USA. v. Neeley

• Decision Date: 10 February 1999
• Docket Number: Nos. 97-2116,97-2729,s. 97-2116
• Parties: (7th Cir. 1999) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SHARON NEELEY, also known as SHARON HILL, ALBERT A. ALVAREZ, THOMAS D. LAMBERT, also known as DEMETRIUS, DONALD L. JAMES, ALEX BURROWS, MEATRIES, D., T., and THOMAS LAMBERT, Defendants-Appellants. & 97-2834
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 670

189 F.3d 670 (7th Cir. 1999)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SHARON NEELEY, also known as SHARON HILL, ALBERT A. ALVAREZ, THOMAS D. LAMBERT, also known as DEMETRIUS, DONALD L. JAMES, ALEX BURROWS, MEATRIES, D., T., and THOMAS LAMBERT, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 97-2116, 97-2729 & 97-2834

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Argued February 10, 1999^*

Decided September 8, 1999

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied in No. 97-2834 October 20, 1999

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 95 CR 730--Charles P. Kocoras, Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before COFFEY, FLAUM, and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

On December 13, 1995, defendants-appellants Thomas Demetrius Lambert ("Lambert"), Sharon Neeley ("Neeley"), and Albert Alexander Alvarez ("Alvarez"), along with eighteen other defendants, were charged in an eighteen count indictment with criminal drug violations. Count One charged Lambert, Alvarez, and others with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. sec. 846. Count Six charged Lambert, Neeley, and others with conspiring to defraud the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C. sec. 371. Count Seven charged Lambert, Neeley, and others with conspiring to commit money laundering offenses, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1956(h). Counts Eight and Nine charged Neeley with money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1956(a)(1)(B)(i).

On November 4, 1996, Alvarez pled guilty to Count One of the indictment pursuant to a written plea agreement. On February 2, 1997, Alvarez filed a pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The district court denied the motion to withdraw on March 5, 1997. Almost a month later, on April 2, 1997, Alvarez filed a renewed pro se motion to vacate his guilty plea, this time attaching four affidavits from other inmates testifying to his mental instability in support of his motion. On April 23, 1997, Alvarez made a motion for a psychological evaluation, at which time the district judge denied both the second motion to vacate the plea and the motion for a psychological evaluation. On June 26, 1997, the district court sentenced Alvarez to 135 months' imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Lambert and Neeley's trial commenced on November 4, 1996, and the jury found Lambert guilty of Counts One, Six, and Seven, and Neeley guilty of Counts Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine of the original indictment on December 12, 1996. Thereafter, Neeley was sentenced to 97 months' imprisonment for the money laundering offenses on May 5, 1997. Lambert was sentenced to 360 months' imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute cocaine on July 8, 1997.

On appeal, Lambert argues that: 1) the trial judge erred in refusing to grant the motion for a mistrial after excusing a juror after deliberations had begun and proceeding with 11 jurors, rather than the 12 originally impaneled; 2) the trial judge violated his Fifth Amendment right to a fair trial by admitting evidence that other conspiracy members had been shot as relevant to show the nature of the drug conspiracy; 3) the trial judge erred by admitting evidence that Lambert possessed firearms during the course of the drug conspiracy; and 4) he received the ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Neeley argues that the sentencing judge erred in refusing to sentence her as a minor participant under U.S.S.G. sec. 3B1.2. Finally, Alvarez argues that the district judge erred in refusing to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea and abused his discretion in denying his motion for a psychological evaluation. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Between 1987 and 1995, Nathan Hill ("Hill")¹ and his drug organization were responsible for distributing well over 2000 kilograms of cocaine in the Chicago area, obtaining most of the cocaine from suppliers in California, and generating over $15 million in profits.

Thomas Demetrius Lambert

Lambert, while involved in the drug enterprise, purchased cocaine from California and transported it to Chicago, routinely handling large amounts of cocaine and money. Lambert was also responsible for picking up cars from various locations in Indiana and Illinois that had been outfitted with secret compartments for use in the transporting of the cocaine. He would deliver the cocaine to various customers and turn the proceeds over to Hill or one of Hill's minions. Furthermore, Lambert would arrange to retrieve the cocaine from the couriers traveling from California at hotels in downtown Chicago, Illinois, as well as Lansing, and Hammond, Indiana. Lambert paid the couriers in cash and gave them a one-way return ticket to Los Angeles.²

Lambert and others were also called upon from time to time to count the cash from the proceeds of the cocaine sales at one of Hill's apartments in Lansing, Indiana. On one particular occasion, Lambert and others counted, with the aid of a money counting machine, approximately $1 million.³ Finally, Lambert was responsible for unpacking the cocaine from the secret compartments in various vehicles and repacking the compartments with as much as $600,000 cash.

