United States v. Logan

257 F. Supp. 3d 880
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedJune 30, 2017
DocketNo. 1:08-cr-274
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 257 F. Supp. 3d 880 (United States v. Logan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Logan, 257 F. Supp. 3d 880 (W.D. Mich. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

Paul L. Maloney, United States District Judge

This case presents acute questions in “plea-bargaining law,” as Justice Scalia once put it, “a whole new field of constitu-tionalized criminal procedure[.]” Lafler v. Cooper, 566 U.S. 156, 175, 132 S.Ct. 1376, 182 L.Ed.2d 398 (2012) (Scalia, J., dissenting).

[882]*882In September 2009, Defendant Emond Durea Logan was charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and money laundering in a case before Judge Robert Jonker. Attorney Richard Zambón was appointed to represent Logan under the Criminal Justice Act. However, in October 2009, Logan’s father, Eugene Logan, hired Attorney Leo Terrell — at the cost of $100,-000.00 — to represent Defendant, as well. The retainer agreement stated that Terrell would provide a . complete defense, “including pre-trial discovery, court trials, [and] post-trial proceedings.” (ECF No. 933-3 at PageID.9799.)

In February 2010, Terrell finally filed a motion to substitute as counsel, and Zam-bón then filed a motion to withdraw. Judge Jonker denied the motions, noting the possibility of Terrell’s conflicts, the tardy nature of his request, and the possibility of a superseding indictment and reassignment of the case to another judge.

At this point, despite Judge • Jonker’s order, Terrell continued to counsel Logan. But, since he was never granted leave to withdraw, so did Zambón.

As fate would have it, Zambón gave Logan good advice — advising him to sign a plea agreement with a ten-year sentencing cap — but Terrell gave Logan abysmal advice — advising him to reject that same plea agreement. Logan, at Zambon’s urging, signed the agreement, but at the last minute, at Terrell’s urging, Logan reneged on the deal. Logan and Terrell both understood that if Logan rejected the plea agreement, the United States would no longer offer a plea deal with a proposed sentencing cap.

The United States — done dealing with plea offers — filed a superseding indictment. After a flurry of activity, Terrell advised him to sign a new plea agreement without the cap, and Logan pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Logan was sentenced to 420 months in prison— well above the maximum sentence of 120 months called for in the rejected plea agreement,

Logan filed the instant motion to set aside his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. (EOF No. 911.)1 Logan asserts — quite compellingly — that he received abysmal advice from Terrell. In exchange for $100,000.00, Terrell essentially advised Logan to proceed to trial and thereby miss the opportunity to- accept a plea deal with a ten-year sentence cap, and then advised him to accept a much worse plea agreement that resulted in a sentence of 420 months. Nonetheless, for the reasons discussed below, the Court must deny Logan’s motion because he received constitutionally effective assistance from Zambón.

I. Background

Defendant Emond Logan was charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and money laundering in case number l:09-cr-245, assigned to Judge Robert Jonker. Later, that case was dismissed and the same charges were brought in the Second Superseding Indictment in a multi-defendant case, l:08-cr-274, assigned to Judge Paul Maloney. •

In the -2009 case, Richard E. Zambón was appointed to represent Logan on October 1, 2009. Logan’s family approached Leo James Terrell about representing Logan in October 2009, and Terrell told Zam-bón on October 20, 2009, but Terrell did not file a motion to substitute as Logan’s [883]*883counsel until February 4, 2010. Shortly thereafter, Zambón filed a motion to withdraw and substitute Leo James Terrell as Logan’s counsel based on a purported breakdown in the relationship between Logan and Zambón. The motions were both denied. Judge Jonker expressed concern about the timeliness of the motion, Terrell “unofficially” representing Logan, and conflicts of interest because Terrell represented other defendants involved in the same alleged conspiracies.

Logan then entered into a plea agreement (ECF No. 37) under Zambon’s advice. The plea agreement contained a provision indicating that Logan should not be sentenced to more than 120 months and allowing Logan to withdraw his guilty plea if the Court did sentence him to more than 120 months. Logan agreed to cooperate with the United States, and the United States in turn agreed to release the ten-year mandatory minimum and not bring charges against Logan’s wife, brother, and sister-in-law. However, Logan chose not to plead guilty at the hearing scheduled to take his plea. He asserts that he chose not to plead guilty because Terrell advised him over the weekend that there was a good chance he could be acquitted if he proceeded to trial. A few days later, as previously promised by the government, the 2009 case was dismissed and the charges against Logan were consolidated with the 2008 case in a second superseding indictment.

The Second Superseding Indictment in l:08-er-274 likewise charged Logan with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and money laundering conspiracy. Terrell entered an appearance on behalf of Logan, but he also entered appearances on behalf of co-defendants Caroline Logan, Martell Logan, and Sharon Logan.

The United States filed a notice of conflict of interest because Terrell was representing four defendants. After a hearing on that' motion, Terrell was allowed to continue as Emond Logan’s counsel , but co-counsel (Scott Graham) was also appointed for him, and other attorneys were appointed to represent Caroline, Martell, and Sharon Logan. As the case progressed, Logan’s counsel filed; a motion for bail, a motion to dismiss the indictment for improper venue, a motion to sever his trial from family member co-defendants, and a motion to compel discovery. Logan was released on bond in March 2010, but bond was revoked on August 18, 2010 because the Central District of California ordered Logan detained on July 16, 2010 based on further criminal activity.

Logan, following Terrell’s advice, eventually pled guilty to Count One pursuant to a new plea agreement. (ECF No. 334.) Under the plea agreement, the United States would not object to a two-level reduction in his sentencing guidelines offense level for acceptance of responsibility, and Count III (money laundering conspiracy) would be dismissed. Logan was not awarded a reduction for acceptance of responsibility and was given an obstruction of justice enhancement at sentencing based on reports that he had threatened to kill a co-defendant (who was going to testify against him) and the prosecutor, and attempted to kill that co-defendant while he was on bond. The sentencing guidelines thus resulted in an offense level of 40 and criminal history category of III, creating a guidelines range of 360 months to life. Logan argued for a below-guidelines sentence based on the initial plea agreement’s 120-month cap, but the Court declined to grant a variance. He was sentenced to 420 months in custody followed by five years of supervised release.

Logan appealed, arguing that the United States breached the plea agreement when it opposed the two-level acceptance of responsibility reduction based on the threats [884]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re A.H...
Court of Appeals of Utah, 2026
Logan v. United States
W.D. Michigan, 2025
McCarthy v. Commissioner of Correction
Connecticut Appellate Court, 2019

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
257 F. Supp. 3d 880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-logan-miwd-2017.