JOHN PRESTON BAILEY, Chief Judge.
The above styled case is presently before the Court on defendant Barton Adams' Motion to Vacate [Doc. 571], Motion to Vacate Repatriation Order [Doc. 573], Motion to Vacate Protective Order [Doc. 576], Motion to Dismiss Counts 161, 1.63, and 164-169 [Doc. 580], Supplemental
In defendant's Motion to Vacate Repatriation Order [Docs. 571, 573], defendant argues that this Court should vacate the Protective Order requiring that the defendant either repatriate funds to the United States Government or provide an accounting of those funds to the Court. In support of his argument, defendant asserts that requiring either the repatriation, or the accounting would violate defendant's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. ([Doc. 571] at 4). In response, the Government argues that the Protective and Repatriation Orders [Docs. 25, 47] do not require the defendant to incriminate himself as he is not charged with receiving the funds—but with receiving the funds based on fraudulent billing. This Court agrees with the Government.
Defendant's first argument is that the requirement in the Civil Contempt Order for defendant to repatriate $1,655,558.00
Defendant's second argument is that "accounting for the transfer of funds is relevant" to the Government's case and, therefore, providing an accounting of those funds amounts to compelled self-incrimination because it helps the Government prove its case. Again, this Court disagrees as defendant has never been ordered to produce an accounting, but simply afforded the opportunity to do so in lieu of repatriation. In the Protective Order defendant was instructed to repatriate the funds held overseas [Doc. 25]; in the Re-patriation Order [Doc. 47], the Court found that defendant had until December 15, 2008 to either repatriate the funds or provide an accounting as to what happened to the funds held outside the United States [Doc. 47]; and in the Civil Contempt Order [Doc. 100], the Court found that defendant had failed to either repatriate the funds, or provide an accounting. In fact, defendant has never been required to provide
In defendant's Motion to Vacate the Protective Order [Doc. 576], the defendant argues the Protective Order issued by this Court should be vacated as the Protective Order expired fourteen days after its entry, and as the ex parte issuance of the Protective Order violated defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. ([Doc. 576] at 1). The Government argues that the Protective Order did not expire fourteen days after its entry because it was a protective order issued
In his motion, defendant notes that there are three relevant provisions of law: 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(4)(A); 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1)(A); and 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(2). Defendant's argument is essentially that because the Protective Order was applied for ex parte, it must have been submitted pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(2)
Defendant's second argument is that because the Government applied for the Protective Order ex parte, and defendant was not given a "meaningful opportunity to be heard" ([Doc. 576] at 6), the order violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights and is therefore void. This Court disagrees.
The two relevant provisions of law with regard to entry of the Protective [Doc. 25] and Repatriation [Doc. 47] Orders are 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(4)(A); and 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1)(A).
21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(4)(A) provides as follows:
21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1)(A) provides as follows:
Here, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(4)(A), this Court entered "a pretrial restraining order ... [ordering the] defendant to repatriate any property that may be seized and forfeited, and to deposit that property pending trial ... with the United States Marshals Service ..." ( [Doc. 25] at 1). Further, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1)(A), the Court entered a restraining order requiring defendant to either repatriate the sum found by the Grand Jury to be eligible for forfeiture, or to provide this Court with an adequate accounting of those funds. ([Doc. 47] at 2; [Doc. 100] at 6). (See 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1)(A) stating that "... the court may enter a restraining order or injunction... or take any other action to preserve the availability of property ... for which criminal forfeiture may be ordered under this section ..."). This Court acted, upon motion of the Government, to preserve the availability of those funds should the defendant be found guilty on the criminal charges.
