United States v. Daryl Foster , 527 F. App'x 406 ( 2013 )

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 13a0535n.06
No. 12-1642 FILED
May 31, 2013
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v. ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
DARYL L. FOSTER, EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
Defendant-Appellant.
/
BEFORE: MERRITT, CLAY, and DONALD, Circuit Judges.
CLAY, Circuit Judge. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to possess a document-making implement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(5) and (f).
At sentencing, he asked the court to impose sentences that would run concurrently with state terms
of imprisonment, under the provisions of U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b). For the following reasons, we
VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND the case for resentencing in accordance
with this opinion.
BACKGROUND
A. Factual Background
Defendant, along with his associate Torence Hicks, stole credit cards from cars, then made
fake identity cards that matched the names on the stolen cards, so that they could buy things with the
stolen credit cards. In 2009, Defendant and Hicks, among other crimes, illegally purchased
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$6,006.51 worth of jewelry in Brentwood, Tennessee, and committed various other similar crimes
in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Defendant had also already been arrested while breaking into a
vehicle in Romeoville, Illinois, in 2008. As a result of these crimes and arrests, Defendant pleaded
guilty to crimes in Tennessee, where he was sentenced to two separate prison terms of six years each,
to run concurrently, and to two charges of burglary in Illinois, for which he received two sentences
of three years’ imprisonment, also to run concurrently. While in custody, serving those prison
sentences, Defendant was indicted in the Eastern District of Michigan for the charges that would lead
to the instant appeal.
B. Procedural History
A federal grand jury indicted Defendant on September 21, 2011. The indictment charged
Defendant with three counts: conspiracy to possess a document-making implement, 18 U.S.C.
§ 1028(a)(5) and (f); conspiracy to produce false identification documents, 18 U.S.C. § 11028(a)(1)
and (f); and conspiracy to use unauthorized access devices, 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2) and (b)(2).
Defendant entered into a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement with the government in January 2012.
Under the terms of that agreement, he pleaded guilty to count one of the indictment, conspiracy to
possess a document-making implement, and the government agreed to stipulate that the applicable
sentencing range under the United States Sentencing Guidelines was 30–37 months imprisonment.
Defendant also reserved the right to argue that pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b), the federal sentence
should be served concurrently with the state court sentences that Defendant was serving while being
prosecuted by the federal government.
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The plea agreement stipulated both that the guideline range was 30–37 months, and that there
were no outstanding disagreements between the parties regarding the guidelines. The plea agreement
also contained a provision stating that “[n]either party may take a position concerning the applicable
guidelines that is different than any position of that part as reflected in the attached worksheets . . . .”
(R. 21, Plea Agreement, Jan. 10, 2012, at 4.) It further stated that under Federal Rule of Criminal
Procedure 11(c)(1)(C), the term of imprisonment could not exceed the upper limit of the guidelines
range, in this case 37 months. (Id. at 5.) It also defined “relevant conduct” for the purpose of
sentencing as the two other counts in the indictment. (Id. at 4.) Both parties were permitted to
withdraw from the plea; the government, if the court found a sentencing range different from the
30–37 months specified in the agreement; and Defendant, if the court sentenced him to a term of
imprisonment greater than 37 months. (Id. at 6.) Defendant also waived his right to appeal, except
he reserved “the right to appeal an adverse ruling as to the applicability of U.S.S.G. §5G1.3(b),” or
any restitution order greater than $70,000.00. (Id. at 6–7.)
Sentencing was initially scheduled for April 17, 2012. At that hearing, Defendant argued
that U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3 applied, and that he was thus entitled to credit for the time he had already
served in state prison as well as a concurrent sentence. The district court requested supplemental
briefing on the question of whether the state convictions were based on relevant conduct as opposed
to merely similar conduct. If it were the former, then Defendant was entitled to a concurrent
sentence because § 5G1.3(b) would apply. After supplemental briefing, the government
acknowledged that Defendant could be sentenced under that provision, but only if the court used a
higher base offense level in calculating the sentence. The district court declined to do so, and
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enforced the plea bargain as originally agreed upon. Defendant appeals the sentence, arguing that
the government’s position during the supplemental briefing was a breach of the plea bargain
agreement, and that as a non-breaching party, he was entitled to accept the government’s position
regarding losses, which would have enabled him to take advantage of U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b).
In its supplemental briefing, the government took the position that the offense level proposed
in its plea agreement was based on $67,535.23 in losses, of which about $6,000.00 was attributed
to the Brentwood, Tennessee conviction. However, it additionally claimed that were it to include
the Romeoville, Illinois and Hendersonville, Tennessee charges, there was an extra $14,495.53 in
losses, which would put Defendant above the $80,000.00 mark used in U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1),
which would raise his offense level to 15, with a sentencing range of 37–46 months.
