United States v. McCarley

70 F. App'x 854
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 23, 2003
DocketNo. 02-5545
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 70 F. App'x 854 (United States v. McCarley) 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. McCarley, 70 F. App'x 854 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Villard Archie McCarley, a Tennessee prisoner proceeding with counsel, appeals an April 16, 2002, order imposing a sentence of thirty-three months imprisonment following Defendant’s guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). Defendant claims the court imposed an excessive sentence by overestimating Defendant’s relevant conduct and therefore improperly refusing to award credit for acceptance of responsibility. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court.

FACTS

On March 2,1998, Millington, Tennessee police officers discovered several stolen all-terrain vehicles at the residence of Michael Kuykendall. Law enforcement officials obtained a search warrant and recovered additional stolen property including a Kubota L4200 cab tractor, two motorboats, and various farm implements. Officers arrested Kuykendall and he immediately began cooperating with investigators.

Kuykendall admitted participating in numerous tractor thefts and stated that Defendant purchased the vast majority of the stolen tractors. According to Kuykendall, he resold twenty stolen tractors to Defendant.

Defendant resides in Northern Alabama. Kuykendall first met Defendant at a horse sale in Scotts Hill, Tennessee. Defendant approached Kuykendall and inquired about a tractor. Kuykendall had already sold that particular tractor, but he and Defendant exchanged phone numbers. When Kuykendall subsequently obtained a stolen tractor, he called Defendant. During the telephone call, Kuykendall warned Defendant by explaining that he (Kuykendall) bought the tractor from another person and knew nothing of the tractor’s origin, other than that it came from somewhere other than Defendant’s vicinity. With that assurance, Defendant purchased the tractor for $6500, although it was worth approximately $65,000.

Defendant subsequently purchased nineteen more stolen tractors from Kuykendall, all at far below market value. Defendant usually bought the tractors for between $3500 and $6500, although each piece of equipment had a market value between $25,000 and $75,000. Kuykendall also explained that as the number of transactions increased, Defendant wanted more assurances that the tractors were not stolen from the area in Alabama where Defendant lived. At one point, Kuykendall sold Defendant a new Kubota tractor. To the conceal the fact that it was stolen, the Kuykendall and Defendant ran the hours meter forward on the tractor to make it appear used.

As part of his cooperation, Kuykendall took an undercover officer from Memphis, Tennessee to McCarley’s residence in Alabama, where the agent purchased stolen tractors from Defendant. Law enforcement officials immediately arrested Defendant. Subsequent investigation revealed that, in total, Defendant purchased stolen tractors with a market value of $386,308.31.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 17, 2001, the Grand Jury for the Western District of Tennessee re[856]*856turned a twenty count indictment charging Defendant with one count of conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles across state lines in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, nineteen counts of interstate transportation of stolen property in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2313, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). On November 21, 2001, the government dropped the first twenty counts and Defendant pleaded guilty to the final count.

The Probation Office prepared a presentence report that recommended Defendant not receive an acceptance of responsibility adjustment because Defendant refused to admit all of the relevant conduct. Specifically, Defendant denied that he knew most of the tractors were stolen; rather, he claims to have only understood the last few tractors he purchased were stolen.

On April 10, 2002, the court held an evidentiary hearing. Kuykendall testified that Defendant knew the tractors were stolen at all times. Kuykendall explained to the court how he warned Defendant that he did not know the source of the tractors, but he successfully assured Defendant that they did not come from Northern Alabama. Kuykendall also testified that he sold all of the tractors to Defendant at far below market value, and Kuykendall explained how he and Defendant changed the hours meter on the new Kubota tractor to make its resale appear less suspicious. Overall, Kuykendall testified that he had “no doubt” Defendant knew from the beginning that the tractors were stolen.

Defendant did not testify at the evidentiary hearing, although he offered three character witnesses and Defendant’s counsel made an effort to impeach Kuykendall. Kuykendall acknowledged that he received a twenty-one month sentence for selling stolen tractors in exchange for the assistance he provided the government in prosecuting Defendant. Before Kuykendall accepted this plea bargain, he faced a forty-two month sentence.

The district court found Kuykendall “to be a candid witness.” (J.A. at 65.) The court also noted that Defendant initially asked for assurances that the tractors did not come from Northern Alabama. Ultimately, the court concluded:

Almost anyone would know that these tractors were being purchased for nowhere near their market price. Not even used ones would cost what these tractors cost. There was no reason based on the relationship between Mr. Kuykendall and [Defendant], to think that Mr. Kuykendall was just doing him a favor. I mean, there was nothing that would suggest that there was a reason for Mr. Kuykendall to be doing this out of a long-time friendship or something of that type. [Defendant], I certainly find that he was not some sort of expert on tractors. But he frequented places where farm equipment was sold. He had sufficient knowledge about models and what type of tractors he wanted. So there is plenty of evidence here from which one can find that the overall circumstances of the transactions were sufficient to establish knowledge on the part of [Defendant].

(J.A. at 65.) Thus, the district court denied Defendant’s request for an acceptance of responsibility adjustment.

The district court determined that the base offense level under U.S.S.G. § 2S1.2 was seventeen.1 In accordance with [857]*857U.S.S.G. § 2S1.2(B)(1), the district court increased Defendant’s sentence two levels because he knowingly deposited or withdrew funds that were proceeds of unlawful activity. Additionally, the district court enhanced Defendant’s sentence one level pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2S1.2(B)(2) because the value of the property he knew was stolen exceeded $100,000.

Defendant filed a timely appeal.

DISCUSSION

The only issue is whether the district court properly determined the relevant conduct and thus properly denied Defendant an acceptance of responsibility reduction. We will reverse a district court’s determination of the amount of conduct for which a defendant must accept responsibility if the district court has made a “clearly erroneous” decision. United States v. Harper,

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

Related

United States v. Tyslen Baker
976 F.3d 636 (Sixth Circuit, 2020)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
70 F. App'x 854, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mccarley-ca6-2003.