Eastern District of California Blog

More EDCA Sentences Yesterday

Judge O'Neill sentenced a man to 18 months in prison for aiming a laser pointer at a CHP plane in U.S. v. Fee, No. 1:14-CR-071-LJO, a Visalia doctor to 57 months in prison for illegally dispensing oxycodone and structuring financial transactions in U.S. v. Brown, No. 1:13-CR-231-LJO, and a man caught with over 2 pounds of methamphetamine at the Modesto airport to 49 months prison in U.S. v. Rodriguez, No. 1:13-CR-063-LJO.

Judge Shubb sentenced a purported leader of the Nuestra Familia prison gang to 31 years and 3 months after his guilty plea to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine.  United States v. Hanrahan, No. 2:11-CR-119-WBS.

Crisp & Cole Defendant Sentenced to Three Years

Julie Dianne Farmer, the only defendant to go to trial in the Crisp & Cole mortgage fraud case, was sentenced Monday to three years in prison — 14 less than prosecutors had sought in what a federal judge called an emotional “nightmare” of a case.

Bakersfield Californian, 9/29/14.  [Disclosure: I'm involved in the defense.]

EDCA Court Sentences In Mortgage Fraud Scheme Case

A Roseville resident and three co-defendants have been sentenced in federal court in Sacramento for their roles in a scheme that victimized homeowners facing foreclosure.

U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb on Monday sentenced Jesse Wheeler, 37, of Roseville to three years in prison. The judge also sentenced Jewel Hinkles, also known as Cydney Sanchez, 64, of Los Angeles to five years in prison; Cynthia Corn, 61, of Oakland to two and a half years in prison; and Brent Medearis, 48, of Modesto to one year and 10 months in prison, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

Court documents show that Hinkles was the founder and general manager of Horizon Property Holdings LLC in Beverly Hills. From 2008 through 2010, Hinkles offered a service called “Save My Home” or “Homesaver” that promised to rescue financially distressed homeowners from foreclosure and reduce the principal on the homeowners’ mortgages. The firm offered the program directly to clients and through “affiliates,” who promoted and sold the program to clients, mostly in Northern California.

Sacramento Bee, 9/29/14

Sacramento Jury Trial Starts Monday In Criminal Firearms Case

Yesterday's Sacramento Bee has a story on a three defendant jury trial set to start in Judge Nunley's courtroom on Monday in United States v. McGowan, No. 2:12-CR-207-TLN:

It sounded pretty good in the rumor stage.

Whispered information from “sources” about the investigation led to publicity: Cops from four major police agencies in the Sacramento region were under federal investigation, suspected of engaging in illegal arms dealing.

But when area law enforcement chiefs gathered at the U.S. attorney’s office on June 1, 2012, to unveil an indictment before a crowd of reporters and camera operators, it was like someone stuck a pin in the balloon.

The case had been boiled down to one agency, two Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies, a firearms dealer and a man who allegedly purchased a single weapon. Officers in Sacramento and Roseville were allowed to resign and walk away.

* * *

Former Deputy Ryan McGowan, onetime licensed firearms dealer Robert Snellings Jr., and Ulysses Simpson Grant Early IV are scheduled to go on trial Monday in Sacramento federal court.

Sacramento Jury Acquits One Defendant, Convicts Another In Marijuana Cultivation Case

Yesterday, a Sacramento federal jury convicted one defendant and acquitted another in a trial before Judge Mendez involving the cultivation of over 1,000 marijuana plants.  United States v. Pena, No. 2:10-CR-0468-JAM.

Sad News

John Carroll passed away peacefully this morning after battling a tumor and related illnesses.  John was EDCA Federal Defender Heather Williams's husband and an Army veteran.  Heather has asked that anyone inclined to give a gift or flowers to donate instead in John's memory to one of his favorite charities, the Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity.  

Ninth Circuit En Banc Court Orders Habeas Relief For Miranda Violation

Here's the start of yesterday's Sacramento Bee story on this Ninth Circuit Miranda Opinion:

For the second time in two years, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a federal judge must order the release of one of three men found guilty for the 1999 murder of a beloved Sacramento minister and gay rights activist, unless local prosecutors want to retry him, because he was denied his constitutional right to an attorney while under police questioning.