The post-indictment protective order procedure found in 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1)(A) does not include any statutory requirement relative to notice, pretrial hearing, or duration. United States v. Gelb, 826 F.2d 1175, 1176 (2nd Cir.1987) ("Congress appears to have provided no durational limitation to its reach short of the termination of the related criminal prosecution"); United States v. Kirschenbaum, 156 F.3d 784, 792 (7th Cir.1998) ("Section 853(e)(1)(B) permits pre-indictment protective orders, but requires notice and an opportunity for a hearing by 'persons appearing to have an interest in the property.' It also requires that the court make findings similar/to those for issuing a preliminary injunction. Section 853(e)(1)(A), however, contains no such procedural requirements for post-indictment protective orders. And in United States v. Moya-Gomez, 860 F.2d 706, 729 (7th Cir.1988), we concluded that this omission was telling"); United States v. Musson, 802 F.2d 384, 386 (10th Cir.1986) ("It appears that Congress intended that a... [hearing relative to a forfeiture protective order is] required only when a restraining order is sought prior to an indictment.") (Emphasis in original). Thus, defendant's argument that he must be granted a "meaningful opportunity to be heard" ([Doc. 576] at 6) prior to the entry of the protective order is based solely on his Fifth Amendment right to due process, and his Sixth Amendment right to counsel of his choice.
Defendant has presented this Court with no controlling law in this circuit which
Accordingly, as the Protective Order was valid upon its entry and remains valid, and as the hearings on December 9, 2008, and March 19, 2009, provided the defendant with an opportunity to be heard (although not mandated by the law in this circuit), the Court finds that entry of the Protective Order did not violate defendant's Fifth or Sixth Amendment rights, and defendant's Motion to Vacate the Protective Order [Doc. 576] should be, and hereby is,
In defendant's Motion to Dismiss Counts 161, 163, and 164-169 [Doc. 580], the defendant argues that certain counts should be dismissed as the Government was required to either elect to pursue civil or criminal penalties against the defendant. The crux of the motion is that the new counts (161, 163, and 164-169) arise out of defendant's failure to comply with the Court's Protective and Repatriation Orders [Docs. 25, 47], and that because the Government sought to detain the defendant pursuant to civil contempt oh his actions—it cannot also seek criminal charges. In response, the Government argues that the statute allows the Court to impose
Defendant notes in his motion, that 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(4)(B) provides for the penalty for failure to comply with a protective order issued under the authority of 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(4)(A). The statute states:
Defendant argues that because the penalty provision of the statute states "shall be punishable as a civil or criminal contempt of court" that the Government cannot pursue civil contempt and also pursue additional criminal charges against defendant based on the same actions. ([Doc. 580] at 3). The defendant notes that if violation of the protective order constituted a separate criminal offense it "would not act as an enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 but would be grouped with other offenses of conviction under U.S.S.G. § 3D1.1 et sequitur." (Id.)
Defendant's arguments are interesting, but fail as the only reasonable interpretation of the statute. Initially, the Court heard oral argument on this issue at its February 25, 2011 hearing. The Court inquired of both sides about the statutory construction. The Court has reviewed the statute and other relevant authority and finds that because the additional counts do constitute separate criminal offenses
When drafting a statute, Congress has to be careful that its meaning is well conveyed. The fact that Congress stated, "may also result in an enhancement of the sentence of the defendant under the obstruction of justice provisions of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines ..." does not mean that an enhancement is the only possible result when a defendant fails to comply with the protective order. The statute uses the term "may result" not "may
The Second Superseding Indictment charges the defendant with the following acts:
Thus, the Court is faced—not with allegations that the defendant simply "failed to comply" with the Protective Order issued
Defendant's Supplemental Motion to Vacate the Protective and Repatriation Order [Doc. 609] is substantially the same as defendant's Motion to Vacate the Protective Order [Doc. 576]. The difference in the two motions appears to be that in the second motion, counsel argues that the maximum fraud proceeds subject to repatriation is $48,448.73. ([Doc. 609] at 8-9). Defendant arrives at this amount by extrapolating the sum from individual counts charged in the Indictment. (Id.) The Government, in response, argues that the relevant finding of the Grand Jury is the total amount of the proceeds of defendant's violations of Title 18 §§ 1341, 1343, and 1347. This Court agrees with the Government.
