United States v. Peterson

896 F. Supp. 2d 305, 2012 WL 4473263, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141622
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 28, 2012
DocketNos. 10 Civ. 2567(DC), 04 Cr. 752(DC)
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 896 F. Supp. 2d 305 (United States v. Peterson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Peterson, 896 F. Supp. 2d 305, 2012 WL 4473263, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141622 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

CHIN, Circuit Judge.

On July 19, 2005, defendant Richard Peterson pled guilty to wire fraud and engaging in the business of insurance after having been convicted of a felony involving a breach of trust. On February 28, 2007, I sentenced him principally to 120 months’ imprisonment. Proceeding pro se, Peterson now moves; pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel.1 He also seeks to be resenteneed in light of an amendment to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. For the reasons that follow, the motion is denied.

BACKGROUND

A. The Facts

From approximately 2000 through 2003, Peterson, under the alias “Robert James,” [309]*309perpetrated a scheme to defraud by holding himself out as an insurance broker working with an insurance brokerage company, United Restaurant Services (“URS”)- (PSR at 6).2 Peterson’s license to engage in the insurance business in California had been revoked in May 1999. (Id. at 5). In November 2001, Peterson was convicted of bankruptcy fraud, a criminal felony involving dishonesty and a breach of trust. (Id. at 11; Ind’t ¶ 16). Nevertheless, even after his license was revoked and he was convicted of a felony, Peterson continued to induce various entities — typically restaurants and bars — to purchase fraudulently issued commercial liability insurance policies through URS. (PSR at 6).

The policies purportedly were placed with underwriters at Lloyd’s of London (“Lloyd’s”), but in fact Peterson did not have authorization from Lloyd’s to accept insurance policies on its behalf. (Id.). In addition, he collected premium payments for the policies and used the funds for personal expenses instead of holding the premiums in trust for Lloyd’s. (Id.).

On July 28, 2004, Peterson was charged with one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, one count of engaging in the insurance business after being convicted of a felony involving dishonesty or breach of trust, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1033(e)(1)(A), and one count of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2)(B)(i). (Ind’t 14, 16, 18).

B. Prior Proceedings

1. Guilty Plea and Sentencing

On July 19, 2005, Peterson pled guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement, to one count of wire fraud and one count of engaging in the business of insurance after having been convicted of a felony involving a breach of trust. (Plea Tr. at 23-32). The plea agreement provided that in return for Peterson’s guilty plea to counts one and two of the indictment, the government would move to dismiss any open counts against Peterson at his sentencing. (Plea Agmt. at 2). The plea agreement did not contain any Sentencing Guidelines calculations.

On December 5, 2006, nearly 17 months after Peterson pled guilty, the parties entered into a post-plea sentencing stipulation (“Sentencing Stipulation”) in which they stipulated to the loss amount and agreed that the Guidelines range was 46 to 121 months’ imprisonment. (Stip. at 2-3). The parties reserved the right to litigate [310]*310the applicability of a victim enhancement and the calculation of Peterson’s Criminal History Category, but agreed that those issues could be decided on papers without the need for a hearing pursuant to United States v. Fatico, 579 F.2d 707 (2d Cir. 1978). (Id. at 2-3; Gov’t 12/11/2006 Ltr.). The Sentencing Stipulation also contained the following waiver of Peterson’s right to challenge his sentence:

It is agreed (i) that the defendant will not file a direct appeal, nor litigate under Title 28, United States Code, Section 2255 and/or Section 2241, any sentence within or below the Stipulated Guidelines Range set forth above and (ii) that the Government will not appeal any sentence within or above the Stipulated Guidelines Range. It is further agreed that any sentence within the Stipulated Guidelines range is reasonable.

(Stip. at 5).

On February 28, 2007, before proceeding with sentencing, I questioned Peterson regarding the Sentencing Stipulation to ensure that he understood what he was doing. Peterson specifically acknowledged during the colloquy that he was waiving his right to challenge a Guidelines sentence:

THE COURT: In addition, in the agreement you waived, or gave up, your right to appeal or otherwise try to challenge any sentence within the stipulated range of 46 to 121 months. Do you understand that?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: In other words, if I sentence you to 121 months or anything less than that, you would have no right to appeal or otherwise try to challenge the sentence. Understood?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

(Sen. Tr. 5).

After hearing argument on the two outstanding issues, I applied a six-level victim enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2Bl.l(b)(2) and concluded that Peterson’s total adjusted offense level was 28 and his Criminal History Category was III. (Id. at 44). I sentenced Peterson principally to 120 months’ imprisonment, which was within the Guidelines range of 97 to 121 months. (Id.).

2. Appeal

Peterson appealed his conviction on two grounds. See United States v. Peterson, 288 Fed.Appx. 727 (2d Cir.2008) (summary order). First, he argued that the record lacked an adequate factual basis for both counts of conviction. Id. at 728. Second, he argued that he did not enter into the guilty plea knowingly and voluntarily because he did not know he was waiving his right to challenge venue on appeal. Id. at 729. The Second Circuit affirmed Peterson’s conviction on July 25, 2008. Id.3 He filed a petition for rehearing, which the Second Circuit denied on November 20, 2008. (Gov’t Opp. at 12). Peterson did not file a petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. (Pet. Mot. at 3).

3. The Instant Motion

On February 16, 2010, Peterson filed the instant motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence on the ground that he was denied [311]*311effective assistance of counsel.4 (Pet. Mot.). The government filed its response on October 8, 2010, and Peterson submitted a reply on February 9, 2011. (Gov’t Opp.; Pet. Reply). In his reply, Peterson also sought to be resentenced in light of a recent amendment to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual. (Pet. Reply at 16-21).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
896 F. Supp. 2d 305, 2012 WL 4473263, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-peterson-nysd-2012.