Sharon Neeley

Sharon Neeley, Nate Hill's older sister, was involved in the conspiracy to launder drug proceeds for the Hill organization by participating in the purchasing of residential and rental real estate properties, and assisting in the investment in businesses such as a record producing company called "Pocketown Records" and a tour bus company called "American Tour and Travel." The following evidence was presented at trial concerning the assistance Neeley provided to the Hill drug organization.

1. Polk Street Apartment Building

In 1988, Neeley purchased an apartment building on Polk Street in Chicago for Hill using $30,000 cash obtained through Hill's drug trafficking business. Approximately six months after the building was purchased, Hill paid contractors to renovate the building, including new windows, electrical work, and plumbing work. All this work was paid for in cash.

Neeley originally listed herself as the owner of the building, but in January 1990 she transferred the building into a land trust with the beneficial interest passing upon her death to Mary Hill (Hill and Neeley's mother); her brothers, Nate and Toby Hill; her son, Michael Hill; and her nephew, David Hill. In May 1990, Neeley amended the trust agreement so that the interest passed only to her mother.

2. Flossmoor House

On November 21, 1991, Neeley, her husband, Larry Neeley, and Mary Hill, entered into an installment contract with the seller to purchase a house at 1801 Lawrence Crescent, Flossmoor, Illinois, for $235,000. The contract, signed by all four parties, provided for earnest money of $20,000 to be held in escrow, $30,000 to be brought to the initial closing, monthly installment payments of $1,623.51, and the remaining balance of the contract to be due on December 6, 1993.

Records from the Beverly Bank in Cook County, Illinois, revealed that three cashier's checks and one personal check were deposited into the escrow account on October 30, 1991, and used as earnest money for the Flossmoor house. The three cashier's checks were each in the amount of $4,500; listed the remitters as Sharon Neeley, Larry Neeley, and Mary Hill; and were funded with cash from the sale of narcotics. Drug proceeds were also used to make cash deposits in Neeley's Citicorp account of $2,095, $3,000, and $1,500 on October 8th, 15th, and 17th, respectively, in order for Neeley to write a $6,500 personal check for the Flossmoor house on October 22, 1991.

On December 6, 1991, the Neeleys and Mary Hill brought a combined $30,350.48 to the closing. The $30,350.48 was in the form of sixteen money orders and cashier's checks ranging in amounts from $1,500 to $3,500 and had been purchased over a four day period from seven different financial institutions. All of these banking instruments were funded with cash from Hill's drug organization.

The Neeleys also made monthly payments on the Flossmoor house to the seller of $2,023.51 from January 1992 through November 7, 1993 for a total of $47,412.62. The payments were made from the Neeleys' personal bank account or with a money order from a currency exchange, and once again were funded with drug money. The final closing and payment of the full purchase price was on December 15, 1993. Neeley and Mary Hill brought in approximately $181,000 on that day.⁴

The seller signed a warranty deed and conveyed the property to Mary Hill. The Neeleys' names were originally on that deed and then were crossed off before the deed was recorded on January 21, 1994. Later that month, Mary Hill signed a Warranty Deed in Trust conveying the property to a Beverly Bank trust. That deed was recorded February 14, 1994. The trust stated that the entire beneficial interest in the property belonged to Mary Hill and upon her death to Neeley.

3. Matteson House

The Neeleys entered into a contract to purchase a piece of property in Matteson, Illinois for $145,000 on October 9, 1992. On October 14, 1992, the Neeleys made a $7,000 deposit with Century 21 as earnest money for the purchase of this property. On March 3, 1993, the installment agreement was executed by the Neeleys and the seller, and at that time the Neeleys presented a down payment of $22,000 in the form of seven financial instruments, which included personal checks, cashier's checks, and money orders from five different financial institutions, that were funded by drug proceeds. After the purchase, the Neeleys lived in the Matteson house.⁵

4."American Tour and Travel" and "Pocketown Records"

One of Hill's methods to hide the proceeds of his drug business was to launder money through a bus company he invested in called American Tour and Travel Bus Company ("American") by having subordinates in the drug organization...