UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George Paul SALEMO, Defendant-Appellant

81 F.3d 1453
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 28, 1996
Docket95-10028
StatusPublished
Cited by65 cases

This text of 81 F.3d 1453 (UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George Paul SALEMO, Defendant-Appellant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George Paul SALEMO, Defendant-Appellant, 81 F.3d 1453 (9th Cir. 1996).

Opinion

ALARCQN, Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents a novel question: Does section 3006A of the Criminal Justice *1455 Act require a district court to compensate an attorney who serves solely as an advisor at the request of an indigent defendant who has asserted his or her right to self representation? We conclude that section 3006A does not authorize a district court to compensate an attorney whose service as a legal advisor is requested by the defendant. 1

Salerno’s appellate counsel also challenges the order granting the Government’s motion to set aside the plea, agreement, and the validity of the court’s sentencing decision. We consider each of these issues in this opinion. We have jurisdiction to review the judgment of conviction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and the validity of the sentencing decision under 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a).

Salerno’s request that he be permitted to file a pro se supplemental brief in this matter was granted by this court. None of the issues raised in the supplemental brief meet the criteria for publication set forth in our Circuit Rule 36-2. We have addressed these separate contentions in an unpublished memorandum disposition filed on this date.

I

No issue has been raised by Salerno’s counsel concerning the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment of conviction. Accordingly, a brief summary of the pertinent facts and procedural background will serve as a prelude for our analysis of the issues presented for review by Salerno’s counsel.

Salerno’s recorded criminal history began in 1965. At the age of 21, he was convicted in Pennsylvania of forging cheeks on the account of a college fraternity. In 1977, Salerno was convicted of mail fraud in- the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in connection with the sale of short-term, high interest notes from an insolvent company. In 1980, Salerno was convicted in a Pennsylvania state court for writing a check with insufficient funds in his bank account. In 1982, Salerno was’ again convicted of forgery in Pennsylvania.

His criminal activity in Pennsylvania overlapped with his fraudulent conduct in Florida. In 1980, Salerno purchased a bankrupt Florida airline company by promising to pay $250,000. He submitted false financial documents to demonstrate his ability to perform his part of the bargain. Salerno failed to pay the purchase price. Meanwhile, he illegally converted some of the airline’s assets. These activities resulted in a 1983 conviction in the District of Florida for wire fraud, transportation of fraudulent securities, and embezzlement.

While on parole from his Florida conviction, Salerno moved to Arizona and submitted falsified financial statements to Western Savings & Loan in an attempt to procure a real estate loan. Salerno also wrote thousands of dollars worth of bad cheeks. In 1985, he was convicted for these offenses in an Arizona state court and sentenced to seven years in prison.

In 1988, Salerno was placed in a Phoenix, Arizona halfway house in the waning phase of his imprisonment. While on leave from the halfway house, Salerno commenced loan negotiations with several financial institutions. Salerno represented that he was a wealthy New York businessman who visited Phoenix on the weekends. To disguise the fact that he was really an unemployed pris *1456 oner, Salerno stayed at an expensive suite and often negotiated his deals by the pool of the luxurious Princess Resort. To create a false impression of his financial status, Sale-mo arranged to have expensive Rolex watches delivered to him during these poolside meetings. Salerno also purchased a new $30,000 Corvette with a fraudulently obtained loan, leased a new SEL Mercedes Benz, and arranged to have a stretch limousine service on call 24 hours a day. Over the course of his negotiations, Salerno submitted a false social security account number and numerous falsified financial documents to several banks. Salerno also arranged to have an accomplice contact the institutions to “verify” his bogus financial status.

By the time Salerno was arrested in December 1988, Salerno had managed to negotiate a $30,000 loan from Citibank. Salerno also had attempted to obtain a $450,000 loan from Guardian Bank, a $2.4 million loan from Pioneer Bank, and a $4.3 million loan from Chase Bank. In addition, Salerno was $12,502 overdrawn on his Citibank account and was delinquent in making payments for purchases made with his Citibank credit card. He had also failed to meet the payment schedule on the lease agreement for the use of the Mercedes.

On October 4,1989, a federal grand jury in the District of Arizona indicted Salerno on six counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, eight counts of false statements to financial institutions in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014, and three counts of the use of false social security account numbers in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 408(g)(2). On May 8, 1990, pursuant to a written plea agreement, Salerno entered pleas of guilty to five of the seventeen counts. Under the plea agreement, Salerno was released from custody, prior to sentencing, so that he could cooperate in an investigation conducted by the Pennsylvania Crime Commission.

Once in Pennsylvania, however, Salerno sought to defraud two banks by opening checking accounts and depositing several hundred thousands of dollars of worthless checks. Salerno was arrested on October 2, 1991, for bank fraud in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

On December 12,1991, the district court in Arizona sentenced Salerno to. 176 months. Salerno appealed from this sentence. On March 25, 1993, we vacated the guilty plea because of a violation of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and remanded this matter to the district court for further proceedings. United States v. Salemo, C.A Nos. 92-10029, 92-15170, 1993 WL 84961 (9th Cir. March 25, 1993). While this matter was pending in the district court, Salerno went to trial in the District of Pennsylvania. On April 5,1994, he was convicted of bank fraud. He was sentenced to serve eight years in prison.

On June 7, 1994, the district court granted the Government’s motion “to vacate and/or reject the plea agreement” and set the matter for trial. On July 13, 1994, Salerno proceeded to trial. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts. On January 6, 1995, the district court sentenced Salerno to a term of imprisonment of 120 months. The district court ordered that the sentence be served consecutively to the sentence imposed by the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

II

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Bluebook (online)
81 F.3d 1453, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-of-america-plaintiff-appellee-v-george-paul-salemo-ca9-1996.