United States v. Mohamed

182 F. Supp. 3d 15, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55546, 2016 WL 1658519
District Court, E.D. New York·Decided April 26, 2016·No. 13-CR-527·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

[18]*18 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WILLIAM F. KUNTZ, II, United States District Judge

On March 24,2016, the Court accepted the guilty plea of Defendant Alhassane Ould Moharaed, also known as “Cheibani,” (“Defendant”) to a superseding information pursuant a plea agreement under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C). Plea Hearing, ECF No. 151. The plea agreement specified an agreed-upon sentence of three-hundred months (or twenty-five years) of imprisonment and five years, of supervised release. Plea Agreement ¶ 2, ECF No. 152. The Court now ACCEPTS the parties’ Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement and provides a complete statement of reasons. For the reasons stated below, Defendant is hereby sentenced to three-hundred months (or twenty-five years) of incarceration and five years of supervised release.

BACKGROUND

During a carjacking in the early morning hours of December 23, 2000 in Niamey, Niger, Defendant and an unknown co-conspirator shot two United States diplomats, William Bultemeier and Christopher McNeely. Indictment, ECF No. 1. William Bultemeier died of his wounds, and Christopher McNeely suffered permanent injury. Id. On September 13, 2013, Defendant was indicted for one count of Murder of an Internationally Protected Person and one count of Attempted Murder of an Internationally Protected Person. Id.

On March 24, 2016, Defendant waived his right to prosecution by indictment and consented to prosecution by information. Waiver of Indictment, ECF No. 149. Defendant then entered a plea of guilty to a single-count superseding information that charged him with Conspiracy to Commit Murder. Plea Agreement ¶ 1; Plea Hearing. Defendant’s guilty plea was conditioned upon the Court’s acceptance of the parties’ plea agreement under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C). Superseding Information, ECF No. 150; see United States v. Pimentel, 932 F.2d 1029, 1033-34 (2d Cir.1991) (discussing prosecutorial considerations in “sentence bargaining”).

At the conclusion of the plea hearing, the Court accepted Defendant’s plea of guilty, but deferred its decision on whether to accept the plea agreement. See Plea Hearing. The parties’ plea agreement specified a three-hundred month (twenty-five year) term of incarceration followed by a five-year term of supervised release. Plea Agreement ¶2. The plea agreement also included a provision regarding Defendant’s removal, specifically “requesting] that the Court, at the time of sentencing, order that the defendant be removed from the United States promptly upon his release from confinement.” Id. ¶ 5.

DISCUSSION

I. Legal Standard

The parties have agreed that the specified imprisonment and supervised release terms are not based on the Guidelines. Plea Agreement ¶2. The Court must, nevertheless, consider the Guidelines in deciding whether to accept the plea agreement. See United States Sentencing Guidelines § 6B1.2 (U.S. Sentencing Comm’n 2015) (“U.S.S.G.” or “the Guidelines”). Under Guidelines § 6B1.2, the Court may accept a sentence bargain under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C) if either “the agreed sentence is within the applicable guideline range” or “the recommended sentence is outside the applicable guideline range for justifiable reasons ... and ... those reasons are set forth with specificity in the statement of reasons form.” Id. §§ 6B1.2(c)(1)-(2).

[19]*19The “starting point and the initial benchmark” in evaluating a criminal sentence is the Guidelines sentencing range. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 49, 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007). The Court may find by a preponderance of the evidence the facts necessary to determine the sentencing range. See United States v. Garcia, 413 F.3d 201, 220 n. 15 (2d Cir.2005). In the usual course, the Court “will accept a defendant’s guilty plea as soon as it is entered, but will defer acceptance of the plea agreement until it has reviewed the pre-sentence report.” United States v. Lopez, 385 F.3d 245, 249 (2d Cir.2004); Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(3). Here, the parties waived the pre-sentence report, and the Court deferred acceptance of the plea agreement until sentencing.

If the agreed-upon sentence falls within the Guidelines sentencing range, then the Court. may accept the plea agreement. U.S.S.G. § 6B2.3(c)(l). The.Court may also accept the plea agreement if the agreed-upon sentence falls outside the applicable guideline range, but the Court must provide “justifiable reasons” for the departure from the sentencing range and “set forth [those reasons] with specificity in the statement of reasons form.” Id. §§ 6B2.3(c)(2)(A), (B).

Acceptance of the plea agreement binds the Court to the specific sentence agreed upon by the parties in the plea agreement. Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C) (“[A] recommendation or request binds the court once the court accepts the plea agreement[.]”). Rejection of the plea agreement, or deviation from ■ the “sentence bargain,” permits Defendant'to withdraw his guilty plea. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(5); U.S.S.G. § 6B1.3.

The Court finds that the sentence bargain falls within the Guidelines sentencing range. The Court nevertheless considers 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), which outlines the procedures for imposing sentence in a criminal case. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The Court also provides a statement of reasons, “a simple, fact-specific statement explaining why the guidelines range did not account for a specific factor or factors under [Section] 3553(a).” United States v. Davis, 08-CR-332, 2010 WL 1221709, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2010) (Weinstein, J.) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

II. Analysis

The Court begins by analyzing whether the agreed-upon sentence falls within the Guidelines: sentencing range. The Court then proceeds to address each of the remaining 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors in turn.

1. The Kinds of Sentences Available

The Court first considers “the kinds of sentences available” as set forth by Congress and the President. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(3). Defendant pled guilty to Conspiracy to Murder in violation of 18 U.S.C.

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United States v. Mohamed, 182 F. Supp. 3d 15, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55546, 2016 WL 1658519 (E.D.N.Y. 2016).

182 F. Supp. 3d 15 (United States v. Mohamed) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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