United States v. Ryan Scharber

772 F.3d 1147, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 22788, 2014 WL 6807258
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedDecember 4, 2014
Docket14-2007
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 772 F.3d 1147 (United States v. Ryan Scharber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Ryan Scharber, 772 F.3d 1147, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 22788, 2014 WL 6807258 (8th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Ryan Scharber pled guilty to setting federal forest land afire in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1855, and maliciously attempting to commit arson of a building affecting interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). At sentencing Scharber claimed that a five year mandatory minimum sentence under § 844(i) did not apply because the government had failed to prove that he had acted with malice in attempting to commit arson. The district court 1 disagreed and sentenced him to the five year mandatory minimum term. Scharber now appeals his sentence. We affirm.

In August 2011 federal and state law enforcement agencies commenced a joint, investigation of a series of suspicious fires in Babbitt, Minnesota and the Superior National Forest. The fires involved structures and natural forested areas owned or operated by the United States Forest Service (USFS), the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), and private landowners. Some of the fires were started with complex combustible flares, while others were started with simple pocket lighters. The investigation eventually identified Scharber, who was the Chief of the Babbitt Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) at the time, as the arsonist.

*1149 On December 3, 2011 the owner of the Birch Lake Resort in Babbitt found Scharber trespassing on resort property. Scharber had parked his vehicle next to a storage garage at the resort and walked around to the backside of the garage. The resort owner approached Scharber, who identified himself as the Chief of the BVFD and said that he had driven onto the resort property in order to urinate. After Scharber deft the storage area, the resort owner found a gasoline tank leaning against the backside of the garage. He then notified law enforcement of his discovery.

Officials interviewed Scharber at BVFD headquarters. By the conclusion of the interview, Scharber had admitted setting nine fires on federal and state forest land, and an attempted arson at the Birch Lake Resort.- A three count information was filed in the District of Minnesota on October 11, 2013, charging Scharber with setting federal forest land afire in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1855; committing arson on federal forest land in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(f)(1); and maliciously attempting to commit arson of a building affecting interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). The third count under § 844(i) stated that Scharber “maliciously attempt[ed] to damage and destroy, by means of a fire, a building located on Mattila’s Birch Lake Resort in Babbitt, Minnesota, used in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce.”

On November 22, 2013- Scharber signed a plea agreement admitting to one count of setting federal forest land afire in violation of § 1855 and one count of maliciously attempting to commit arson of a building affecting interstate and foreign commerce in violation of § 844(i). The plea agreement stated that Scharber had violated § 844(i) by “maliciously attempting] to damage and destroy, by means of a fire, a building located on Mattila’s Birch Lake Resort in Babbit, Minnesota, used in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce.” It also stated that a violation of § 844(i) carried a “mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years.”

At the plea hearing the district court expressed its intent to accept the plea agreement and reviewed the factual basis for it. The prosecutor asked Scharber if he had placed a gas tank behind a storage garage at the Birch Lake Resort, and he responded, “I did.” The prosecutor also asked Scharber if he was “going to set fire to that [garage],” and he replied, “yes.” 'Following this colloquy, Scharber affirmed that he understood the terms of the plea agreement and that a violation of § 844(i) carried a five year mandatory minimum sentence. He then pled guilty to violating § 1855 and § 844(i). The district court accepted the plea, finding that it was “knowing and voluntary and supported by a sufficient factual basis.”

During sentencing Scharber claimed that he .was not subject to the five year mandatory minimum under § 844(i) because the government had failed to prove that he had acted with malice in attempting to commit arson at the Birch Lake Resort. The district court disagreed, concluding that the five year mandatory minimum applied to the facts and circumstances of the case. The information had charged Scharber with acting “maliciously” under § 844(i), and Scharber had admitted in his plea agreement that he had “maliciously attempt[ed] to damage and destroy, by means of a fire, a building-located on Mattila’s Birch Lake Resort ... used in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce.” The district court then sentenced Scharber to five years imprisonment followed by a one year term of supervised release. It also ordered Schar *1150 ber to pay $27,819.54 in restitution to the City of Babbitt, USFS, and MDNR.

Scharber appeals, arguing that the dis: trict court erred in applying the five year mandatory minimum sentence in § 844(i) because the government had failed to establish that he had acted with malice in attempting to commit arson at the Birch Lake Resort. Scharber also contends that the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors supported a downward departure from the mandatory minimum sentence.

Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(b)(3) provides that “[bjefore entering judgment on a guilty plea, the court must determine that there is a factual basis for the plea.” A guilty plea is supported by an adequate factual basis when the record contains “sufficient evidence at the time of the plea upon which a court may reasonably determine that the defendant likely committed the offense.” United States v. Gamble, 327 F.3d 662, 664 (8th Cir.2003). Facts obtained from “the prosecutor’s summarization of the plea agreement and the language of the plea agreement itself, a colloquy between the defendant and the district court, and the stipulated facts before the district court, are sufficient to find a factual basis for a guilty plea.” United States v. Bowie, 618 F.3d 802, 810 (8th Cir.2010). We have also considered “facts set forth in the presentence report to determine whether there was a sufficient factual basis for the plea.” United States v. Christenson, 653 F.3d 697, 700 (8th Cir.2011).

Here, Scharber pled guilty to maliciously attempting to commit arson at the Birch Lake Resort in violation of § 844(i).

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Bluebook (online)
772 F.3d 1147, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 22788, 2014 WL 6807258, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ryan-scharber-ca8-2014.