United States v. Lamont Sneed

385 F. App'x 551
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 19, 2010
Docket09-3215
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 385 F. App'x 551 (United States v. Lamont Sneed) 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. Lamont Sneed, 385 F. App'x 551 (6th Cir. 2010).

Opinions

OPINION

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge.

Lamont “Dante” Sneed was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to violate a federal law and aiding and abetting armed bank robbery in connection with his involvement in a 2007 bank robbery. Prior to trial, Sneed moved to suppress evidence that had been gathered from his car. Sneed contended that the affidavit, used to obtain the warrant to search his car, failed to establish probable cause that evidence from the robbery would be located in his car. The district court rejected this argument and admitted the incriminating evidence at trial. After the jury returned a guilty verdict, Sneed moved at sentencing for a downward departure and objected to a sentence enhancement factor on the grounds that it violated his Sixth Amendment rights. The district court also rejected Sneed’s Sixth Amendment argument and sentenced him to prison terms of sixty months on the conspiracy count and eighty months on the robbery count, to run concurrently. Sneed now appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress and rejection of his Sixth Amendment argument. After carefully reviewing the search warrant affidavit, we have determined that the district court properly denied Sneed’s motion to suppress. We have further determined that the district court properly rejected Sneed’s Sixth Amendment argument. Accordingly, we AFFIRM Sneed’s conviction and sentence.

[553]*553i.

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were notified on May 3, 2007, of a robbery at the Sky Bank in Pickering-ton, Ohio. Witnesses at the scene described a dark-colored Honda Accord, including license plate number, and three individuals. The witnesses were able to describe the robbers putting on masks pri- or to the robbery, the car in question used during the robbery, and two robbers exiting the bank and getting back into the vehicle after the robbery. In addition, bank employees informed agents that a suspicious-looking male, identifying himself as Dante, entered the bank a little over an hour before the robbery, asked about money orders, and exited the bank without transacting any business. Video surveillance captured the suspicious-looking male.

FBI agents searched vehicle registration records for the license plate number reported by witnesses and identified the Honda as belonging to Virginia Castro. Based on this lead, agents questioned Castro about her whereabouts on May 3. Castro informed investigators that her brother, Dante Sneed, borrowed her car on May 3 and returned it later that night. But upon further questioning, Castro changed her story and told the agents that she had used the car on May 3. Agents had also received information about an April 27 robbery of a CME credit union and determined that a car matching the description of Castro’s was used in that robbery as well. Castro informed agents that Sneed had used her car on April 27; she also eventually confirmed that Sneed used her car on May 3 during the time of the Sky Bank robbery.

Based on the information provided by Castro as well as witness statements, agents obtained and executed a warrant to search Castro’s Honda Accord. Within the vehicle, they discovered a Sky Bank business card and a set of gloves matching those seen in surveillance video taken at the time of the Sky Bank robbery. Agents then decided to investigate Sneed further. They ran a criminal history and motor vehicle check and discovered that a Cadillac was registered to his name.1 Witness statements confirmed that Sneed regularly drove the Cadillac. Agents also determined that Sneed worked the night shift at a Greyhound terminal in Columbus and that he listed the address of his mother and Castro as his home address. Castro informed the investigating agents that Sneed occasionally stayed at her home, but that he did not permanently live there. She also told agents that Sneed had children with many women and that he stayed with these women at times, though he did not have any permanent residence.

Agents then decided to interview Sneed at his place of employment on May 16. Upon arriving at the Greyhound station, they noticed a Cadillac Seville with a license plate number matching the Cadillac registered to Sneed. The agents parked their vehicles around Sneed’s Cadillac and entered the Greyhound station. A Greyhound manager stated that Sneed had clocked in earlier in the night, confirming that he was present at the station. The manager then paged Sneed over the loudspeaker, asking him to report to the front desk, but Sneed never reported to the front. With the aid of local law enforcement officers, agents searched the facility for Sneed for over an hour, but were unable to locate him. A man matching Sneed’s description was seen near the Greyhound station, though officers were unable to apprehend him. Dante Sneed [554]*554never returned to the Greyhound station that night to clock out or retrieve his vehicle.

After discontinuing the search, the agents seized Sneed’s Cadillac from the Greyhound parking lot and towed it to the Columbus Police Department. The next morning they applied for a warrant to search the vehicle and attached an affidavit signed by FBI Agent Erik Lauber. The affidavit stated that witnesses to the Sky Bank robbery observed two black males exit the bank and enter a Honda Accord, driven by a third black male, with Ohio plate number DWN 2893. The affidavit also stated that the vehicle was registered to Virginia Castro and that an interview with Castro revealed that Castro’s brother Dante Sneed had access to the Honda Accord. In addition, Lauber’s affidavit noted that a suspicious-looking male entered Sky Bank in the hours leading up to the robbery, identified himself as “Dante,” and asked questions about money orders. Surveillance video revealed the suspicious-looking male to be Dante Sneed. Specifically in regards to Sneed’s Cadillac, the affidavit stated that the vehicle in question was registered to Dante Sneed, per Ohio motor vehicle records. The affidavit then went on to state the following:

13. On 5/4/2007, Castro, Sneed’s sister, stated that Sneed did not live at 2259 New Village Road, but instead lived in many different places. Castro did not know the exact address where Sneed stays, because it changes nightly.
14. On 5/16/2007, at approximately 10:15 pm, agents went to the Greyhound terminal to interview Sneed. Upon arrival Sneed’s vehicle, Ohio Registration EBT-6523, a four door, black in color, Cadillac, was seen in the Greyhound parking lot. Agents parked their vehicles next to Sneed. Greyhound management advised that Sneed had clocked in at 9:56 pm. Greyhound management attempted to find Sneed, even paging him over the loud speaker. Sneed did not respond. Agents and Columbus Police Department officers searched the entire terminal for Sneed but he had fled the premises. A CPD officer saw a black male, matching the height of Sneed and having similar clothing to what Sneed was wearing, walking on 4th Street away from the Greyhound terminal. Agents and CPD officer’s [sic] surrounded Sneed’s vehicle. It is believed that Sneed did not return to the vehicle in hopes of disassociating himself from the car and its contents.
15. On 5/17/2007, Greyhound management confirmed that Sneed never returned to work to clock out. ■
16. Due to Sneed having abandoned his job and his vehicle agents seized the vehicle for safe keeping. Furthermore, as Sneed does not have a full time residence it is the belief that evidence of the Sky Bank robbery may be in Sneed’s vehicle.

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Related

United States v. Carney
675 F.3d 1007 (Sixth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Charles Rice
405 F. App'x 959 (Sixth Circuit, 2010)
Sneed v. United States
178 L. Ed. 2d 424 (Supreme Court, 2010)

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385 F. App'x 551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lamont-sneed-ca6-2010.