. We see scant probability that he would not have entered his plea had he been informed of those facts at the Rule 11 hearing.
On May 8, 2012, before the Rule 11 hearing, Santiago wrote a letter explaining, “I'm facing a life sentence if I am found guilty at trial, and 40 years if I plead guilty.” Santiago accurately predicted his sentence upon pleading guilty. It is likely he predicted serving some time consecutively for Count Three, in light of the twenty-year statutory maximum for Counts One and Two.2
The defendant emphasizes Santiago's pro se filing on August 13, 2013, only weeks before trial. There, in the course of raising concerns about his attorney, Santiago's filing stated that “[i]f convicted, I am facing a sentence between 30–40 years in prison.” Santiago argues that, since he thought he faced thirty to forty years if convicted at trial, he presumably assumed that he would receive a lower sentence upon pleading guilty. That is one possible inference; another is that he thought he would receive a sentence toward the lower bound of that range following a guilty plea. And even taking Santiago's inference as true, he may well have thought that his guilty plea would lead to a sentence below thirty years by adding short sentences on Counts One and Two (which have no mandatory minimum) to a ten-year consecutive sentence on Count Three. His reliance on this filing adds little to our analysis.
Though the error occurred at the Rule 11 hearing, the judge did ask Santiago whether he had spoken with his lawyer “about the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and how they are likely to apply in this case,” to which Santiago answered, “Yes.” The likely application of the Guidelines would assuredly have included the consecutive ten-year mandatory minimum for Count Three. The district court also warned Santiago that the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) “is a very important document ... in determining what the appropriate sentence is,” a comment which Santiago indicated that he understood.
On December 5, 2013, the Probation Office released an initial PSR, which explicitly referenced Count Three's ten-year mandatory minimum and required sequential sentencing. On February 6, 2014, Santiago filed several objections to the initial PSR, including to its use of uncharged conduct, but no objection to the ten-year mandatory minimum, the consecutive sentence requirement, or the Guidelines sentencing range. The same day, the Probation Office released a final PSR, again explicitly referencing the ten-year consecutive mandatory minimum.
At sentencing on February 13, the court asked the defense lawyer whether he “had the opportunity to review the [PSR] with [his] client and [had] been able to answer all of [the client's] questions.” The defense counsel replied in the affirmative. At no point during the sentencing hearing did Santiago express surprise at the application of the Guidelines, the consecutive sentences, or his ultimate sentence.
Santiago relies on United States v....
To continue reading
Request your trial