The Forfeiture Allegation of the Indictment states: "the Grand Jury finds [at least two million, two hundred fifty thousand, six hundred-fourteen dollars and thirty-one cents ($2,252,614.31)] is the amount of the proceeds of the defendant's violations of Title 18 §§ 1341, 1343, and 1347." ([Doc. 19] at 28
Based on the above, the Court finds that defendant's Supplemental Motion to Vacate the Protective and Repatriation Order [Doc. 609] should be, and hereby is,
In defendant's Motion for Release from Custody [Doc. 610], he argues that he should be released from custody because he has "taken all steps available to him in a good faith effort to purge himself of the contempt." ([Doc. 610] at 1). Defendant argues that he has attempted to compile complete records from various financial institutions with the intent to provide the Government with the accounting subject to a use immunity agreement. ([Doc. 610] at 7). At this Court's hearing on February 25, 2011, counsel for defendant represented to this Court that defendant was now unwilling to provide the Government with an accounting and that he would not accept any use immunity agreement with the Government. At the hearing, the Government was directed to respond to defendant's motion [Doc. 610].
The Government, in its response, argues that defendant's motion is now moot because substantial compliance (which defendant argued he was attempting to perform) is now no longer a possibility. Further, as an attachment to its response, the Government provided a letter from counsel for defendant which states: "Docket
Defendant argues in his Motion to Dismiss on Speedy Trial and Sixth Amendment Issues [Doc. 624] that there was unreasonable delay in adding Ms. Adams as a codefendant and, therefore, the delay resulting from the addition of Ms. Adams as a codefendant is not excludable pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(6), and the late addition of Ms. Adams to the case violates his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. [Doc. 624]. Additionally, defendant filed a Supplement to Sixth Amendment Speedy Trial Motion [Doc. 790], in which he argues that the Government intentionally delayed in adding Ms. Adams as a codefendant, and only added her as a codefendant when the defendant failed to enter a plea agreement with the Government. (Id.) In response to the first motion, the Government argues that there were new events which resulted in the filing of the Second Superseding Indictment, and the addition of Ms. Adams to the case. Accordingly, the Government argues, the delay in adding Ms. Adams was justified, and there has been no statutory or constitutional speedy trial violation.
Barton Adams was initially charged by a complaint filed on or about September 30, 2008. [Doc. 1]. An indictment was returned against Barton Adams on or about November 18, 2008. [Doc. 21]. Trial was set for January 21, 2009. [Doc. 32]. On December 3, 2008, defendant Barton Adams moved to continue the trial. [Doc. 39]. On December 10, 2008, the Court granted Barton Adams' motion to continue the trial and set a new trial date of March 31, 2009. [Doc. 47].
On March 13, 2009, the Court continued the trial date set for March 31, 2009. [Doc. 86]. On March 17, 2009, a Superceding Indictment was returned against Barton Adams. [Doc. 94]. Arraignment on the Superceding Indictment was held on March 19, 2009. [Doc. 98]. Trial was set for July 7, 2009. [Doc. 100]. On May 27, 2009, Defendant Barton Adams filed a motion to continue the July 7, 2009 trial date. [Doc. 148]. On June 5, 2009, the Court granted the motion to continue and set the trial for November 2, 2009. [Doc. 161].
On October 8, 2009, counsel for Barton Adams filed a motion to continue the trial date. [Doc. 264]. By order entered October 15, 2009, the Court denied the motion to continue. [Doc. 275]. On October 20, 2009, counsel for Barton Adams renewed the motion to continue. [Doc. 289]. By order entered October 23, 2010, the Court granted the motion to continue the trial and set a new trial date of February 8, 2010. [Doc. 297].
On December 28, 2009, the trial Court granted a defense motion to have Barton Adams evaluated for competency to stand trial and vacated the trial date. [Doc. 332]. A Second Superceding Indictment was returned against Dr. Barton Adams on March 16, 2010. [Doc. 409]. This indictment added Josephine Artillaga Adams as a defendant. [Doc. 409]. Arraignment was conducted on April 1, 2010. [Doc. 419]. Trial was set for June 1, 2010. [Doc. 424].