While this calculation resulted in a higher offense level for Defendant, it actually put him in
an advantageous position. Under the sentencing guidelines:
If subsection (a)1 does not apply, and a term of imprisonment resulted from another
offense that is relevant conduct to the instant offense of conviction under the
provisions of subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), or (a)(3) of §1B1.3 (Relevant Conduct) and
that was the basis for an increase in the offense level for the instant offense under
Chapter Two (Offense Conduct) or Chapter Three (Adjustments), the sentence for
the instant offense shall be imposed as follows:
(1) the court shall adjust the sentence for any period of imprisonment already
served on the undischarged term of imprisonment if the court determines that
such period of imprisonment will not be credited to the federal sentence by
the Bureau of Prisons; and
(2) the sentence for the instant offense shall be imposed to run concurrently
to the remainder of the undischarged term of imprisonment.
1
Subsection (a) concerns crimes committed while a defendant is imprisoned, and is not
relevant to this appeal.
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U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b). In this case, the distinction between relevant and similar conduct is important.
If the offenses for which Defendant is currently imprisoned were relevant, and they led to an increase
in his offense level for the federal conviction, then Defendant would be entitled to credit for time
served and a concurrent sentence would be required unless some other provision also applied. But
if the offenses were merely similar, or did not result in an increase in his sentence, then the district
court would have discretion as to whether the term of imprisonment was to run consecutively or
concurrently. Using the calculations as they were made in the plea agreement, Defendant’s offense
level had not increased as a result of the state prison terms. But if those amounts were included, as
they were in the government’s supplemental briefing, then the district court should have applied the
provision and sentenced Defendant to a concurrent term.
Defendant decided to adopt the government’s new position, and accept the new sentencing
guidelines, because they would allow him to take advantage of § 5G1.3(b), and the government
agreed that the earlier offenses constituted relevant conduct. The district court did not accept this
new position; it found that it was bound by the plea agreement, and the plea agreement required the
parties to use the guidelines range as calculated in the original worksheets. The district court
sentenced Defendant to a term of 36 months imprisonment to run consecutively with any existing
prison terms. Defendant now appeals, claiming that he was entitled to be sentenced according to the
government’s alternative position.
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DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
Sentences are reviewed for procedural and substantive reasonableness under an abuse of
discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). The district court’s conclusions
of law are reviewed de novo, while its findings of fact are reviewed for clear error. United States
v. Moon, 513 F.3d 527, 539–40 (6th Cir. 2008); United States v. Hunt, 487 F.3d 347, 350 (6th Cir.
2007).
B. Analysis
Under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure:
[T]he plea agreement may specify that an attorney for the government will . . . agree
that a specific sentence or sentencing range is the appropriate disposition of the case,
or that a particular provision of the Sentencing Guidelines, or policy statement, or
sentencing factor does or does not apply (such a recommendation or request binds the
court once the court accepts the plea agreement).
Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C). Based on this rule, the district court found that it was required to
sentence Defendant according to the plea agreement, and therefore did not accept the government’s
offer of a new position that would have allowed Defendant to take advantage of the rule in U.S.S.G.
§ 5G1.3(b). While the district court’s reading of Rule 11 is generally sound, this case presents the
complication that the government effectively breached its obligations under the plea agreement. See,
e.g., United States v. Barnes, 278 F.3d 644, 648–49 (6th Cir. 2002). Plea bargains are essentially
contracts. Mabry v. Johnson, 467 U.S. 504, 508 (1984); United States v. Robinson, 924 F.2d 612,
613 (6th Cir. 1991). When the government submitted its alternative sentencing range calculation
in its supplemental briefing before the district court, it breached its agreement not to propose a
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sentencing range above that which had been agreed to by the parties. See Barnes, 278 F.3d at 648(government breached its plea agreement by failing to request that the court sentence a defendant at
the low end of the guidelines range).
As the Supreme Court has held:
When a defendant agrees to a plea bargain, the Government takes on certain
obligations. If those obligations are not met, the defendant is entitled to seek a
remedy, which might in some cases be rescission of the agreement, allowing him to
take back the consideration he has furnished, i.e., to withdraw his plea.
Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 137–38 (2009). In this case, however, Defendant does not
wish to withdraw his plea; instead, he would prefer that the court treat the government’s position in
its supplemental brief as a new offer, which he then accepted.
In an ordinary contract situation, an aggrieved party may be entitled to a benefit derived from
another party’s breach; if the aggrieved party would still like the contract to go forward despite the
breach, it can do so and the court will still enforce what remains of the contract. 23 R. Lord,
Williston on Contracts § 63.9 (4th ed. 2012). However, we can find no cases where this rule has
been applied to plea bargains. In the event of a breach of a plea bargain by the government, the two
remedies that courts can ordinarily apply are either rescission or specific performance. In other
words, a defendant can be given the chance to withdraw his plea, and in some circumstances, a court
may instead enforce the original plea as it was negotiated between the parties. Puckett, 556 U.S. at137–38 (“But rescission is not the only possible remedy; in Santobello [v. New York, 404 U.S. 257,
263 (1971),] we allowed for a resentencing at which the Government would fully comply with the
agreement—in effect, specific performance of the contract.”); United States v. Skidmore, 998 F.2d
372, 375 (6th Cir. 1993) (“When the prosecution breaches a plea agreement, the breach may be
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remedied by either specific performance of the agreement or by allowing the defendant to withdraw
the plea.”) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). But there is no authority for the
proposition that when a government breach is inadvertently advantageous to the defendant the court
must use that advantageous position resulting from the breach.
