Winthrop-Redin v. United States
| Citation | 767 F.3d 1210 |
| Decision Date | 23 September 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 13–10107.,13–10107. |
| Parties | Wilson Daniel WINTHROP–REDIN, Petitioner–Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent–Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit) |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Joseph A. Diruzzo, III, Jeffrey J. Molinaro, Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph, PL, Miami, FL, for Petitioner–Appellant.
Wilson Daniel Winthrop–Redin, Coleman, FL, pro se.
Linda Julin McNamara, W. Stephen Muldrow, Robert E. O'Neill, U.S. Attorney's Office, Tampa, FL, for Respondent–Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. D.C. Docket Nos. 8:12–cv–00548–EAK–TBM, 8:09–cr–00571–EAK–TBM–3.
Before HULL, MARCUS and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
For his role as a boat crew member in an international drug-smuggling operation, Wilson Daniel Winthrop–Redin pled guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to possess five kilograms or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute and was sentenced to 168 months in prison. Two years after entering his plea, Winthrop–Redin sought postconviction relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, claiming that his plea was coerced by death threats from the boat's captain and that his counsel provided ineffective assistance by instructing him not to report the threats to the district court. We affirm the district court's rejection of the claims without an evidentiary hearing. Because Winthrop–Redin put forward only implausible and conclusory allegations, “the motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief” without a hearing. 28 U.S.C. § 2255(b); see Aron v. United States, 291 F.3d 708, 715 n. 6 (11th Cir.2002).
A plea agreement signed by Winthrop–Redin contained the following essential facts. Winthrop–Redin, a Panamanian national, and other codefendants agreed to participate in a maritime drug-smuggling scheme and received advance payment of several thousand dollars. In November 2009, Winthrop–Redin and his codefendants left Panama aboard the St. Vincent-registered Motor Vessel (M/V) Olympiakos bound for Barranquilla, Colombia. In Colombia, the M/V Olympiakos received a load of coal, a “cover load” of legitimate cargo to conceal the smuggling mission. Shortly before the M/V Olympiakos left port, three armed individuals boarded the boat to protect the drug shipment. On December 1, 2009, the M/V Olympiakos met a go-fast boat off the Colombian coast. Ninety bales of cocaine were moved from the go-fast boat to the M/V Olympiakos. The crew of the M/V Olympiakos, including Winthrop–Redin, concealed the cocaine in a hidden compartment. On December 2, 2009, the United States Coast Guard approached, boarded, and inspected the Olympiakos in international waters. The Coast Guard discovered the hidden compartment and seized the ninety bales of cocaine, which weighed over 2,000 kilograms. With the consent of the government of St. Vincent, Winthrop–Redin and his codefendants were brought to the United States, with their first point of entry in the Middle District of Florida. Winthrop–Redin and seven others 1 were indicted on two counts: (1) conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, 21 U.S.C. § 960(b)(1)(B)(ii); 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a), 70506(a)- (b), as well as (2) possessing with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine on board a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, 21 U.S.C. § 960(b)(1)(B)(ii); 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a), 70506(a).
Each of the codefendants pled guilty. Winthrop–Redin entered into a written plea agreement that provided he would plead guilty to conspiracy, the first count of the indictment, in exchange for the dismissal of the second count, possession. Winthrop–Redin initialed each page of the agreement and signed its last page. In the plea agreement, Winthrop–Redin expressly waived his right to appeal his sentence, except on the grounds that the sentence violated the Eighth Amendment or exceeded the statutory maximum penalty or the applicable Guidelines range determined by the district court. Section B.8 of the agreement, “Voluntariness,” provided that Winthrop–Redin “acknowledges that [he] is entering into this agreement and is pleading guilty freely and voluntarily ... without threats, force, intimidation, or coercion of any kind.” Petitioner also voluntarily agreed to cooperate fully with the United States in all relevant matters.