The Second Superceding Indictment charges a substantial number of fraud
On April 10, 2010, Josephine Adams filed a motion to continue the trial date. [Doc. 436]. That motion was granted and trial was set for August 23, 2010. [Doc. 444]. On June 6, 2010, Josephine Adams filed a motion to continue the trial date. [Doc. 473]. That motion was granted and trial was set for April 5, 2011. [Doc. 483].
The Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1), requires that a trial commence within 70 days from the date of filing and making public of the indictment. A defendant is entitled to a dismissal of the indictment unless trial is commenced within the time frame set out in 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1). Bloate v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 1345, 1346, 176 L.Ed.2d 54 (2010). Contained with 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h) are a number of time periods which are not counted toward the running of the speedy trial act. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(6) addresses periods of delay resulting from the joinder of a codefendant. It provides as follows:
There are four relevant areas of inquiry the Court should consider in determining whether there has been a violation of the Speedy Trial Act, or the Sixth Amendment:
Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 651, 112 S.Ct. 2686, 120 L.Ed.2d 520 (1992).
When a prosecution involves multiple defendants, the time excludable for one defendant under the Speedy Trial Act is excludable for all defendants. The statutory time frame set out in 18 U.S.C. § 3161 is tolled by motions to continue and pretrial motions made by a defendant and his or her codefendants, United States v. Kellam, 568 F.3d 125, 137 (4th Cir.2009). The Speedy Trial Act permits a reasonable period of delay when a defendant is joined to a codefendant for whom the time for trial has not run where no severance has been granted. See United States v. Carey, 746 F.2d 228, 230-31 (4th Cir.1984).
The Speedy Trial Act does not begin to run in multiple defendant cases until the last defendant is added. United States v. Walker, 1997 WL 358770 *1, *3 (4th Cir. June 30, 1997) (stating, "[l]n cases involving multiple defendants only one
The Ninth Circuit has addressed the outer limit of a reasonable time frame for adding codefendants, and opined that ninety days to add a codefendant is not unreasonable. United States v. Lewis, 611 F.3d 1172, 1176-77 (9th Cir.2010). Similarly, the Fourth Circuit has held that a delay of nine days is not unreasonable. United States v. Carey, 746 F.2d 228, 231. More recently, the Fourth Circuit has held that there must be a delay of at least 8 months to trigger Sixth Amendment speedy trial issues. United States v. Woolfolk, 399 F.3d 590 (4th Cir.2005). The Fourth Circuit has found no Sixth Amendment violation, however, in cases where the delay was much longer than eight months. See United States v. Grimmond, 137 F.3d 823, 827 (4th Cir.1998) (thirty-five months); United States v. Thomas, 55 F.3d 144, 149-150 (4th Cir.1995) (two and a half years).
In his motion, defendant addresses both the Speedy Trial Act, and the Sixth Amendment. As the two claims have different standards, the Court will address each in turn.
Defendant argues that the delay resulting from the addition of Ms. Adams as a defendant was "unreasonable" and, therefore, non-excludable under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(6). It is undisputed that defendant was joined with Ms. Adams as a codefendant, the time for trial for Ms. Adams had not run, and no motion for severance had been granted. Accordingly, the only issue is whether the delay resulting from the addition of Ms. Adams was "reasonable". See 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(6).
Defendant asserts that the delay in adding Ms. Adams was unreasonable because the Government must have known of Ms. Adams' allegedly illegal acts by February of 2009. The defendant bases this assertion' on the fact that the last charged `act' of Ms. Adams took place in February of 2009. (See [Doc. 409]). This Court is not persuaded that the Government would have known immediately of Ms. Adams actions, nor that the Government would have been immediately aware of her alleged involvement in the conspiracy.
The Court will "first examine whether the delay was necessary to achieve § 3161(h)[ (6) ]'s purpose `to facilitate the efficient use of judicial resources by enabling joint trials where appropriate.' We also review the length of the delay, and whether the defendant was prejudiced by the delay." United States v. Florez, 52 Fed.Appx. 23, 24-25, 25-26 (9th Cir.2002) (quoting United States v. Hall, 181 F.3d 1057, 1062 (9th Cir.1999)) (footnotes omitted).
