United States v. Acevedo-Ramos

619 F. Supp. 570, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15874
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided September 18, 1985·No. Cr. 85-0108 GG·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GILBERTO GIERBOLINI-ORTIZ, District Judge.

This case is before us upon a motion to withdraw a guilty plea filed by Héctor Acevedo-Ramos (Acevedo). The government has opposed this petition, a hearing was held and memoranda of law, together with numerous exhibits and the transcripts of hearings have been submitted and considered.

Defendant along with others was indicted by the grand jury for conspiracy to obstruct, delay and affect interstate commerce by extortion and robbery of property in excess of four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00) and for aiding and abetting each other in the actual commission of *572 these offenses — all in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 and 2.

The facts as revealed from the record are as follows: At the time the present indictment was returned, defendant Acevedo was on trial before Judge Héctor M. Laf-fitte, in Criminal Case No. 84-0373, which involved a robbery of over six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000.00) worth of diamonds from the Taillex Diamond Manufacturing Company. The present indictment was sealed until the Taillex trial was over since the issue of prejudicial pretrial publicity had been raised in those proceedings.

On April 25, 1985, after a jury trial, Acevedo was found guilty on both counts of that indictment. Acevedo’s attorneys during the Taillex case were William M. Kunstler, Ronald L. Kuby (both from New York) and Luis F. Abreu-Elias (local counsel).

On April 29, 1985, the instant indictment was unsealed and on May 2, 1985, Acevedo was arraigned. At this time, Acevedo was not represented by Kunstler, Kuby and Abreu-Elias but by Julio Morales-Sánchez, a former United States Attorney, and Julio Gil de Lamadrid, who had been privately retained by him.

On or about April 29, 1985, Ms. Lydia Lizarribar, Assistant United States Attorney, was personally contacted at her residence by Héctor Acevedo, Jr., defendant’s son, who was sent by Acevedo, Sr. to deliver a two-page, hand-written note signed by him. In said note, Acevedo indicated that he was interested in pleading guilty to any cases which might be filed against him in exchange for a recommendation by the government of a ten-year sentence in the Taillex case. (See Exhibit 5 of the government’s opposition). Acevedo was informed, through his son, that any negotiations with the United States Attorney's Office would have to be conducted through an attorney.

Thereafter, Morales-Sánchez and Gil de Lamadrid approached government counsel in an effort to establish plea bargaining negotiations. Since the obtaining of a lower sentence in the Taillex case appeared to concern defendant, Assistant United States Attorney H. Manuel Hernández inquired as to the role of Kunstler, Kuby and Abreu-Elias in the plea negotiations since they had been Acevedo’s attorneys in the Taillex case. Morales-Sánchez and Gil de Lama-drid indicated that they had complete authority to represent Acevedo in all criminal matters where he was involved that were now pending in the United States Attorney’s Office.

At the government’s urging, Morales-Sánchez and Gil de Lamadrid obtained a letter dated May 1, 1985, from Acevedo addressed to the United States Attorney which expressly authorized them to represent Acevedo in any matter dealing with any criminal case in which he had been indicted or will be indicted in the future.

During the plea negotiations which lasted several weeks, Morales-Sánchez and Gil de Lamadrid informed Assistant United States Attorney Hernández that Acevedo was willing to waive his appeal in the Tail-lex case, plead guilty in the present case, and in any other case the government filed against him. In exchange, Acevedo expected a recommendation for a sentence of ten years in the Taillex case and ten years concurrent time in this case and all future cases. The negotiations involved the present case, a murder-robbery RICO case to be filed against Acevedo and others in the near future, a bankruptcy fraud case and at the insistence of Acevedo, the sentencing in the Taillex ease. The government also agreed not to seek any fines, forfeiture of monies or property of Acevedo.

On May 29, 1985, a status conference was held at which time the parties informed the court that a brief continuance was needed to finalize the plea agreement. The continuance was granted and a final agreement was reached between the attorneys for the defendant and the government. The change of plea hearing was set for June 4, 1985.

On that date, Acevedo again appeared represented by Gil de Lamadrid. Acevedo signed a written plea agreement which set *573 forth the terms of his agreement with the government. This agreement was also signed by both of his attorneys, Morales-Sánchez and Gil de Lamadrid. An official “Petition to Enter a Plea of Guilty” was also filed. This is a document consisting of eleven pages and forty-four questions and answers. Acevedo answered each question and both he and his attorney signed the document and initialed each page. The petition contains these answers:

#7 Q: If you have an attorney, have you had enough time to talk to your attorney about your case?
A: Yes.
# 9 Q: ... are you satisfied with the job he has done for you?
A: Yes.
# 10 Q: If you have any objections to the way in which the attorney has represented you, what has he done wrong or what he has not done?
A: None.
# 22 Q: Do you realize that if you plead GUILTY the court may impose the same punishment as if you had pleaded NOT GUILTY and had been convicted by a jury?
A: Yes.
#23 Q: Do you know that the sentence you will receive is solely a matter for the judge to decide?
A: Yes.
# 27 Q: Has any threat of any kind been made by anyone that causes you to plead guilty?
A: No.
# 29 Q: Has any plea agreement been made by you with anybody which causes you to plead GUILTY?
A: Yes. (Referring to plea agreement).
# 30 Q: Has any promise been made by anyone which causes you to plead GUILTY, aside from the promises, if any, set out in your answer to question 29?
A: No.
# 31 Q: Has anyone suggested that you will receive a lighter sentence if you plead GUILTY?
A: No.
# 36 Q: Are you pleading GUILTY for any other reason other than the fact that you are guilty?
A: No.

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United States v. Acevedo-Ramos, 619 F. Supp. 570, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15874 (prd 1985).

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