Tracy v. United States

55 Fed. Cl. 679, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 51, 2003 WL 1717578
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 21, 2003
DocketNo. 01-541C
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 55 Fed. Cl. 679 (Tracy v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tracy v. United States, 55 Fed. Cl. 679, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 51, 2003 WL 1717578 (uscfc 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

MARGOLIS, Senior Judge.

This contract action is before the Court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”). Plaintiff, a former United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) informant, claims that he was promised by the government, in return for the information he provided, a certain percentage of the value of any property seized as a result of that information. He asserts that he is entitled to relief because the government failed to compensate him as promised. Defendant denies that the United States entered into any contractual agreement with plaintiff in which it agreed to give monetary compensation in return for his information. After consideration of the parties’ written and oral arguments, defendant’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

FACTS

On July 22, 1996, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, Special Investigations Bureau (“NIE”) arrested plaintiff—who is using the fictitious name “Dick Tracy” in order to [681]*681protect his identity—for his alleged involvement in a drug trafficking transaction. At the time of his arrest, plaintiff was reportedly holding a substantial amount of cocaine and firearms, and he was, therefore, charged with drug trafficking and firearms offenses. Plaintiff subsequently agreed to cooperate with Puerto Rican judicial authorities and their investigators in exchange for a dismissal of his pending criminal charges.

Several months later, plaintiff agreed to cooperate with the DEA, and was therefore processed as a DEA confidential source by NIE Special Agent Edwin Gonzalez, who was a deputized task force officer with the DEA. Plaintiff claims that the agreement with the DEA was independent of his earlier agreement to cooperate with NIE, and that his cooperation with the DEA had nothing to do with the dismissal of his criminal charges. Instead, he maintains that he agreed to provide information to the DEA only after Gonzalez promised that plaintiff would receive a percentage of the value of any property that was seized due to information that he provided. Plaintiff also claims that this oral agreement was later verbally ratified by several DEA officers, including Jesus Marrero, Edwin Gonzalez, James Y. Clifford, Ivan Rios, Dirk Lamagno, and by U.S. Attorney Guillermo Gil.

Defendant, however, asserts that plaintiffs cooperation with the DEA was a part of the original agreement into which plaintiff had entered with NIE. According to the defendant, although at some point Special Agent Gonzalez did tell plaintiff that an award may be possible if the United States seized property from a target of the investigation, at no point did he promise such a payment, and he specified that no such payment could be made without authorization from the appropriate supervisors. In addition, defendant maintains that U.S. Attorney Guillermo Gil believes that the agreement to cooperate with the DEA was in return for the dismissal of the criminal charges and that he has no knowledge of any offer of payment or award to plaintiff. Furthermore, defendant argues that none of the people with whom the plaintiff claims to have contracted had either actual or implied authority to contract on behalf of the government.

In June 2000, plaintiff brought action in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, claiming that the DEA owed him money in return for the information that he provided. The district court dismissed his claim for lack of jurisdiction, refusing to transfer it to this Court. Dick Tracy v. United States, No. 00-1754(HL) (D.P.R. Oct. 30, 2000). Plaintiff then brought action in this Court seeking to enforce the compensation promises allegedly made to him. He asserts that, by refusing to compensate him, defendant is in breach of a verbal contract in which defendant allegedly agreed to give him a percentage of the value of the seized property as consideration for his information and that defendant is therefore violating 28 U.S.C. § 524(c)(1)(B) and (C). Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment maintaining that defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the individuals who plaintiff claims entered into the contract with him on behalf of defendant deny that they entered into such an agreement and, in any event, did not possess authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the United States.

DISCUSSION

The government moves for summary judgment, claiming that there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and that, therefore, defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” RCFC 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A material fact is one that will affect the outcome of the case. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The movant for summary judgment bears the burden of demonstrating that “there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. [682]*6822548. “In reaching summary judgment, the trial court must construe facts and resolve inferences in the light most favorable to the non-movant.” Godley v. United States, 5 F.3d 1473, 1474 (Fed.Cir.1993).

I. The DEA agents with whom plaintiff spoke lacked authority to contract on behalf of the United States.

Plaintiff bases his claim on the existence of a contract between himself and the United States. He argues that several DEA agents, who were contracting on behalf of the government, verbally promised him that he would be compensated monetarily for the information that he provided. In addition, he maintains that this agreement was later ratified by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Plaintiff acknowledges that there was no written contract; he is alleging that the verbal assurances by each of these individuals were sufficient to bind the government. Defendant, however, has submitted declarations made by all of the government officials cited by the plaintiff, each denying that they entered into such a contract. Even if they had, however, the government argues that none of the government representatives with whom plaintiff claims to have contracted had the requisite authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the government.

“To establish a valid contract with the United States, a plaintiff much demonstrate: (1) mutuality of intent; (2) consideration; (3) lack of ambiguity in the offer and acceptance; and (4) that the [government representative whose conduct is relied upon had actual authority to bind the [government in contract.” Humlen v. United States, 49 Fed.Cl. 497, 503 (2001) (internal quotations omitted); see also Total Med. Mgmt., Inc. v. United States, 104 F.3d 1314, 1319 (Fed.Cir.1997), cert. denied,

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Bluebook (online)
55 Fed. Cl. 679, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 51, 2003 WL 1717578, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tracy-v-united-states-uscfc-2003.