United States v. Richards

925 F. Supp. 1097, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6429, 1996 WL 249422
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedMay 8, 1996
DocketCr. Action No. 95-255 (HAA)
StatusPublished

This text of 925 F. Supp. 1097 (United States v. Richards) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Richards, 925 F. Supp. 1097, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6429, 1996 WL 249422 (D.N.J. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

HAROLD A. ACKERMAN, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on several motions by the defendant, Daniel Richards. More specifically, defendant Richards moves to dismiss various parts of the indictment on several grounds and makes several discovery requests. Prior to addressing the substance of the motions, it is helpful to briefly set forth the background of this case.

I. Background

The Farmers Home Administration (“FmHA”) 1 an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, provides funding under the Rural Housing Program for the construction and renovation of low income rental housing units in rural areas. The defendant was a general partner in six limited partnerships that purchased rural housing projects in Pennsylvania and New Jersey under this program. Each project was required to rent apartments to low income tenants at rates below the prevailing market rates in those rural areas. In return, the FmHA subsidized the interest payments on the construction loans so that the effective rate of interest on such loans is 1%, rather than the prevailing market rate.

At the inception of each project, the defendant entered into loan agreements (one per partnership) with FmHA. Pursuant to the loan agreements, defendant’s partnerships were required to establish four specific accounts for each project. The loan agreements provide that all of the accounts “shall be maintained in accordance with FmHA Regulation 7 CFR Part 1930-C.” See Defendant’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Motions Ex. A [hereinafter “Defendant’s Br.”].' One of these accounts was called the “reserve account.” The partnerships were required to pay 1% of the total indebtedness per year into the reserve account. Furthermore, the regulation provides that “[t]he reserve account is primarily used to meet the major capital expense needs of a project,” see id. Ex. F. at 108, that the prior written consent of FmHA be obtained before any disbursements can be made from reserve accounts, see id. at 111, and that “[a]ll funds received and held in any account ... shall be held in trust by the borrower for the loan obligation until used and serve as security for the FmHA loan or grant,” id. at 104. Also in connection with each project, the FmHA entered into security agreements with the re[1100]*1100spective partnerships. The agreements granted the FmHA “a security interest in and an assignment of its interest in the following collateral, including the proceeds thereof: A. All accounts,_” Id. Ex. B.

Defendant Richards admits that, in violation of the above mentioned regulation, he made periodic withdrawals from the reserve account without seeking or obtaining approval from the FmHA. As a result of this conduct, on February 9, 1995, the defendant received a “target letter” dated February 7, 1995, signed by Assistant United States Attorney, Howard Wiener, which informed the defendant that the “Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture has referred an investigative report to this office to determine whether [the defendant] should be prosecuted for various offenses, including the fraudulent conversion of property pledged to the Farmers Home Administration,” and that the United States Attorney’s Office would be presenting this matter to a federal grand jury. Defendant’s Br. Ex. C. Upon receiving the letter, the defendant contacted Mr. Wiener and agreed to meet with him that afternoon, February 9,1995.

Present at the meeting were the defendant, Mr. Wiener and the Department of Agriculture investigator. The defendant, who is an attorney himself but has not practiced criminal law, did not obtain an attorney for the meeting. Because the alleged fraudulent activity occurred in 1989 and early 1990, the five-year statute of limitations had already run as to the alleged fraudulent transactions that took place in 1989. Because the government was faced with the approaching expiration of the limitations period with respect to the alleged early 1990 transactions, Mr. Wiener advised Mr. Richards that the government would be presenting evidence to a federal grand jury in a matter of days. To alleviate this time pressure, the government proposed that Mr. Richards either appear before the grand jury within five days, await imminent indictment, or execute a waiver of the statute of limitations. Mr. Richards elected to waive the statute of limitations. Mr. Wiener drafted an agreement wherein the statute was tolled for 60 days from February 13, 1995 until April 14, 1995. See Defendant’s Br. Ex. D. Mr. Richards executed the agreement. The only specific statute mentioned in the agreement, and it appears the only specific statute discussed by the parties, was Title 18 U.S.C. § 658, which prohibits, among other things, the fraudulent conversion of property “mortgaged or pledged to” the FmHA.

Subsequently, the Office of the Federal Public Defender was appointed to represent Mr. Richards. On April 10, 1995, a second waiver was executed by the defendant, after consultation with his attorney, which tolled the limitations period from April 15, 1995 through May 15, 1995. On May 12, 1995, a third waiver was executed by the defendant, which tolled the limitations period from May 15 until May 31,1995. Both of these waivers incorporated the first waiver by reference.

During this time period, the parties engaged in plea negotiations. In her brief, the public defender represented that she told Mr. Wiener that, in the defendant’s view, § 658 was inapplicable to the facts of this ease.2 Defendant’s Br. 5. After being advised of the defendant’s position regarding the inapplicability of § 658, the government raised for the first time the possible applicability of Title 18 U.S.C. § 666 to the defendant’s alleged conduct. See Defendant’s Br. at 5; Government’s Br. at 10. The government asserted that the same underlying facts gave rise to a violation of § 666, which prohibits, among other things, the fraudulent conversion of property, valued at more than $5,000, from an organization that receives, in any one year, benefits in excess of $10,000 from a Federal program. See 18. U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(A).

The parties failed to reach a plea agreement, and on May 30, 1995, a grand jury returned a 12 count indictment. Counts 1 through 6 charged the defendant with violating §§ 666(a)(1)(A) and 2. Each count alleges a separate fraudulent conversion of funds from the reserve account of one of the defen[1101]*1101dant’s six partnerships, and that the partnership in each count received at least $10,000 in interest credit subsidies and rental subsidies from the FmHA per year. Counts 7 through 12 charged the defendant with violating of §§ 658 and 2. The factual allegations underlying these counts correspond to counts 1 through 6. In other words, the allegedly fraudulent transaction that provides the factual basis underlying count 1, also provides the factual basis of count 7, and so on. The difference between the two sets of charges is that in counts 7 through 12 it is alleged that the money in the reserve counts was “mortgaged or pledged to” the FmHA, and not that the partnerships were organizations that received over $10,000 in benefits from a federal program in any one year.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
925 F. Supp. 1097, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6429, 1996 WL 249422, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-richards-njd-1996.