USA. v. Martinez

• Decision Date: 28 September 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-4245,00-4245
• Citation: 277 F.3d 517
• Parties: (4th Cir. 2002) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JUAN MARTINEZ, a/k/a Jesus Garcia, a/k/a Roberto Gonzalez, Defendant-Appellant. Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 517

277 F.3d 517 (4th Cir. 2002)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JUAN MARTINEZ, a/k/a Jesus Garcia, a/k/a Roberto Gonzalez, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 00-4245

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

Argued: September 28, 2001

Decided: January 17, 2002

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Durham. William L. Osteen, District Judge. (CR-99-145) [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] ARGUED: Paul Craig Pooley, Durham, North Carolina, for Appellant. Clifton Thomas Barrett, Assistant United States Attorney/Chief, Criminal Division, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Walter C. Holton, Jr., United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Before LUTTIG, TRAXLER, and KING, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge King wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge Traxler joined. Judge Luttig wrote a concurring opinion.

OPINION

KING, Circuit Judge:

Appellant Juan Martinez challenges his convictions and sentence in the Middle District of North Carolina on one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S 846, and on four counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 1956(a)(1). Martinez makes two basic contentions on appeal: first, that the district court, in four separate contexts, committed reversible error in accepting his guilty pleas, and, second, that the statute which forms the object of his conspiracy conviction, 21 U.S.C. S 841, is unconstitutional in light of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). We conclude that these contentions are without merit, and we affirm.

I.

On May 25, 1999, Martinez, who was also known as Roberto Gonzalez and Jesus Garcia, was indicted, along with five others, on various charges relating to a drug distribution scheme in North Carolina and elsewhere. The indictment contained sixteen counts, eight of which (Count One plus Counts Eight through Fourteen) were against Martinez. In Count One, Martinez and his co-defendants were charged with conspiring, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S 846, to commit offenses involving controlled substances, that is, the distribution of cocaine and marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S 841(a)(1). The remaining seven charges against Martinez related to violations of the money laundering statute, 18 U.S.C. S 1956(a)(1). The grand jury issued a superseding indictment a month later, which changed Count One only and named two additional co-conspirators. The superseding indictment, which is the operative charge in this appeal (the "Indictment"), made no substantive changes to the eight charges levied against Martinez.

On November 29, 1999, the Government and Martinez entered into a plea agreement, which was filed with the court on that same day. The plea agreement provided, inter alia: (1) that Martinez would plead guilty to the conspiracy charge (Count One) and to four separate charges of money laundering (Counts Nine, Ten, Twelve, and Fourteen); (2) that Martinez faced (a) on Count One, a minimum sentence of ten years' imprisonment, a maximum possible sentence of life, and a maximum possible fine of $4 million; and (b) on each of the money laundering charges, a maximum possible sentence of twenty years' imprisonment and a maximum possible fine of $500,000; (3) that, upon acceptance by the court of the guilty pleas tendered by Martinez, the Government would not oppose Martinez's motion to dismiss the three other money laundering counts against him (thereby reducing his exposure to prison by a total of sixty years and his exposure to fines by the sum of $1.5 million); and (4) that the Government would recommend to the district court a decrease in Martinez's offense level by 1 additional level pursuant to S 3E1.1(b)(2) of the Sentencing Guidelines, if Martinez qualified for a 2-point decrease in offense level under S 3E1.1(a), and if his offense level prior to the operation of S 3E1.1(a) was 16 or greater.¹ At the Rule 11 plea proceeding conducted on November 29, 1999, Martinez acknowledged to the court that he had fully discussed with his counsel both the various charges against him and the terms of his plea agreement.² Martinez also acknowledged to the court that he understood the nature of the charges against him; he advised the court that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs; and he asserted that he was competent to plead.³

Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 11(c), the court informed Martinez that, on the conspiracy charge in Count One, he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years' imprisonment, a potential maximum sentence of life, and the imposition of a fine of up to $4 million. He was further informed by the court that the maximum possible sentence on each of the money laundering charges was twenty years' imprisonment plus a fine of $500,000. Martinez acknowledged his understanding of the penalties he faced on the charges against him by virtue of his guilty pleas. The court also advised Martinez that it was not bound by the terms of his plea agreement with the Government, and that the final disposition of his case rested solely with the court. The court informed Martinez that the Indictment did not, in Count One, allege specific amounts of marijuana or cocaine, and it advised Martinez that the quantity of controlled substances involved in Count One would be determined at sentencing. Martinez acknowledged to the court, under oath, his understanding of all these matters.

