Rodriguez-Orellana v. United States

233 F. Supp. 3d 270, 2017 WL 543348, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19336
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedFebruary 10, 2017
DocketCivil No. 13-01745 (ADC); [Related to Crim. Nos. 07-547-3, 12-404 (ADC) ]
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 233 F. Supp. 3d 270 (Rodriguez-Orellana v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodriguez-Orellana v. United States, 233 F. Supp. 3d 270, 2017 WL 543348, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19336 (prd 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

AIDA M. DELGADO-COLÓN, Chief United States District Judge

Petitioner, Carlos Rodriguez-Orellana (“petitioner”), submitted a federal motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (“the motion”), on September 19, 2013. ECF No. 1. In the motion, petitioner appears to raise the following claims: (1) in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013), this Court should reconsider three aspects of his sentence; specifically (a) his acceptance of responsibility for three but less than five kilograms of cocaine, (b) his guilty plea to the offense charged in Criminal Case No. 12-00404, and (c) a two-level enhancement to his base offense level due to the foreseeability of firearms (collectively, “Claim 1”); and (2) the two counts to which he pled guilty constituted “multiplicitous [sic]” convictions because they were both based on him being guilty of a conspiracy where the use of firearms was foreseeable (“Claim 2”). Id. at 5-11.

Respondent, the United States of America, filed a response in opposition to the § 2255 motion (“the response”), requesting that the Court deny the motion because defendant had entered a knowing and voluntary guilty plea to the offenses challenged in the § 2255 motion. ECF No. 5 at 4-5. Petitioner filed a reply to the response (“the reply”), alleging, for the first time, that his trial counsel (a) did not advise him that his guilty plea would result in any sentencing enhancements, (b) advised him that the parties would recommend that he be sentenced to the low-end of the sentencing guideline range, (c) did not advise him that the sentencing court had no obligation to follow the parties’ sentencing recommendations, and (d) advised that he would be subject to a 10-year sentence for an offense charged in Criminal Case No. 07-00547. ECF No. 12 at 2-7. Petitioner argued that, if he had been properly advised, he would not have accepted the guilty plea. Id. at 2-3.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES the § 2255 motion (ECF No. 1), and DISMISSES the case.

I. Factual and Procedural History

On June 3, 2008, in Criminal Case No. 07-00547, an eight-count superseding indictment was returned against petitioner and 120 co-defendants, charging petitioner, in pertinent part, with, from in or about January 2000 up until the return of the superceding indictment, conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin, 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, and 100 kilograms or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a housing facility owned by a public housing authority (“Count 1 of No. 07-00547”). Case No. 3:07-cr-00547, ECF No. 1007 at 1-11. Petitioner was further charged as a leader within the conspiracy because he was third in command, became the on-site leader of the drug trafficking organization, and owned a heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine distribution point. Id. at 15. On May 18, 2012, in Criminal Case No. 12-00404, petitioner was charged in a one-count information with knowingly possessing a machine gun on or about December 20, 2011 (“Count 1 of No. 12-00404”). Case No. 3:12-cr-00404, ECF No. 2.

On the same day as the return of the one-count information in Criminal Case No. 12-00404, petitioner pled guilty to Count 1 of No. 07-00547 and Count 1 of [274]*274No. 12-00404, pursuant to a plea agreement with respondent. Case No. 3:07-cr-00547, ECF No. 5286. In pertinent part, petitioner acknowledged or agreed to the following in the plea agreement. For Count 1 of No. 07-00547, he faced a minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years and a maximum term of 80 years. Id. at ¶ 2. For Count 1 of No. 12-00404, he faced a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years. Id. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines were advisory. Id. at ¶ 3.

Further, as to Count 1 of No. 07-00547, petitioner’s base offense level was 30 as he was accepting responsibility for at least 3.5 but less than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Id. at ¶ 7. He would receive a 2-point enhancement to his base offense level for the offense taking place in a protected location, a 4-point enhancement for his role in the offense as a leader, a 2-point enhancement due to the foreseeability of firearms, and a 3-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility, resulting in a total offense level of 35. The parties did not stipulate as to petitioner’s criminal history category, but agreed that if it was a category I, the sentencing guideline range for Count 1 of No. 07-00547 would be 168 to 210 months’ imprisonment, and, if a category II, the range would be 188 to 235 months’ imprisonment. For Count 1 of No. 12-00404, petitioner’s base offense level was 20, and after a 3-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility, his total offense level was 17. The parties again did not stipulate to petitioner’s criminal history category, but agreed that if it was a category I, the sentencing guideline range would be 24 to 30 months’ imprisonment, and, if a category II, 27 to 33 months’ imprisonment. Id.

The parties agreed to recommend that petitioner be sentenced, as to Count 1 of No. 07-00547, to a term of imprisonment of 210 months’ imprisonment if his criminal history category was I, and, as to Count 1 of No. 12-00404, to 30 months’ imprisonment. Id. at ¶ 8. The parties further agreed to recommend that the above sentences be imposed to run concurrently. Petitioner acknowledged that the sentencing Court was not bound by the parties’ recommendations, and that the Court could sentence petitioner to any amount of time up to and including the statutory maximum sentence for the offenses to which he had pled guilty. Id. Petitioner also stated that he was satisfied with his trial counsel’s legal assistance, that he had consulted with counsel and fully understood his rights, that he had carefully reviewed every part of the plea agreement with his attorney, and that he fully understood the plea agreement and voluntarily agreed to it. Id. at ¶ 12 & at 11. Petitioner signed the plea agreement and the accompanying statement of facts in three separate places, and initialed every page of the agreement and statement of facts including all handwritten changes. See generally Case No. 3:07-cr-00547, ECF No. 5286.

At a change-of-plea hearing on the same date, petitioner again agreed to plead guilty to Count 1 of No. 07-00547 and Count 1 of No. 12-00404. Case No. 3:07-cr-00547, ECF Nos. 5288, 5301. In pertinent part, petitioner testified that he had discussed pleading guilty with his attorneys, including discussing all of the terms of the plea agreement, which had been translated and he understood. Case No. 3:07-cr-00547, ECF No. 6173 at 7:4-15, 22:7-20. Petitioner further testified that he was satisfied with his attorneys’ services. Id. at 7:16-21, 23:21-24:2. U.S. Magistrate Judge Marcos López informed petitioner of his rights, including his right to a jury trial, and petitioner stated that he still wished to enter a guilty plea. Id. at 15:9-18:14. Petitioner acknowledged his understanding that sentencing would be left to the discretion of the Court, and that he could not withdraw his guilty plea merely because the Court imposed a sentence up [275]*275to the statutory maximum penalty. Id-. at 18:25-19:13, 21:22-22:6, 30:12-17.

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Bluebook (online)
233 F. Supp. 3d 270, 2017 WL 543348, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19336, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-orellana-v-united-states-prd-2017.