United States v. Joseph E. Kirkland, III

853 F.2d 1243
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 29, 1988
Docket87-4542
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 853 F.2d 1243 (United States v. Joseph E. Kirkland, III) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Joseph E. Kirkland, III, 853 F.2d 1243 (5th Cir. 1988).

Opinion

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

I.

This appeal challenges the denial of a motion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 35(a) to strike the restitution provisions from a partially-suspended sentence and the conditions of probation. Joseph E. Kirkland, III, was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for concealing information relating to the use of a portion ($90,895) of a $1 million government loan extended to finance Kirkland’s company’s development of a housing project. Kirkland’s contract with the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) provided that FmHA would loan the development company money for use in construction, so long as neither Kirkland nor his company had an “identity of interest” with the general contractor named to work the project. Through several similar schemes (about which he testified at the trials of others, but for which Kirkland was not indicted), he had illegally obtained some $389,755 in undisclosed “consulting fees” from the contractor.

Kirkland agreed to plead guilty; in return, the government agreed, inter alia, to recommend that the district court order Kirkland to pay FmHA $200,000 in restitution. The plea agreement provided further that the district court could order restitution in any amount authorized by the provisions of the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982, now found at 18 U.S.C. § 3663. 1 After making the first install *1245 ment toward the $200,000, Kirkland challenged the restitution provisions of his sentence as illegal, because (1) entities such as FmHA cannot be a “victim” entitled to restitution; (2) it effectively provides for a double recovery for FmHA; (3) it violates the statutory scheme in adopting the government’s negotiated recommendation for a restitutory amount exceeding the loss charged in the indictment; and (4) his due process rights are violated by requiring restitution exceeding the amount charged in the indictment. We AFFIRM.

II. Facts.

In return for Kirkland’s complete cooperation in connection with the on-going investigation of corruption among FmHA employees, agreement to testify against any government personnel brought to trial, and entry of a voluntary guilty plea on one felony count of concealing information relating to the use of federal loans, the government agreed to forego additional prosecutions for his involvement in other corrupt and fraudulent activities. In this Memorandum of Understanding, Kirkland agreed that he would subsequently elect one of two potential recommendations which the government would make to the court at sentencing. Both recommendations included the payment of substantial sums in restitution: $600,000 and no jail time under the first option, and $200,000 and some term of incarceration under the second.

Kirkland and his attorneys elected the second option, under which the government would make a recommendation of $200,000 in restitution and a maximum imprisonment term of one year. Pursuant to the Final Memorandum of Understanding, the district court, despite the government’s recommendation of $200,000, could order restitution in any amount authorized by what is now 18 U.S.C. § 3668.

Kirkland entered a plea of guilty to a single violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Before the district court accepted that plea, the government recited the facts it would prove should the case go to trial. It alleged that Kirkland and Randall F. Al-dridge were business partners in Marion Apartments, Limited (Marion). Kirkland signed a contract for Marion with FmHA to build a housing project. The contract provided that FmHA would loan Marion money for use in construction and that neither Marion nor Kirkland had an “identity of interest” with Eastline Corp., the general contractor named to work the project. 2 From the loan in question, Eastline paid Aldridge $90,865 in “consulting fees,” which Aldridge promptly transferred to Kirkland. Thus, $90,865 in money intended for use in construction of the housing project ended up in Kirkland’s pocket. Kirkland’s failure to inform the FmHA that he had an “identity of interest” with Eastline violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001.

The district court accepted Kirkland’s guilty plea and sentenced him to two years imprisonment, suspending one year and eight months, and ordering the remaining four months to be spent in a community center with work release. The court fined Kirkland $10,000, ordered a $50 special assessment, and required him to pay $200,000 in restitution to FmHA. The court placed Kirkland on five years’ probation upon his release and made the restitution payment a condition of probation. The district court made restitution a part of the sentence pursuant to the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982, now found at 18 U.S.C. *1246 § 3663(a)(1), but the record does not indicate expressly whether the court made restitution a condition of probation pursuant to the precursor to section 3663(g) or pursuant to the now-repealed section 3651. 3 After paying the first installment of the restitution, Kirkland motioned the trial court under Fed.R.Crim.P. 35(a) to strike the restitution provisions from his sentence and to order FmHA to repay him. The trial court denied Kirkland’s motion, and Kirkland then paid the balance of the resti-tutory order.

III. The Challenge.

In reviewing the denial of a rule 35 motion, we examine only whether the sentence was illegal or whether the district court abused its discretion. United States v. Hanyard, 762 F.2d 1226, 1228 (5th Cir.1985); United States v. Ruffen, 780 F.2d 1493, 1496 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 963, 107 S.Ct. 462, 93 L.Ed.2d 407 (1986). Kirkland argues that the restitution provisions of his sentence are illegal in that (1) FmHA is not a statutory “victim,” (2) is being repaid and so has no loss, and (3) is due to receive an amount unconstitutionally in excess of the sum alleged in the indictment.

IV. The Restitution Provisions.

Title 18 U.S.C. § 3663(a)(1) provides that a court may order a convicted person to pay restitution to any “victim” of the offense as part of the defendant’s sentence. Section 3663(g) authorizes the court to make restitution a condition of probation, as did the now-repealed section 3651.

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Bluebook (online)
853 F.2d 1243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-joseph-e-kirkland-iii-ca5-1988.