Before the plea was accepted, a magistrate judge questioned Winthrop–Redin under oath and at length at a hearing to ensure he pled knowingly and voluntarily. Among other things, the plea colloquy included the following exchange:
The magistrate judge concluded that Winthrop–Redin and his codefendants were coherent and understood the allegations and potential punishment, and that a factual basis existed to support the allegations. The court specifically found that none of defendants had been threatened, forced, or coerced into pleading guilty: “From everything that appears to me today, gentlemen, your pleas are being entered freely and voluntarily with an understanding of the consequences and I will so find and recommend the matter proceed to sentencing.” Thereafter, the district court accepted the plea and sentenced Winthrop–Redin to 168 months imprisonment to be followed by 60 months of supervised release. That sentence reflected a two-level firearms enhancement related to the possession of firearms by co-conspirators, but Winthrop–Redin received a two-level “safety valve” reduction pursuant to Sentencing Guidelines § 5C1.2 as a less-culpable defendant who agreed to provide information about the offense to law enforcement. See United States v. Brownlee, 204 F.3d 1302, 1304 (11th Cir.2000).
Winthrop–Redin filed a direct appeal from the final judgment, arguing that the district court erred by denying him a minor role reduction and by imposing the firearms possession enhancement. This Court, however, dismissed the appeal due to the appeal waiver.
In March 2012, more than two years after signing the plea agreement and entering his guilty plea, Winthrop–Redin filed a pro se motion to vacate his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Inter alia, he argued that his plea was involuntarily entered because he and his family received death threats, and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when deciding to plead guilty.2 In an affidavit accompanying the motion, Winthrop–Redin said that he had been hired by Alexis Hernandez–Soto, “the captain / chief master” of M/V Olympiakos, for a trip from Panama to Colombia. The United States concedes that Hernandez–Soto was an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration. According to Winthrop–Redin, after a dispute, Hernandez–Soto ordered the assassination of a Colombian crew member. When Winthrop–Redin confronted him, Hernandez–Soto said that he and his cohorts would kill Winthrop–Redin and his family if he told the authorities or the crew member's family about the murder of the Colombian. Subsequently, Winthrop–Redin said, he was forced to stay in the vessel under death threats. Winthrop–Redin also claimed that Hernandez–Soto and two other crew members working as informants for the United States government “coerc[ed] me to plead guilty under death threats.” Notably, however, he did not offer where, when, or why he was coerced to plead guilty. All he said was that he “did not have a choice other than to comply with [Hernandez–Soto's] orders.” Winthrop–Redin admitted, as he had to, that he swore under oath at the sentencing hearing that his guilty plea was entered knowingly and voluntarily and that he had not been coerced or threatened to do so. He claimed, nevertheless, at the highest order of abstraction, that he pled out of fear. And he claimed that, but for the threats against him and his family, he would have proceeded to trial.
Winthrop–Redin further claimed that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. He alleged that his attorney advised him not to say anything to the district court or anyone else about Hernandez–Soto having killed the Colombian crew member because doing so would complicate the case. Winthrop–Redin also claimed that, despite his request, his attorney did not contact the Panamanian Consulate to get legal help and did not contact the Colombian Consulate to notify them of the crew member's killing.
In response, the United States told the district court that the alleged threats concerning the murder happened on the vessel before Winthrop–Redin was arrested (and before he was charged with anything), and that Winthrop–Redin had not alleged any threats regarding his decision to enter a guilty plea or proceed to trial. Winthrop–Redin replied that “Hernandez–Soto made direct threats to his family and movant while movant was detained ready to proceed to trial.” Again notably, Winthrop–Redin did not offer when the threats had been made and did not explain where, how, or why. Winthrop–Redin claimed only that his family told him “that Hernandez–Soto and other cohorts of him were calling them with death threats if movant proceeded to trial or testified in court about the assassination of the crew member.”
The district court refused relief because it found that the record showed Winthrop–Redin knowingly and voluntarily...
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...description); U.S. v. Weeks, 653 F.3d 1188, 1205 (10th Cir. 2011) (pro se § 2255 motion construed liberally); Winthrop-Redin v. U.S., 767 F.3d 1210, 1215 (11th Cir. 2015) (same). But see, e.g. , U.S. v. Seesing, 234 F.3d 456, 463-64 (9th Cir. 2000) (declining to construe petitioner’s letter......