United States v. Hemen

202 F. Supp. 3d 629, 2016 WL 4384623, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108806
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 17, 2016
DocketCASE NO. 4:14-CR-158
StatusPublished

This text of 202 F. Supp. 3d 629 (United States v. Hemen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Hemen, 202 F. Supp. 3d 629, 2016 WL 4384623, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108806 (E.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

AMOS L. MAZZANT, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending before the Court is Defendant James Hemen’s Motion for New Trial (Dkt. #115). Having considered the motion, the response, and the relevant documents, the Court is of the opinion that the motion should be granted.

[631]*631BACKGROUND

This case concerns Kehinde Ajileye (also known as Sammy Lewis, Samuel AJ Lewis, and additional aliases not identified in the indictment, hereafter referred to as “Mr. Ajileye”), Defendant James Hemen (also known as James Ohemeng), and Remmossive Latuna Selmon (also known as Renee Lewis and additional aliases not identified in the indictment, hereafter referred to as “Ms. Selmon”).

Defendant hails from Accra, Ghana, and came to the United States sometime in the 1980s. ,■ He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1992, studied and obtained a bachelor’s degree. Defendant was issued a pharmacist license in 1993. Defendant worked as a pharmacist at CVS in Dallas, Texas, from 2004 until 2011. During this time, Defendant was disciplined by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy for failure to properly supervise an employee who engaged in pharmacy technician duties without a registration for several months whiie Defendant was the “pharmacist-in-charge.” Defendant left CVS and started “Accent Pharmacy 1” in Carrollton, Texas in January of 2011. Some documents later describe that Defendant, Mr. Ajileye, and Ms. Selmon were co-owners of Accent Pharmacy 1, but it appears that Defendant owned Accent Pharmacy 1, at least at its inception, and Mr. Ajileye and Ms. Selmon were hired later that year.

In the fall of 2012, Defendant began working as a full-time pharmacist at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, but Defendant continued representing to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy that he was the pharmacist-in-charge of Accent Pharmacy 1 and an “Accent Pharmacy 2” (which, according to testimony, was registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) in November 2011).

In May of 2013, a DEA investigator inquired into the operation of Accent Pharmacy 1. Testimony presented at trial established that Mr. Ajileye presented himself to the investigator as “Dr. Lewis.” Evidence established that Dr. Lewis was a false identity of Mr. Ajileye, and that, though he held himself out as a physician and a pharmacist, he was never licensed by the State of Texas in any regard. Investigation further discovered that Ms. Sel-mon held herself out as a pharmacy technician, but was also not licensed in any capacity. The investigator discovered the existence of a second pharmacy, Accent Pharmacy 2, in Plano, Texas, but at the time of its discovery no activity appeared to be occurring, or to have ever occurred, at that location.

The DEA Dallas Field Division executed a search warrant on Accent Pharmacy 1 on August 9, 2013. During the search, the officers made contact with Defendant and asked him to come to the premises. Defendant communicated with a Special Agent Dunn. After conversation regarding the pharmacies, Defendant was given, and signed, a Voluntary Surrender of Controlled Substance Privilege for Accent Pharmacy 1 and 2.

Defendant described, in his motion for judgment of acquittal, the trial testimony of Agent Dunn:

Special Agent Dunn’s testimony revealed two misrepresentations by Mr. Hemen regarding his presence, or lack thereof, at the pharmacy during critical operating hours. Dunn also testified that Mr. Hemen was aware that his co-defendant “Dr. Sammie Lewis” was not licensed in Texas and that neither Sammie Lewis’ nor Remmossive Lewis’ required licenses were displayed in the' pharmacy. When asked by Dunn why he turned over the pharmacy to two unlicensed individuals, Mr. Hemen replied that he was having problems getting the pharmacy off the ground and that he needed to work at Parkland Hospital. [632]*632However, these statements and admissions fall far short of confessing to participation in the charged conspiracy. Mr. Hemen’s statements are confessions to administrative violations which prompted him to surrender his license for such administrative violations.

(Dkt. #114 at pp. 6-7). On October 8, 2014, a grand jury indicted Kehinde Ajileye, Defendant James Hemen, and Remmossive Latuna Selmon. The individuals were indicted on one, singular count of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to manufacture and distribute a controlled substance, namely Hydroeo-done, a Schedule III controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and § 841(b)(1) (Dkt. #1).

On April 13, 2016, the Government filed a Notice of Plea Agreement as to Rem-mossive Latuna Selmon (Dkt. #65). On April 17, 2016, the Government filed a Notice of Plea Agreement as to Kehinde Ajileye (Dkt. #67).

From May 2, 2016, to May 6, 2016, the Court held a jury trial as to Defendant. Of relevance to the current motion, the Government presented evidence gathered at Accent Pharmacy 1 that a number of Hy-drocodone pills, a Schedule III controlled substance during the time of the conspiracy, were purchased on behalf of Accent Pharmacy 1 and 2. The Government presented testimony that Accent Pharmacy 1 did not take the proper precautions to determine whether presented prescriptions were valid, that Mr. Ajileye had contacts who wrote invalid prescriptions in Houston, TX, that several break-ins were reported at Accent Pharmacy 1, and that, in Defendant’s absence from Accent Pharmacy 1, Mr. Ajileye and Ms. Selmon were responsible for distributing Hydrocodone.

The uncontroverted evidence further demonstrated that around the time Defendant began working at Parkland Hospital, Defendant rarely came in to Accent Pharmacy 1, but talked to Mr. Ajileye regularly on the phone, and Ms. Selmon opened a new Capital One bank account and ran the operations of Accent Pharmacy 1 out of this account. Outside of a couple of relatively small payments to Defendant, the account was used to purchase a house in Mr. Ajileye’s name and several vehicles in Mr. Ajileye’s name.

Ms. Selmon testified at trial regarding her involvement, Mr. Ajileye’s involvement, and Defendant’s relationship with the two individuals and the operations of the pharmacy. Though she testified that other licensed pharmacists worked with Mr. Ajileye and Ms. Selmon, no evidence corroborated this testimony. Further, though she testified to witnessing a signed agreement between Defendant and Mr. Ajileye regarding operation of Accent Pharmacy, no evidence corroborated this testimony, no such document was presented, and the Government admitted to having no knowledge of such a document’s existence. During trial, a variety of the Government’s witnesses repeatedly called into question the potential credibility of any testimony from Mr. Ajileye. Though listed as a possible witness, the Government ultimately chose not to call Mr. Aji-leye.

At the close of the Government’s casein-chief, Defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on a lack of sufficient evidence under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29. The Court reserved ruling on the motion. Defendant called one character witness, and then rested. The jury deliberated for an evening and a portion of the next day before returning a guilty verdict in the afternoon. Defendant then renewed his motion for judgment of acquittal.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
202 F. Supp. 3d 629, 2016 WL 4384623, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hemen-txed-2016.