United States v. Taniguchi

49 F. App'x 506
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 11, 2002
DocketNos. 00-4495, 00-4496
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 49 F. App'x 506 (United States v. Taniguchi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Taniguchi, 49 F. App'x 506 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

COLE, Circuit Judge.

This action stems from a conspiracy that led to a series of armed robberies in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. The D efendant-App ell ants, Jay Kevin Taniguchi and James Wesley White, argue that the evidence was not sufficient to convict them on a number of the counts for which they were indicted, that the district court improperly admitted certain evidence against them, and that the district court made several improper determinations at sentencing. Taniguchi and White now appeal their convictions and sentences.

This appeal presents eight issues for our review: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Taniguchi and White of brandishing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c); (2) whether the evidence was sufficient to establish a de minimis effect on interstate commerce to convict Taniguchi and White for interfering with commerce by threats or violence, in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951; (3) whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Taniguchi of bank larceny, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(b); (4) whether the district court properly admitted evidence against Taniguchi and White under Fed.R.Evid. 404(B); (5) whether the district court properly denied White’s motion to sever his trial from that of Co-defendant Taniguchi; (6) whether the district court properly found that Taniguchi had a “second or subsequent” § 924(c) conviction; (7) whether the district court properly imposed a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1 to Taniguchi’s sentence because he played a leadership role in the conspiracy; and (8) whether the superseding indictment was insufficient because it failed to include the aiding and abetting language of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and thus did not give White sufficient notice of the crimes charged in counts two, three, and seven of the indictment. None of these issues has merit. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Taniguchi and White were both part of a broad-ranging conspiracy to rob armored [509]*509car companies and local businesses of cash at gunpoint. Taniguchi was the mastermind behind the conspiracy, recruiting insiders and employees of the businesses that were targeted to assist in the execution of the robberies. White was one of the muscle-men of the operation, using his imposing size to carry out the actual robberies. According to the case presented by the government, the conspiracy resulted in five overt acts committed in and around the Columbus, Ohio area: (a) the December 18, 1998 robbery of an armored truck at the Columbus Convention Center (“Convention Center”); (b) the March 30, 1999 robbery of an armed truck at West-land Mall; (c) the May 31, 1999 robbery of the Red Zone Nightclub (“Red Zone”); (d) the mid-June 1999 burglary of the Red Zone; and (e) the summer of 1999 attempted robbery of an armored truck at River Valley Mall in Lancaster, Ohio. At least three other individuals, Mark Blankenship, Rami Shehadeh, and Lawrence Stevenson, were also part of this conspiracy, but their cases are not before us on appeal.

Taniguchi was the director of security at the Red Zone in the summer of 1998, while White, Shehadeh, and Blankenship were all employed as bouncers at the club. Blankenship was also employed by Metropolitan Armored Car (“Metropolitan”) as a courier. According to Blankenship, Taniguchi approached him in the fall of 1998 to discuss robbing one of the Metropolitan armored trucks. Ultimately, Blankenship, Taniguchi, White, and Shehadeh agreed on a plan where Blankenship would be “robbed” while he was acting as courier for Metropolitan and stocking automated teller machines inside the Convention Center. On December 18, 1998, White drove the robbery vehicle to the Convention Center, and Shehadeh took $60,000 in cash from Blankenship—along with Blankenship’s weapon—before leaving the scene with White. The money was later divided by the four conspirators into five shares, with Taniguchi claiming that the fifth share was for an unnamed participant.

On another occasion, the four conspirators agreed to stage another robbery from Metropolitan while it was stocking automated teller machines at Westland Mall. To plan for the robbery, Blankenship communicated the armored truck’s schedule to Taniguchi and White. Blankenship and another Metropolitan employee, Terry Hupp, arrived at the mall on March 30, 1999. After Hupp entered the mall to deliver the cash, White held him up and was seen exiting the mall holding two bags containing money cassettes for the automated teller machines. The conspirators later split nearly $100,000 in proceeds at the Red Zone.

In May of 1999, a mutual friend introduced Lawrence Stevenson to Taniguchi. Phone records confirm that Stevenson and Taniguchi spoke a number of times during this period—allegedly discussing ways to rob the Red Zone. The plan the two ultimately agreed on was for Stevenson to break into the owner’s office at the nightclub, lie in wait for Taniguchi and Chris Corso (the owner) to enter the office, and then at gunpoint (with a gun provided by Taniguchi) tie up Taniguchi and Corso with duct tape before stealing the evening’s proceeds. On May 31, 1999, the plan went according to schedule, and Cor-so was robbed of the club’s proceeds. At a meeting the next day, Stevenson returned the gun and gave Taniguchi his share of the proceeds of the robbery.

In mid-June, 1999, Stevenson, Taniguchi, and White began to plan a second robbery of the Red Zone.1 Taniguchi relayed to Stevenson the layout of the club [510]*510and where the office safe was located. Shortly thereafter, Stevenson broke into the Red Zone office, hid in a crawl space until everyone had left the club for the evening, removed the safe, and carried it outside the club to White. Later White and Stevenson opened the safe at a friend’s apartment, and Taniguchi arrived to receive his share of the money.

Taniguchi and White also planned a third armored truck robbery at the River Valley Mall for the summer of 1999. After considerable planning, White and Taniguchi called the robbery off when the armored truck did not arrive on schedule.

The United States also alleges that Taniguchi and White were engaged in a continuing conspiracy of planning various robberies that extended through at least January 2000.

B. Procedural History

On March 14, 2000, a grand jury for the Southern District of Ohio returned a six-count indictment against defendants Taniguchi and White. Count one charged Taniguchi and White -with violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, for their participation in a broad conspiracy involving multiple robberies; Count two charged Taniguchi and White with violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951

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Bluebook (online)
49 F. App'x 506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-taniguchi-ca6-2002.