United States v. Daniel Trevino

7 F.4th 414
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 30, 2021
Docket20-1104
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 7 F.4th 414 (United States v. Daniel Trevino) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Daniel Trevino, 7 F.4th 414 (6th Cir. 2021).

Opinion

RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 21a0171p.06

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, │ Plaintiff-Appellee, │ No. 20-1104 > │ v. │ │ DANIEL DARIO TREVINO, │ Defendant-Appellant. │ │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids. No. 1:18-cr-00166-1—Paul Lewis Maloney, District Judge.

Argued: January 28, 2021

Decided and Filed: July 30, 2021

Before: COOK, GRIFFIN, and LARSEN, Circuit Judges. _________________

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Stuart G. Friedman, Southfield, Michigan, for Appellant. Joel S. Fauson, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Stuart G. Friedman, Southfield, Michigan, for Appellant. Joel S. Fauson, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Appellee. _________________

OPINION _________________

LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Daniel Trevino was the sole owner of a chain of marijuana dispensaries throughout Michigan. A federal jury convicted him of conspiracy and nine substantive marijuana offenses. He challenges those convictions and his sentence. No. 20-1104 United States v. Trevino Page 2

But first, Trevino argues that he never should have been charged. He invokes a congressional appropriations rider, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, or “Section 538,” that bars the Department of Justice from spending funds to “prevent” states from “implementing their own State laws” permitting medical marijuana. See Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-235, § 538, 128 Stat. 2130, 2217 (2014). The parties dispute the rider’s effect; but even if we construe Section 538 as broadly as Trevino asks us to, he is not entitled to the relief he seeks.

Next, to counter the conspiracy charge, Trevino invokes a published opinion from nearly a century ago, Landen v. United States, 299 F. 75 (6th Cir. 1924). Landen created a limited exception to the general rule that ignorance or mistake of law is no excuse. We have applied that exception exactly once—in Landen itself; yet, we have never overruled it. Whatever life remains in the decision, it cannot help Trevino here because his conduct falls far outside of Landen’s narrow scope.

Finally, Trevino challenges the denial of his counsel’s motion to withdraw—filed less than two weeks before trial—the government’s use of summary charts at trial, and the procedural and substantive reasonableness of his sentence. These challenges, too, are unavailing.

Finding all of Trevino’s claims without merit, we AFFIRM.

I.

Daniel Trevino was the founder and sole owner of Hydro World, LLC (Hydroworld), a Michigan entity. Originally, Hydroworld sold fertilizer and indoor growing equipment, such as lights and hydroponics systems. But after the state passed the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA), Trevino turned Hydroworld into a marijuana dispensary.

A.

1.

Passed by state ballot initiative in 2008, the MMMA allows state-licensed “qualifying patient[s]” and “primary caregiver[s]” to possess limited quantities of marijuana for medical No. 20-1104 United States v. Trevino Page 3

purposes if they meet certain conditions.1 Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.26424(a)–(b); People v. Hartwick, 870 N.W.2d 37, 41 (Mich. 2015). Relevant here, individuals who have been convicted of a drug-related felony cannot become caregivers. Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.26423(k).

Each patient may have only one caregiver. Id. § 333.26426(d). Each caregiver may have up to five patients, who must be connected to the caregiver via the state registration process. Id.; see State v. McQueen, 828 N.W.2d 644, 655 (Mich. 2013). Caregivers may possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and up to 12 marijuana plants per patient. Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.26424(b)(1)–(2). Patients, likewise, may possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and may cultivate up to 12 plants for personal use if they have not already specified that their caregiver is growing the plants for them. Id. § 333.26424(a). Michigan law does not protect the sale of medical marijuana between patients.2 See McQueen, 828 N.W.2d at 654–57.

2.

State law aside, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq., it is a crime “to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess any controlled substance except in a manner authorized by the CSA.” Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1, 13 (2005) (citing 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)). Marijuana is one such controlled substance. 21 U.S.C § 812(c).

Adding a wrinkle to the federal landscape is an appropriations rider known as the “Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment” or “Section 538.” Congress has included this rider in every annual appropriations bill passed since December 2014. In relevant part, it reads:

1Recreational marijuana remained illegal under Michigan law until 2018. See Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.27951 et seq. Michigan now permits limited distribution, possession, and use of recreational marijuana with similar quantity limitations. See id. § 333.27955. The charged conduct here occurred before this change in Michigan law. 2Marijuana dispensaries that operated based on patient-to-patient sales also were not protected under the MMMA. McQueen, 828 N.W.2d at 654–57. In 2016, Michigan enacted the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, see Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.27101 et seq., which established a licensing scheme to allow qualified entities to facilitate transactions between patients and caregivers. See id. §§ 333.26424a, 333.27102(w), 333.27206. That statute came into effect after most of the conduct at issue here; Trevino’s Hydroworld never had such a license. No. 20-1104 United States v. Trevino Page 4

None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the State[] of . . . Michigan . . . [and other named states and the District of Columbia,] to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.3

Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-235, § 538, 128 Stat. 2130, 2217 (2014). Despite this rider, Congress has left the relevant parts of the CSA unchanged.

B.

Trevino’s marijuana dispensaries operated openly at several storefronts across Michigan. Hydroworld retail locations would sell marijuana to customers with a state-issued patient card. Hydroworld stocked its inventory via bulk purchases from various outside growers. And Trevino and his employees also grew some of the marijuana for Hydroworld.

Trevino was a registered patient under the MMMA, but he was not a registered caregiver. As his own counsel admitted, Trevino “could never have been licensed” as a caregiver because he had a prior felony conviction involving cocaine. See Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.26423(k).

Trevino’s dispensaries quickly attracted attention from state law enforcement. State authorities conducted controlled purchases at Hydroworld’s stores and executed search warrants at Hydroworld retail and storage locations, at Trevino’s home, and at the homes of some of his employees. Then federal investigators got involved. In 2016, the Drug Enforcement Agency executed search warrants at two Hydroworld stores, at one of Trevino’s residences, and at the home of one of Trevino’s employees.

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7 F.4th 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-daniel-trevino-ca6-2021.