First, the Court would note that currently the defendants are scheduled for a joint trial and that this Court has denied defendant's motion to sever, the abovestyled case is extremely complex and involves mail fraud, health care fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, obstruction of justice, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. (See [Doc. 409]). Given the fact that the trial clock for neither defendant had run at the time the Second Superceding Indictment was filed, the fact that defendants are scheduled for a joint trial, and the fact that were the Court to grant separate trials substantial judicial resources would be wasted as the Government would be allowed (and has indicated it would seek to) to prove all the underlying criminal conduct related to the conspiracy charges in each trial, the Court finds that the delay was necessary to "facilitate the efficient use of judicial resources by enabling joint trials where appropriate."
Second, the Court will address the length of the delay. This is an interesting inquiry given the defendant's personal propensity to request and otherwise require the Court to grant continuances. The delay caused by the addition of Ms. Adams as a defendant was from June 5, 2010, to April 5, 2011 (a total of ten months). This Court finds that such a delay given the complexity of the above-styled case is reasonable. Further, the Court notes that the defendant himself has caused the following delays:
• On November 18, 2008, defendant was indicted in the Northern District of West Virginia. On or about February 4, 2009, defendant created a conflict with his three retained counsel: Barry Coburn, Jeffrey Coffman, and E. Leslie Hoffman III.
• On March 17, 2009, a Superseding Indictment was filed. On or about March 19, 2009, Barry P. Beck was appointed to represent the defendant. On April 7, 2009, the Court appointed Jay T. McCamic as co-counsel to represent the defendant. On April 13, 2010, the Court granted Barry P. Beck's Second Motion to Withdraw as counsel after defendant attempted to create a conflict by claiming Mr. Beck tried to poison him and filing ethics complaints against him with the West Virginia Bar.
• On or about April 13, 2010, the Court appointed John J. Pizzuti as co-counsel to represent the defendant. On or about August 19, 2010, defendant created an irreconcilable conflict between himself and both his counsel Jay T. McCamic and John J. Pizzuti. This Court, having no other recourse, allowed both attorneys to withdraw.
• On August 25, 2010, Stephen D. Herndon and Scott C. Brown were appointed to represent the defendant. On or about January 16, 2011, defendant once again attempted to create a conflict with counsel. That conflict was resolved by the Court.
• On or about March 29, 2011, and March 31, 2011, defendant once again has attempted to create multiple conflicts with his current counsel. Those conflicts have yet to be resolved.
Thus, during the time that this Court had granted a continuance pursuant to the motions of Barton Adams' codefendant, defendant
Third, the Court will address whether the defendant was prejudiced by the delay. The defendant has pointed to no specific prejudice. Although the defendant is currently incarcerated, he is incarcerated on a civil contempt charge and can purge himself of that contempt at any time he so chooses. Further, as noted above, in February of 2011, counsel for defendant had no objection to another continuance, had yet to obtain a substantial amount of discovery, and had no experts available for trial (which counsel for defendant noted were necessary to defendant's defense). Additionally, counsel for defendant—with defendant's agreement—at the February hearing requested that the defendant be sent for another mental evaluation.
Based on all the above factors, the Court finds based on the totality of the circumstances that the delay resulting from adding Ms. Adams as a defendant was reasonable and, therefore, excludable pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act. According, defendant's motions [Doc. 624, 790] shall be
In his motion, defendant also challenges the delay resulting from the addition of Ms. Adams as violating his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. Defendant argues "The delay in adding a codefendant is more than the six months
The two cases cited by defendant, United States v. Persing, 318 Fed.Appx. 152 (4th Cir.2008) (citing United States v. Woolfolk, 399 F.3d 590 (4th Cir.2005)) (eight month delay triggers Sixth Amendment inquiry), and United States v. Lewis, 611 F.3d 1172, 1176-77 (9th Cir.2010) (ninety days not unreasonable), are distinguishable. First, in Persing, the Court
Likewise, in Woolfolk, the Court did not consider a delay in adding a codefendant. There, the Court considered a post-accusation delay where a defendant was not indicted on federal charges until eight months after federal detainer, warrant and complaint were filed (but where the defendant was being held in state custody on the federal detainer). Here, defendant's case was moving forward—and not ready for trial—during the alleged thirteen month "delay" in adding Ms. Adams. Thus, the Court finds that Woolfolk is likewise distinguishable. Here, the "delay" in adding Ms. Adams caused no delay at all to defendant's trial date.
