United States v. Tonia Williams

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedNovember 15, 2018
Docket17-13503
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Tonia Williams (United States v. Tonia Williams) 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. Tonia Williams, (11th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 1 of 20

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 17-13503 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 3:16-cr-00003-TCB-RGV-24

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

TONIA WILLIAMS,

Defendant-Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ________________________

(November 15, 2018)

Before JORDAN, JILL PRYOR and HULL, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 2 of 20

Tonia Williams appeals her conviction for attempting to distribute

methamphetamine and cocaine; she also appeals her sentence. She contends that

the district court should have dismissed the indictment because the government’s

conduct in carrying out the reverse sting operation in this case was outrageous and

violated her constitutional rights. She also challenges the court’s application of a

two-level sentencing enhancement based on her supervisory role in the criminal

activity. After careful review, we affirm Williams’s conviction, vacate her

sentence, and remand for resentencing.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Williams’s Criminal Offense

This case arises out of an FBI investigation into Georgia prison guards who

were smuggling contraband into state prisons. The FBI eventually redirected the

investigation into guards’ conduct occurring outside prisons. The FBI created a

reverse sting operation in which a confidential human source (“CHS”) posed as a

high-level drug trafficker and asked prison guards to assist him in transporting

methamphetamine and cocaine to other purported drug traffickers. The guards

were told to wear their uniforms during the transactions to protect the drug deals

from law enforcement interdiction. The CHS paid the guards for their assistance.

Williams, a corrections officer with the Georgia Department of Corrections,

was arrested in the reverse sting operation. Another prison guard, co-defendant

2 Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 3 of 20

Travonne Ferrell, approached Williams about participating in the scheme.

Although she initially declined, Williams agreed and assisted the CHS on three

occasions in transporting substances that she believed to be methamphetamine and

cocaine. For each transaction, Williams wore her guard uniform. She was given

the opportunity to back out before each transaction but opted to participate.

In the first transaction, Ferrell and Williams met the CHS in a parking lot in

Locust Grove, Georgia. When Ferrell and Williams entered the CHS’s vehicle, he

told them that they would be delivering three kilograms of methamphetamine and

three kilograms of cocaine to Stockbridge, Georgia.1 The CHS explained that

Williams would ride with the CHS and transport the cocaine while Ferrell would

follow in his own vehicle and transport the methamphetamine. When they arrived

at the parking lot in Stockbridge, Ferrell and Williams placed bags containing the

drugs in another vehicle. The CHS paid Williams $1,500 for her assistance.

While driving to Stockbridge, Williams told the CHS that she knew two

other prison guards who might want to assist in transporting drugs. Williams later

sent the CHS text messages containing the phone numbers for two guards,

Phoenicia Minor and Tacowan Fluellen.

1 For each of the transactions, the packages the CHS gave Williams contained counterfeit methamphetamine and cocaine. We nonetheless refer to the substances as methamphetamine, cocaine, or drugs for ease of reference.

3 Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 4 of 20

In the second transaction, Williams and Minor met the CHS in a parking lot

in Locust Grove. The CHS gave Williams a bag containing three kilograms of

cocaine and Minor a bag with two kilograms of methamphetamine. The CHS

drove to Stockbridge with Minor in his vehicle, while Williams followed in her

vehicle. When they arrived at a parking lot in Stockbridge, Williams and Minor

placed the bags containing the drugs in another vehicle. This time Williams was

paid $3,000.

Williams and Fluellen participated in the third transaction. They met the

CHS in a parking lot in Locust Grove. When they entered the CHS’s vehicle, he

instructed them that they each would transport a bag containing two kilograms of

cocaine and one kilogram of methamphetamine. The CHS drove to Stockbridge

with Fluellen in the CHS’s vehicle, while Williams followed in her vehicle. When

they arrived at the parking lot in Stockbridge, Williams and Fluellen placed the

bags containing the drugs in another vehicle. The CHS again paid Williams

$3,000. This was the last transaction in which Williams participated.

The government indicted Williams and more than 20 other prison guards

who assisted the CHS in similar drug transactions. A grand jury changed Williams

with three counts of attempting to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, in

violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2, and three counts of

4 Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 5 of 20

affecting commerce by extortion under color of official rights, in violation of

18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).

Williams moved to dismiss the indictment, claiming that the government

engaged in outrageous conduct and violated concepts of fundamental fairness by

creating a reverse sting operation that targeted individuals who had not previously

engaged in illegal conduct. A magistrate judge recommended that the district court

deny her motion. Williams objected to the magistrate judge’s recommendation.

The district court overruled the objection and denied the motion to dismiss.

After the district court denied her motion to dismiss, Williams pled guilty to

one count of attempting to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine. At the plea

hearing, the government described how Williams had transported what she

believed to be a total of eight kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of

methamphetamine in exchange for cash. The government also explained that

Williams was told and believed that her uniformed presence would protect the drug

deals by making it less likely that law enforcement officers would search her

vehicle if there was a stop. Williams agreed with the government’s description of

her conduct.

B. Williams’s Sentencing

After Williams pled guilty, the probation office prepared a presentence

investigation report (“PSI”). Based on the drug quantity, the PSI calculated

5 Case: 17-13503 Date Filed: 11/15/2018 Page: 6 of 20

Williams’s base offense level as 34. The PSI applied a two-level enhancement

based on Williams’s role as an “organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor” of the

criminal activity. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c). The PSI explained that the supervisory

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