United States v. Pedro Lorenzo Fuenmayor-Arevalo

490 F. App'x 217
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 18, 2012
Docket11-13913
StatusUnpublished

This text of 490 F. App'x 217 (United States v. Pedro Lorenzo Fuenmayor-Arevalo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Pedro Lorenzo Fuenmayor-Arevalo, 490 F. App'x 217 (11th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Pedro Lorenzo Fuenmayor-Arevalo appeals his convictions and sentences for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and actual possession with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, in violation of 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a)(1) and 70506(a) and (b). After review, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Arrest and Indictment

On June 15, 2010, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel spotted a Colombian fishing vessel in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea. A Coast Guard team boarded the fishing vessel, and a search revealed 70 kilograms of cocaine in a hidden compartment in the fish hold of the fishing vessel. Fuenmayor-Arevalo and the four other crew members of the fishing vessel were arrested and transported to the United States. Fuenmayor-Arevalo’s son-in-law and grandnephew were two of these four crew members.

A grand jury indicted Fuenmayor-Are-valo and the four other crew members for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and actual possession with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, in violation of 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a)(1) and 70506(a) and (b).

B. Plea Hearing

Fuenmayor-Arevalo indicated that he wished to plead guilty to both counts of the indictment and consented to a joint plea hearing with two of his codefendants before a magistrate judge. At the September 20, 2010 hearing, the magistrate judge cautioned Fuenmayor-Arevalo that he must plead guilty knowingly, voluntarily, and “with a full understanding of the consequences.”

Through an interpreter, Fuenmayor-Arevalo testified that he was 60 years old, had not attended school, was unable to read or write Spanish, and had never been treated for any type of mental illness or addiction. He had discussed his plea with his attorney, who had offered satisfactory advice and representation. Further, Fuenmayor-Arevalo understood the charges against him, including the elements of the offenses, that he was subject to a minimum sentence of ten years, and that he was giving up his right to a jury trial. Fuenmayor-Arevalo confirmed that no one had made any promises or threats in connection with his guilty plea.

Fuenmayor-Arevalo also admitted to serving as a machinist aboard a boat that *220 was hauling more than five kilograms of cocaine. He further admitted that he knowingly and willfully entered into a drug-smuggling venture involving five or more kilograms of cocaine. He then pled guilty to both counts in the indictment without a written plea agreement. Fuen-mayor-Arevalo’s counsel then stated that he was satisfied that the plea was entered knowingly, voluntarily, and with a full understanding of the consequences. The magistrate judge concluded that Fuenma-yor-Arevalo was “fully competent and capable of entering an informed plea” and that the plea was supported by an independent basis in fact.

After the September 20, 2010 hearing, the magistrate judge issued a written report recommending that Fuenmayor-Are-valo’s guilty plea be accepted as “knowledgeable, voluntary, and supported by a factual basis.” Fuenmayor-Arevalo did not object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation.

On October 4, 2010, the district court accepted Fuenmayor-Arevalo’s plea and adjudged him guilty on both counts of the indictment.

C. Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea

On November 18, 2010, Fuenmayor-Arevalo moved to withdraw his guilty plea. His motion alleged that he was incompetent at the time of the plea. Fuen-mayor-Arevalo’s motion alleged that he only recently discovered his diminished mental capacity, which rendered his plea constitutionally unreliable and constituted a previously unknown defense. Fuenma-yor-Arevalo’s motion stated that he was an uneducated and illiterate Colombian fisherman. His motion acknowledged that he appeared to have understood the plea proceedings but alleged that the extent of his mental disability “was obscured” because he did not speak English. In November 2010, Fuenmayor-Arevalo had undergone a psychological examination by neuropsychologist, Dr. Yolanda Leon. According to Fuenmayor-Arevalo, Dr. Leon found that he was borderline mildly mentally retarded and possibly suffered from dementia. Although he attached Dr. Leon’s curriculum vitae to the motion, Fuenmayor-Arevalo did not submit Dr. Leon’s actual report or any other affidavit or evidence in support of the motion.

In opposition, the government argued that Fuenmayor-Arevalo had not provided adequate evidence that he was incompetent at the time he entered his plea. To the contrary, the record and evidence established that he was competent before, during, and after entering his plea. In support, the government attached investigative reports summarizing Fuenmayor-Arevalo’s post-arrest statements, which evidenced his rationality and understanding.

More specifically, according to a post-arrest report prepared after he was discovered aboard the fishing boat loaded with 70 kilograms of cocaine, Fuenmayor-Arevalo told federal agents, through a Spanish interpreter, that he trusted his captain and believed that the boat was simply a fishing vessel. In a proffer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation two months later, however, Fuenmayor-Areva-lo claimed that the captain told everyone what to say and that the captain would take responsibility so that everyone else would be set free. In the FBI proffer, Fuenmayor-Arevalo admitted that he was given 1.5 million Colombian Pesos before departing on the trip and that he was told that the money was for “picking up drugs.” Fuenmayor-Arevalo told the FBI that “he had no doubt what he was doing and that he needed the money to get back on his feet.”

The government also attached reports from FBI interviews, taken in November *221 2010, of three of Fuenmayor-Arevalo’s co-defendants, including his son-in-law and grandnephew. Fuenmayor-Arevalo’s son-in-law described him as intelligent, mentally competent, and a quick learner. Fuen-mayor-Arevalo’s son-in-law stated that Fuenmayor-Arevalo knew the trip was to transport drugs and specifically asked how much money he would receive and where the drugs were to be delivered. Similarly, a second codefendant stated that Fuenma-yor-Arevalo seemed mentally competent, knew right from wrong, and was capable of carrying on a normal conversation. Fuenmayor-Arevalo’s grandnephew stated that he was teaching Fuenmayor-Arevalo how to read and write and that Fuenma-yor-Arevalo was “an excellent student.”

D. Motion for Competency Hearing

In December 2010, before the district court ruled on the motion to withdraw his guilty plea, Fuenmayor-Arevalo filed a written motion for a court determination of his competency and again requested to withdraw his guilty plea.

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Bluebook (online)
490 F. App'x 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-pedro-lorenzo-fuenmayor-arevalo-ca11-2012.