Additionally, Lewis is distinguishable on its facts. The Court in Lewis found a delay of ninety days to add a codefendant was reasonable—but that delay was one
The Court has discussed above, however, there was a delay that resulted from the continuance requested by Ms. Adams after her addition as a codefendant. That delay amounted to a total of ten months. The Court will now consider whether the delay caused by the addition of Ms. Adams amounts to a violation of defendant Barton Adams' Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. There are four relevant areas of inquiry the Court should consider in determining whether there has been a violation of the Speedy Trial Act, or the Sixth Amendment:
Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 651, 112 S.Ct. 2686, 120 L.Ed.2d 520 (1992).
First, the Court will consider whether the delay of ten months was uncommonly long. The Court finds that it was not. Although the Fourth Circuit has indicated that a delay of eight months would trigger a Sixth Amendment inquiry, the Fourth Circuit has also found delays of much longer than eight months to be constitutional. See United States v. Grimmond, 137 F.3d 823, 827 (4th Cir.1998) (thirty-five months); United States v. Thomas, 55 F.3d 144, 149-150 (4th Cir.1995) (two and a half years). Here, the trial of defendant Barton Adams was purportedly delayed by ten months. The Court must look, however,
Second, the Court will consider whether the Government or the defendant is more to blame for the delay. As defendant argues in his Supplemental Motion [Doc. 790], the Government made representations to defendant with regard to the nonprosecution of Ms. Adams as early as August of 2009. The Court is not as convinced as defendant that the posturing of the Government with regard to the nonprosecution Ms. Adams necessarily translates into the Government's awareness that Ms. Adams was likely culpable. The Court will, however, consider for purposes of this analysis that the Government was prepared to indict Ms. Adams at that time. The Court is still left with the ten month delay resulting from Ms. Adams' motions to continue, which is effectively cut to four months because as of August 25, 2010—the defendant was no longer prepared to go to trial.
Third, the Court will consider whether defendant asserted his speedy trial rights. The Court has addressed this issue many times before in granting continuances in the above-styled case. Defendant has always asserted his speedy trial rights, whether or not defendant was at that time capable of putting forth a defense. The Court has found defendant's assertions to be pro forma objections. Nonetheless, the Court finds that defendant did at the time the Court granted a continuance assert his speedy trial rights.
Fourth, the Court will consider whether defendant has suffered prejudice as a result of the delay. The only evidence of prejudice that the defendant has presented to this Court is: "The defendant has been incarcerated since February of 2009—a total of 22 months. Interviews of witnesses reveal that several have difficulty with recall of events due to passage of time." ( [Doc. 624] at 4). The incarceration of defendant is a result of a civil contempt order. The defendant can purge himself of that contempt at any time he so chooses. The Court will, therefore, not consider defendant's incarceration prejudice.
Additionally, counsel's bald assertion that "several" witnesses have "difficulty with recall" is not sufficiently specific for this Court to find that defendant has suffered
Accordingly, after considering all the factors relevant to a Sixth Amendment speedy trial inquiry, this Court finds that the delay resulting from the addition of Ms. Adams as a codefendant was reasonable and did not violate defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial and defendant's defendant's motions [Docs. 624, 709] shall be
The Court would note that it is concerned with the amount of time it is taking to get Mr. Adams to trial. The majority of the delays, however, have been necessitated by actions of the defendant himself. In fact, as recently as March 31, 2011, the defendant has attempted to alert the Court to another conflict of interest with his counsel which defendant himself has produced. The merits of that motion will be addressed in another order, but the Court would note that it is disingenuous at best for defendant to complain to the Court about the length of time it is taking to get the above-styled case to trial; while at the same time going out of his way to create conflicts that may necessitate the defendant yet again changing counsel. The United States Constitution is a wonderful document which governs this Court and ensures that all defendants receive a fair and speedy trial. Defendants cannot, however, rely on the Constitution as a weapon to bully this Court into dismissing a valid indictment.