Furthermore, there is no authority that requires or permits a court to revise the terms of a plea
agreement under these circumstances. Once the parties have entered a plea pursuant to Federal Rule
of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C), the court can only accept or reject the plea; it has no inherent
authority to modify the agreement. As this Court has held:
Once a district court accepts a Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, it is bound
by the bargain. United States v. Mandell, 905 F.2d 970, 972 (6th Cir. 1990) (citing
United States v. Holman, 728 F.2d 809, 813 (6th Cir. 1984)). “The district court is
not authorized to go beyond the confines of Rule 11 in accepting or rejecting plea
agreements.” United States v. Skidmore, 998 F.2d 372, 375 (6th Cir. 1993) (citing
United States v. Partida-Parra, 859 F.2d 629, 632 (9th Cir.1988)). “Nothing in the
rules even remotely allows the district court to accept a guilty plea but rewrite the
plea agreement, even if the modified agreement is more favorable to the defendant.”
Id. (citing United States v. Olesen, 920 F.2d 538, 540 (8th Cir. 1990)). Furthermore,
this Court has yet to adopt the position that a district court may modify or reform a
Rule 11(c)(1)(C) sentence on the basis of a mutual mistake of fact. See United States
v. Peveler, 359 F.3d 369, 378 n. 4 (6th Cir. 2004).
United States v. Hodge, 306 F. App’x 910, 914 (6th Cir. 2009). So while plea bargains are
essentially contracts, many of the remedies that would ordinarily be available in a commercial
contract dispute do not apply in the context of a plea bargain. Instead, the court is limited to either
enforcing the Rule 11 plea, or offering the defendant a chance to rescind the agreement.
In this case, the district court granted Defendant specific performance of a plea bargain that
he no longer wanted to accept. While Defendant reiterated his desire to accept the plea at the
sentencing hearing on May 8, 2012, after supplemental briefing had been submitted, he did so before
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the court announced that it would not use the government’s new position on the appropriate
guidelines range. In other words, it is plausible to assume that Defendant’s plea was induced by his
belief that the district court would accept the government’s new position on the appropriate range.
See Williams v. United States, 47 F. App’x 363, 369 (6th Cir. 2002) (“Under the principle of
‘[f]undamental fairness, . . . courts will enforce promises made during the plea bargaining process
that induce a criminal defendant to waive his constitutional rights and plead guilty.’”) (quoting
Robison, 924 F.2d at 613). And when the government has breached its agreement with Defendant,
a court can order specific performance of the plea agreement. Id. at 369.
But specific performance is an extraordinary equitable remedy, 81A Corpus Juris Secundum
§ 2, and is typically only appropriate if the aggrieved party still wishes to go ahead with the original
contract. Cf. King v. Hamilton, 29 U.S. 311, 327 (1830) (“A party, to entitle himself to the aid of
a court of chancery for a specific execution of a contract, should show himself ready and desirous
to perform his part.”) Because the district court did not properly consider its remedial options, or
adequately explain why it chose to enforce an agreement that the parties had both disavowed, the
case will be remanded for reconsideration. Defendant is still entitled to the two options of specific
performance or rescission of the plea, but he must be permitted to meaningfully exercise his option
to rescind.
Finally, there is a question about the extent to which the district court’s decision, even while
it purported to apply the terms of the original plea bargain, actually did so. The initial plea
agreement clearly contemplated the possibility of the application of U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b) (as well
as the possibility that it would not apply). Accordingly, enforcing the Rule 11 plea bargain might
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have permitted the district court to use the newer guidelines calculation and apply the U.S.S.G.
§ 5G1.3(b) provision, a possibility that the district court appears to have felt was foreclosed by Rule
11. Therefore, the district court erred insofar as it believed it was bound by the Rule 11 agreement
not to apply the provision, rather than recognizing that it had discretion to apply § 5G1.3(b).
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we VACATE the district court’s sentence, and REMAND with
instructions to the district court to re-sentence Defendant, who shall be afforded an opportunity to
withdraw his plea bargain based on the government’s breach. We further instruct the district court
to reconsider its decision not to apply U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b) based on the language of the plea bargain.
We note that if Defendant does withdraw his plea, he and the government are free to renegotiate a
new plea arrangement, subject, as always, to the district court’s acceptance of the plea.
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