United States v. Adrian Pielago, Maria Varona

135 F.3d 703
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided May 12, 1998·No. 95-5405·Published·Cited by 162 cases

Opinions

CARNES, Circuit Judge:

Appellants Maria Varona and Adrian Piél-ago were jointly indicted, along with two others, in a multi-count indictment. After a one-week trial, a jury found Varona and Piél-ago guilty of conspiring to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. They appeal their convictions anpl sentences. We reject Varona’s sentence arguments without discussion, see 11th Cir. Rule 36-1, but two of her conviction-related arguments do warrant discussion, although not acceptance. She contends that the indictment against her should have been dismissed, because the government used her immunized statements to obtain it. She also contends that her conviction [706]*706must be reversed, because the government’s presentation of certain evidence against her at trial violated the proffer agreement. We reject her first contention as devoid of merit, and her second one because she failed to raise the issue in the district court. We do not believe that there was any error involving the proffer agreement, and we are convinced there was no plain error.

Piélago challenges both his conviction and sentence. We reject his conviction-related arguments summarily, see 11th Cir. Rule 36-1. However, we find merit in his contention that his sentence is due to be reversed, because the district court incorrectly calculated his criminal history by treating his prior term of confinement in a community treatment center as a “sentence of imprisonment” for purposes of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1.

I. FACTS

In mid-1993, the City of Miami Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), through surveillance and undercover narcotics purchases, identified the homes of Frank Novaton and Jose Varona (“Jose”) as drug distribution locations. The authorities discovered that Jose normally obtained cocaine from Novaton and brought it to his house, where he operated his cocaine distribution business. Further investigation revealed that Adrian Piélago and Jose’s wife, Maria Varona (‘Varona”), advised and assisted Jose in his drug operation. On November 6, 1993, Jose was arrested after surveillance indicated he was about to sell eight kilograms of cocaine that he had just received from Novaton to a drug dealer named “Carlos.” For a short time after Jose’s arrest, Novaton, Piélago, “Carlos,” and Varona were unaware that Jose had been apprehended and were confused as to his whereabouts. During this confusion, Varona delivered one kilogram of cocaine to “Carlos” in a gray tool box.

Based on the government’s investigation and the evidence gathered as a result of Jose’s November 6 arrest, in December of 1993 a grand jury indicted Jose, Piélago, Rolando Caceras — who the government then believed was “Carlos” — and Varona. The indictment charged them with conspiring to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it, and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute it in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846.

Initially, Jose and Varona cooperated with the government, and they intended to plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence. Va-rona signed a proffer agreement, agreeing to give the government information about the conspiracy in return for a promise to consider leniency. The agreement provided for “use immunity,” specifying that none of the information or statements Varona provided would be used against her in any criminal proceeding, but it explicitly reserved the government’s right to pursue investigative leads derived from Varona’s proffered statements and to use any derivative evidence against her. Among her statements to the government, Varona named Carlos Hechavarria as the real “Carlos.” The government, satisfied with Varona’s proffer, said that it was willing to allow her to plead guilty to a lesser offense, namely, using a telecommunications facility to facilitate a narcotics transaction.

Based on Jose and Varona’s statements, the government sought and obtained a superseding indictment that named Carlos He-chavarria as a conspirator and dropped the charges against Caceras. The superseding indictment also added the use of a telecommunications facility charge, in order to allow Varona to plead guilty to that charge.

However, Varona’s cooperation ceased when her husband Jose was murdered. Fearing for their lives, Varona and her children were taken into protective custody. Apparently, Jose had been murdered because he had been cooperating with the government. His plea agreement had specifically required him to testify against his co-conspirators and other drug dealers. With Jose’s death, the government needed Varona to testify, but she refused to do so. Because of her refusal, the government rescinded its plea offer. Varona and Piélago went to trial on the superseding indictment.

II. DISTRICT COURT PROCEEDINGS

On the first day of trial, after the jury was sworn, Varona moved to dismiss the su[707]*707perseding indictment on the ground that the government had used her statements against her before the grand jury in violation of her proffer agreement. Because she refused to ask for a mistrial, the district court declined to rule on her motion to dismiss the indictment until after trial, warning her that under United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 106 S.Ct. 938, 89 L.Ed.2d 50 (1986), a guilty verdict might eliminate her claim.

Heehavarria, who had pleaded guilty, testified for the government at trial, providing much of the evidence against Varona and Piélago. Varona did not object to introduction of Hechavarria’s testimony as a breach of her proffer agreement. The jury found her and Piélago guilty of conspiring to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it. However, the jury acquitted Piélago of possessing cocaine, and deadlocked on the possession and telecommunications facility charges against Varona. Those charges were later dismissed.

Following the verdicts, the district court conducted an evidentiary hearing pursuant to Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972), in order to determine whether the government had violated Varona’s proffer agreement. The court held that the government had not violated the proffer agreement by using Varona’s statements to obtain the superseding indictments, because it found that the government had- prior knowledge of and independent sources for the evidence used to indict Varo-na. Accordingly, the district court denied Varona’s motion to dismiss the superseding indictment.

The district court then conducted a sentencing hearing. At that hearing the court found Varona and Piélago responsible for the nine kilograms of cocaine involved in the conspiracy (the eight confiscated when agents arrested Jose plus the one in the tool box that Varona gave Heehavarria). Based on that amount of cocaine, the district court determined that both their base offense levels were thirty.

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United States v. Adrian Pielago, Maria Varona, 135 F.3d 703 (11th Cir. 1998).

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