An enlarged panel of the appellate court ruled by a 6-5 margin that Tio Dinero Sessoms’ “unambiguous” request for an attorney was unlawfully ignored by Sacramento police detectives.

The same panel with the same split had ruled the same way in August 2012. Just as it did the first time around, the appellate court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez with directions that he order the state to release Sessoms unless the district attorney in Sacramento wants to retry him.

Mixed Verdict In Sacramento Mortgage Fraud Trial

Yesterday, a Sacramento jury convicted the defendant of one count of mail fraud and acquitted him of another count of the same in a mortgage fraud trial before Judge Shubb. This is the case that hung in May.  United States v. Rotteveel, No. 2:11-CR-0427-WBS.

Another mortgage fraud defendant was convicted last week after a stipulated facts bench trial before Judge Nunley.  United States v. Tikal, No. 2:12-CR-362-TLN.  

New EDCA Judge On Coleman v Brown Prison Civil Rights Action

One of the state's landmark prison civil rights lawsuits has entered a new phase, with U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller taking over from retiring Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, who has presided over the case for its entire history.

The federal class action, filed nearly 25 years ago in the Eastern District, has not only worked to reform the care of mentally ill inmates in California but also helped put into motion the state's radical effort to reduce its prison population. Coleman v. Brown, CV90-520 (E.D. Cal., filed April 23, 1990).

Mueller, who is hailed as a thoughtful and patient jurist, will lend some fresh air to the long-running case that must still oversee the implementation of state prison reforms agreed upon in recent years, legal observers said.

"Judge Karlton, I think, did a very good job, but he had all the twists and turns," said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School criminal law professor. "Maybe she can get it on the right path."

It's not necessarily a surprise that Mueller is succeeding Karlton on the heavyweight case, experts say.

She was already appointed in April to replace Karlton on a three-judge panel partly created by Colemanplaintiffs that oversees the state's prison overcrowding. The panel, which also includes Senior U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of the Northern District and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt, ruled in 2009 that the state needed to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of capacity.

Part of it may simply be that Karlton and Mueller are neighbors in the courthouse, said Eastern District Chief Judge Morrison C. England Jr. It made transferring the massive amount of documents fromColeman an easier feat.

"She stepped up to the plate, and we're happy she did," England said.

SF Daily Journal, 9/15/14

Ponzi Scheme Defendants Get Long Prison Sentences

Three Ponzi schemers who robbed and pillaged the savings and lives of dozens of Sacramento-area families were sent away Friday for long stretches in prison. . . .

“This case is one of the most egregious in terms of taking advantage of people who will never, ever get back (financially) to where they were. They don’t have enough years left,” U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley said.

In sentencing Christopher Jackson to 30 years behind bars, Nunley told him, “You’ll go to prison, but that won’t do (the victims) any good.”

Co-defendants Michael Bolden and Victor Alvarado were sentenced to 20 years and 10 years, respectively.

Jackson, 46, of Elk Grove, was already in custody. The judge ordered deputy U.S. marshals to take Bolden, 60, and Alvarado, 53, both residents of Sacramento, into custody immediately after he imposed their sentences.

During a nearly nine-hour hearing Friday, Nunley made formal findings that the net loss to investors, ranging in number between 50 and 250, is in excess of $20 million.

* * * 

The 10-year gap between Jackson’s and Bolden’s sentences makes “it look like (Jackson) is being punished for going to trial,” Beevers told the judge. It is a well-worn argument on behalf of those who, in a multi-defendant prosecution, choose to take their chances with a jury and are convicted.

“You gambled and lost,” Nunley shot back. “Bolden was smart. He took advantage of a favorable offer (from prosecutors).”

Blackmon made an impassioned argument that Alvarado got involved due to “ignorance and inexperience,” and failed at first to recognize the true nature of the DMC operation.

“He won’t reoffend.” Blackmon insisted. The defense lawyer noted that his client has no prior criminal record.

To which Nunley observed, “He hit a home run the first time.”

Sacramento Bee, 9/13/14