Before concluding the Rule 11 proceeding, the court inquired whether the Government intended to present a factual basis for the guilty pleas. When the Government requested that the factual basis be withheld until sentencing because it was lengthy, the court acceded to its request.⁴

On March 3, 2000, the district court conducted Martinez's sentencing proceedings. In these proceedings, the Government made no objection to the Presentence Report ("PSR") of the Probation Officer, and Martinez did not contest the drug quantities determined in the PSR. The PSR determined that Martinez was accountable, under Count One, for 10,000 grams of cocaine hydrochloride and 317,520 grams of marijuana. Martinez also agreed to the criminal history upward departure recommended in the PSR. The district court found that an offense level of 35 and a criminal history category of IV applied to Martinez. The court then sentenced Martinez to 235 months' imprisonment (nineteen years and seven months) plus five years' supervised release on the conspiracy charge. He was also sentenced to serve three years' supervised release on each of the four money laundering charges, to run concurrently with the sentence imposed for conspiracy.⁵ Pursuant to the plea agreement, the court granted Martinez's motion to dismiss the remaining charges against him, that is, Counts Eight, Eleven, and Thirteen of the Indictment.

Six days later, on March 9, 2000, Martinez filed in the district court a pro se motion, entitled "Motion to Withdraw Counsel," in which he indicated dissatisfaction with the work of his court-appointed lawyer, and by which he requested that a new lawyer be appointed for the appeal of his case. This pro se motion was deemed by the district court to constitute a notice of appeal.⁶ In his motion, Martinez indicated an intention to challenge his sentence on the basis of mistakes in the PSR and in the calculation of his sentence under the Guidelines. Thereafter, on June 26, 2000, when the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), Martinez was provided with an additional basis for appeal. In Apprendi, the Supreme Court held that any facts, except prior convictions, that increase the punishment for an offense beyond the maximum authorized in the statute criminalizing the conduct constitute "by definition `elements' of a separate legal offense." Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 483 n.10. Accordingly, such sentence-enhancing facts must be charged in the indictment, tried to the jury, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 490. Prior to Apprendi, numerous federal and state statutes, including 21 U.S.C. S 841, had been enacted with sentencing provisions that allowed a court to increase a defendant's sentence on the basis of facts (such as, in the case of S 841, drug quantity) found by the court by a preponderance of the evidence.

In the wake of Apprendi, which was decided prior to briefing in this case, Martinez altered the nature of his appeal.⁷ He now asserts a total of five challenges to his convictions and sentence, four of which relate to his Rule 11 proceedings. His final contention is a constitutional challenge to 21 U.S.C. S 841. Martinez first asserts that the Rule 11 errors affected his decision to enter into his plea agreement, and he maintains that he would not have entered into the agreement if the district court had properly conducted those proceedings. Specifically, Martinez maintains that the district court committed Rule 11 error by (1) incorrectly informing him of his possible sentence on the conspiracy charge in Count One; (2) failing to properly advise him of the elements of the conspiracy charge; (3) failing to inform him that, if the sentencing recommendation of the Government was not accepted by the court, he would not have cause to withdraw his pleas; and (4) failing to establish a factual basis for his guilty pleas. Finally, Martinez contests his convictions and sentence on the basis that Apprendi rendered 21 U.S.C. S 841, the substantive statute forming the object of the Count One conspiracy, unconstitutional. We possess jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. S 1291.

II.

Before we address the merits of Martinez's contentions, we must consider a predicate procedural issue concerning the applicable standard of review. Because Martinez did not seek to withdraw his guilty plea in the district court, we review his...