United States v. Woldridge, 1:20-cr-00620

Walter Williams was charged in a 46-count indictment; he faced nine counts related to drug distribution, maintaining a drug premises, and firearms offenses.
Williams was arraigned November 5, 2020, and initially pled not guilty to Counts 21–29.
On April 7, 2022, Williams pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Parker to Counts 22, 23, 27, and 28 (possession with intent to distribute cocaine and THC; felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense).
Magistrate Judge Parker issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) recommending acceptance of the plea and entry of judgment; neither party filed objections within 14 days.
The district court (Judge Dan Aaron Polster) conducted a de novo review, adopted the R&R, found Williams competent and his plea knowing, voluntary, and supported by an adequate factual basis, and approved the plea agreement.
Williams was adjudged guilty on Counts 22, 23, 27, and 28; the matter was referred to U.S. Probation for a presentence investigation and sentencing was set for July 7, 2022.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Competency to plead	Williams was competent to enter plea	No competency objection raised	Court found Williams competent
Knowing and voluntary plea	Plea was entered knowingly and voluntarily	No objection; plea counsel did not dispute voluntariness	Court found plea knowing, intelligent, and voluntary
Adequate factual basis for plea	Sufficient factual basis supported the guilty plea	No objection to factual basis	Court found an adequate factual basis
Review and adoption of R&R	R&R recommended acceptance of plea and entry of judgment	No objections to R&R within 14 days	District court adopted R&R after de novo review; plea and plea agreement approved

None cited in the opinion.