The Court is unwilling to play a pawn in defendant's attempts to manipulate the legal system into some error. The Government has been judiciously moving forward with the case and has on several occasions been ready for trial when counsel for defendant has not. Defendant has been appointed new counsel so many times that this Court cringes to think how many judicial resources have been wasted. The defendant will not defeat this prosecution by bullying this Court into trying the case when defendant does not have a competent defense, nor will he bully this Court into dismissing the Indictment before trial due to defendant's own acts which have delayed the trial process in this case. This Court remains a neutral arbiter, and will ensure the proper administration of the law.
In defendant's Motion to Vacate Civil Contempt Order [Doc. 641], he argues that the Civil Contempt Order should be vacated as the Court failed to make express findings relative to the elements of civil contempt. In response, the Government argues that the Fourth Circuit does not require such express findings be announced on the record, and argues that the Court need only find clear and convincing evidence supporting a finding of contempt. ([Doc. 771] at 5-6). This Court agrees with the Government.
Specifically, defendant argues that this Court never made a finding in its March 19, 2009 hearing that all four elements required to establish civil contempt were shown by clear and convincing evidence. ([Doc. 641] at 4). The elements required to establish civil contempt are:
First, the Court would note that there is no requirement that the Court explicitly lay out its reasons on the record for finding civil contempt. As noted by the Government, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a)(3) provides: "The Court is not required to state findings ... unless these rules provide otherwise." Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a)(3). So as to satisfy defendant, however, the Court will provide such findings now.
First, the Court found at the March 19, 2009 hearing, by clear and convincing evidence that there was a valid Order of this Court requiring the defendant to repatriate the sum of $2,252,614.31. The Court made that finding based on the fact that defendant and his counsel were present at the hearing on December 9, 2008 where the Court told defendant he had until December 15, 2008 to either repatriate the funds in accordance with the Protective Order [Doc. 25] or provide the Court with an accounting.
Second, the Court found at the March 19, 2009 hearing, by clear and convincing evidence that the Order of which defendant had knowledge (the Protective Order, and the Court's Order of Show Cause Hearing from the December 9, 2008 hearing), was in the Government's favor. The Court made that finding based on the fact that the Order(s) required the defendant to repatriate a sum of money and provide that money to the United States Marshals Service so that it would be available to the Government for forfeiture proceedings should the defendant be found guilty of the criminal charges.
Third, the Court found at the March 19, 2009 hearing, by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant by his conduct violated the terms of the Protective Order and Order of the Show Cause Hearing [Docs. 25, 47] and had knowledge of such violation. The Court made that finding based on the fact that the Order(s) directed the defendant to repatriate the sum of $2,252,614.31, or to provide the Court with an accounting, and at the hearing defendant admitted, through counsel, that he had failed to do either. The Court specifically found that there was clear and convincing evidence that there was a total of $1,655,588.00 unaccounted for that had been sent overseas and not repatriated. [Doc. 100].
Fourth, the Court found at the March 19, 2009 hearing, by clear and convincing evidence that the Government suffered harm as a result of defendant's failure to repatriate the monies, or otherwise comply with the Order(s). The Court made that finding based on the fact that the Government initially sought a protective order so as to ensure availability of the money for forfeiture proceedings, should the defendant be convicted on the criminal charges. Without compliance with the Protective Order, the money may be dissipated or otherwise placed outside the jurisdiction of the Court—and thereby made unavailable to the Government for forfeiture.
Accordingly, as the Court made all the proper findings pursuant to Ashcraft v. Conoco, Inc., 218 F.3d 288, 301 (4th Cir. 2000), with regard to the Civil Contempt proceedings, the Court finds that defendant's Motion to Vacate Civil Contempt
Accordingly, based on the reasoning stated above, the Court
It is so