Toro-Méndez v. United States

976 F. Supp. 2d 79, 2013 WL 5511684
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedSeptember 30, 2013
DocketCivil No. 10-1492 (DRD); Criminal No. 09-0220 (DRD)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 976 F. Supp. 2d 79 (Toro-Méndez 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
Toro-Méndez v. United States, 976 F. Supp. 2d 79, 2013 WL 5511684 (prd 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

DANIEL R. DOMINGUEZ, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is petitioner José Toro-Méndez (“Toro-Méndez”) Motion To Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence By A Person In Federal Custody pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See Docket No. 1. For the reasons set forth below, the petition is denied.

This matter was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Justo Arenas (“Magistrate Judge Arenas” or “Magistrate Judge”), who recommended, through a Report and Recommendation entered on February 17, 2012, that the petitioner’s motion for post-conviction relief be denied. See Docket No. 7. As of this date, the Report and Recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge Arenas stands unopposed. For the reasons set forth below, the petitioner’s motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is denied without evidentiary hearing, as the written record of the case pellucidly demonstrates that he was duly forewarned as to the waiver of appeal. See Report and Recommendation of June 29, 2009, Criminal No. 09-220, Docket No. 10, page 6, and Plea Agreement, Docket No. 7, ¶ 15, page 6.

Standard of Review

The District Court may refer dispositive motions to a United States Magistrate Judge for a Report and Recommendation. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) (1993); Rule 72(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure [81]*81(“Fed. R. CivJP.”); Rule 72 of the Local Rules for the District of Puerto Rico (“Local Rules”). See Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 96 S.Ct. 549, 46 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976). As a general rule, an adversely-affected party may contest the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation by filing its objections within fourteen (14) days after being served a copy thereof. See Local Rule 72; Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b). Moreover, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), in its pertinent part, provides that:

Within fourteen days of being served with a copy, any party may serve and file written objections to such proposed findings and recommendations as provided by rules of court. A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate.

However, “[a]bsent objection by the plaintiffs, [a] district court ha[s] a right to assume that [a party] agree[s] to the magistrate’s recommendation.” Templeman v. Chris Craft Corp., 770 F.2d 245, 247 (1st Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1021, 106 S.Ct. 571, 88 L.Ed.2d 556 (1985). Moreover, “[fjailure to raise objections to the Report and Recommendation waives that party’s right to review in the district court and those claims not preserved by such objection are precluded on appeal.” Davet v. Maccarone, 973 F.2d 22, 30-31 (1st Cir.1992). Thus, in order to accept the unopposed Report and Recommendation, the Court needs only satisfy itself by ascertaining that there is no “plain error” on the face of the record. See Douglass v. United Servs. Auto, Ass’n, 79 F.3d 1415, 1419 (5th Cir.1996)(ere banc Xextending the deferential “plain error” standard of review to the unobjected legal conclusions of a magistrate judge); Nettles v. Wainwright, 677 F.2d 404, 410 (5th Cir.1982)(ew banc)(appeal from district court’s acceptance of unobjected findings of magistrate judge reviewed for “plain error”); Nogueras-Cartagena v. United States, 172 F.Supp.2d 296, 305 (D.P.R.2001) (“Court reviews [unopposed] Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation to ascertain whether or not the Magistrate’s recommendation was clearly erroneous”)(adopting the Advisory Committee note regarding Fed. R.Civ.P. 72(b)); Garcia v. I.N.S., 733 F.Supp. 1554, 1555 (M.D.Pa.1990)(“when no objections are filed, the district court need only review the record for plain error”).

In the instant case, the Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation on February 17, 2012, Docket No. 7. The Magistrate Judge granted the parties fourteen days to object the Report and Recommendation, from its receipt. The record shows that, as of this date, the Report and Recommendation stands unopposed. We therefor review the Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation only under “clear erroneous” or “plain error” standard,

Factual and Procedural Background

Petitioner Toro-Méndez was charged with two counts, to wit: (a) Count One for embezzlement, steal and knowingly convert to his own use, and to the use of another, approximately $133,000.00 in taxes paid by a C.B.C., all property belonging to the IRS and the United States Treasury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641; (b) Count Two for embezzlement, steal and knowingly convert to his own use, and to the use of another, approximately $47,000.00 in taxes paid by F.P., all property belonging to the IRS and the United States Treasury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641. Petitioner Toro-Méndez pled [82]*82guilty to the two Counts by way of information to waived his right to be charged with an indictment, after consulting with this counsel. See Report and Recommendation, Criminal No. 09-220, Docket No. 10, pages 1-2. The Court took a downward departure based on family ties, and sentenced Petitioner Toro-Méndez to a term of 12 months and one day for each of Counts One and Two, to be served concurrently with each other, and after release from imprisonment, petitioner shall serve three years of supervised release as to Counts One and Two to be served concurrently, plus a restitution amount of $240,868.00, notwithstanding the fact that the “petitioner admitted] to being a large-scale thief who abused a position of trust.” See Report and Recommendation, Civil No. 10-1492, Docket No. 7, pages 83-84, see also Judgment, Criminal No. 09-220, Docket No. 20, pages 2-3, and 5.

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976 F. Supp. 2d 79, 2013 WL 5511684, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/toro-mendez-v-united-states-prd-2013.