United States v. King

246 F.3d 1166, 2001 WL 363673
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedApril 13, 2001
DocketNo. 99-10478
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 246 F.3d 1166 (United States v. King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth 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. King, 246 F.3d 1166, 2001 WL 363673 (9th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

FISHER, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-Appellant Norman King appeals his conviction and sentence on 19 counts of a 50-count indictment. The indictment charged him with engaging in three mail fraud schemes, using counterfeit postage meter stamps and money laundering. Though he pled guilty to the 19 counts, he now challenges the validity of the plea, as well as the district court’s application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.”) and the amount of restitution imposed. The government, in addition to disputing King’s contentions, argues that this court lacks jurisdiction to hear the appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We conclude that jurisdiction is proper. We affirm the conviction but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Indictment

On May 10, 1995, a grand jury in the Northern District of California returned an indictment charging King with 40 counts of mail fraud (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341), one count of using a counterfeit postage meter stamp (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 501) and nine counts of money laundering (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957). The indictment alleged that King had engaged in three fraudulent schemes.

Under the first such scheme (summarized in counts 1 through 5 of the indictment), he allegedly mailed postcards to recipients located throughout the United States informing them that they had been selected as winners in the “$25,000 Win-A-Fortune Contest,” and were required to return the postcard along with $10 for processing fees within seven days to claim their prize. Recipients who wished to check on the status of their prizes were instructed to call one of three numbers on the postcard, two of which were “900” numbers imposing a $9.95 per minute charge on the caller. The recording available through these numbers restated the information on the postcard.

[1171]*1171Under the second allegedly fraudulent promotion, King sent out mailers with information about missing children on the front and an offer for a free camera and 100 rolls of film on the back. Recipients were instructed to send $10 in shipping, handling and insurance costs in order to take advantage of the offer. Counts 6 through 22 concern this promotion.

The third scheme in the indictment— and the one to which King initially pled guilty — involved mailing postcards marked “FINAL NOTICE” informing recipients that they had been selected as winners in a $10,000 sweepstakes. To collect, recipients were instructed to send a $10 “processing fee,” as well as an additional $5 for “Rush Handling,” within 14 days. The parties dispute how many such postcards were sent out. The government estimates that King mailed 1.7 million postcards, while King claims that the number is much lower.. He admitted sending more than 10,000 such postcards, but could not recall whether the number exceeded 50,000. Counts 24 through 41 are related to the “Final Notice” scheme.1

Count 42 of the indictment, to which King also pled guilty initially, alleged that he had used a counterfeit postage meter stamp to avoid paying the postage on approximately 1.7 million postcards in connection with the “Final Notice” scheme. The government alleged that King owed at least $302,940 in postage costs.

The final nine counts, alleging violations of the federal money-laundering statute, are not at issue in this appeal.

B. King’s Plea

At a July 20, 1999 status hearing, King informed the court that he wished to plead guilty to counts 24 through 42 of the indictment. In response to questioning from the court, King stated he had discussed with his attorney the nature of the charges against him, the necessary elements of proof and possible defenses. He also said he was satisfied with the representation he had received. When asked specifically about the “Final Notice” scheme charges to which he was pleading guilty, King stated that he had intended to pay out shares of a $10,000 fund to all recipients who responded to his mailing, but failed to send payments to 18 of them. The government contended King’s statement failed to make out a factual basis for mail fraud because he had not admitted making false statements in the postcards. King responded, “I’m not pleading guilty to any false statements because as far as I’m concerned there were no false statements. I’m pleading guilty to mail fraud for non-fulfillment of prizes.” Despite the government’s concerns, the court accepted King’s plea after determining that it was made intelligently and voluntarily. Still fearing the factual basis for the plea might be lacking, the government filed a “Further Submission by Government in Support of Factual Basis for Guilty Pleas,” in which it argued that additional evidence in the record supported a finding that the postcards contained false statements and that King intended to defraud the recipients.

At a hearing on August 31, 1999, King’s attorney objected to the government’s proposed submission and argiied that the factual basis from the earlier hearing was adequate to allow for sentencing. The court found the prior record was sufficient to demonstrate King’s admission of guilt was knowing, intelligent and uncoerced. It sentenced King to 71 months in prison and ordered him to pay $302,000 in restitution to the United States Postal Service.

At a hearing on September 14, 1999, King moved to withdraw his earlier plea, contending his actions did not meet the [1172]*1172legal definition of mail fraud and that he would not have pled guilty if he had known the potential extent of his sentence. The court proposed holding another hearing October 5 to give King an opportunity to consult with his lawyer about the wisdom of withdrawing his plea in the interim. King did not agree to this delay, as it would have entailed waiver of his rights under the Speedy Trial Act. At the close of the hearing, the court again proposed conducting another status hearing on October 5. The record does not reflect whether this proposed status conference ever took place.

Judgment was entered December 17, 1999, relating back nunc pro tunc to the sentencing dates, August 31,1999 and September 14, 1999. King filed a timely notice of appeal.

DISCUSSION

A. Jurisdiction

The government argues this court lacks jurisdiction to hear the appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 because the judgment in the district court is not “final,” given the 31 counts of the indictment yet to be adjudicated. Under § 1291, “the courts of appeals ... shall have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the district courts.” 28 U.S.C. § 1291. “Final judgment in a criminal case means sentence. The sentence is the judgment.” Berman v. United States, 302 U.S. 211, 212, 58 S.Ct. 164, 82 L.Ed. 204 (1937).

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13 F. App'x 731 (Ninth Circuit, 2001)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
246 F.3d 1166, 2001 WL 363673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-king-ca9-2001.