Case Information
*1 In the
United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Nos. 98-1252, 98-2053, 98-2508, 98-2709 & 98-4060
United States of America,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Roberto Febus, a/k/a Bobby Santos; Efrain Santos, a/k/a Frank Santos, a/k/a Puerto Rican Frank; Benedicto Diaz, a/k/a Ito; Jose Santos; and Angel Morales, a/k/a Wiso,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. No. 96 CR 44--James T. Moody, Judge.
Argued/* October 28, 1999--Decided July 14, 2000 Before Ripple, Manion, and Evans, Circuit Judges.
Manion, Circuit Judge. Efrain Santos, Roberto Febus, Benedicto Diaz, Angel Morales, and Jose Santos ran an illegal lottery. For their roles, a jury convicted Efrain Santos and Febus of conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling enterprise, and of conducting an illegal gambling enterprise. The jury also convicted Efrain Santos of laundering the proceeds of the illegal lottery. Diaz and Morales pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder the gambling proceeds. And Jose Santos/1 was convicted of conspiracy and of aiding and abetting an illegal gambling business. All defendants appeal, and we affirm.
I.
Efrain Santos operated an illegal lottery, known as a "bolita," in East Chicago, Indiana from the 1970’s until 1994. He based the bolita’s winning numbers on the daily Pick Three and Pick Four Illinois lottery games, and on the Puerto Rican Lottery. He first worked for a man named Ken Eto who ran a larger bolita in Indiana and Illinois in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, until Santos took over the Indiana operation in the 1970’s. *2 While Santos was in prison on narcotics charges during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Roberto Febus served as the bolita’s interim leader until Santos returned in 1984.
In Santos’s bolita, runners accepted bets primarily in bars and restaurants in East Chicago, withheld their commissions from the cash, and delivered the money to the collectors, Benedicto Diaz and Angel Morales. Diaz and Morales collected the betting slips and money from the runners at a bar and delivered the proceeds to Santos. Santos used some of the proceeds to pay the salaries of Diaz and Morales, and to pay the bolita’s winners.
The FBI and IRS began investigating the bolita in January 1992. On March 30, 1993, the FBI searched Santos, his residences and vehicles, as well as Diaz and Morales and their vehicles, and discovered betting slips, ledgers, cash and other evidence of a gambling enterprise. Although the lottery shut down for a couple of weeks after the search, Diaz and Morales resumed the operation by collecting at a different location. On June 22, 1993, the FBI searched Santos, Diaz and Morales again, and found further evidence of the illegal gambling scheme. But even after this second search, the lottery continued. And after conducting a third search on October 12, 1993, the FBI discovered more betting slips, cash, and other evidence of the bolita.
Presented with this and other evidence, a federal grand jury returned a ten-count indictment against Santos, Febus, Diaz and Morales. Count 1 charged them with conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business from January 1989 to December 1994, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 371. Count 2 charged the defendants with conducting an illegal gambling business, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1955. Count 3 charged Santos, Diaz, and Morales with conspiracy to use the proceeds of an illegal gambling business to promote the carrying on of the business, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1956(h). Count 4 charged Santos and Diaz with money laundering by completing a financial transaction with the proceeds of the illegal gambling business with the intent to promote the carrying on of the business, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1956(a)(1)(A)(i). Count 5 charged Santos and Morales with money laundering to promote the gambling business, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1956(a)(1)(A)(i). And Counts 6-10 constituted more money laundering charges.
A jury convicted Santos of Counts 1 through 5, and Febus of Counts 1 and 2; the district court sentenced Santos to 210 months in prison, and *3 Febus to 30 months in prison.
Diaz pleaded guilty to Count 3 and, as part of his plea agreement, the government dismissed the other counts against him and agreed to recommend a downward departure (under sec.5K1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines) in exchange for his truthful testimony against his co-defendants. Diaz testified at Santos’s trial, but the government declined to file the sec.5K1.1 motion, concluding that his testimony was inconsistent, untruthful, and bolstered his co-defendants’ defense. Diaz moved to withdraw his plea agreement, alleging that the government breached it by failing to file the sec.5K1.1 motion, but the district court denied his motion and sentenced him to 108 months in prison.
Like Diaz, Morales pleaded guilty to Count 3, entered into an identical plea agreement, and testified at Santos’s trial. The government filed the sec.5K1.1 motion, and then called him to testify at Santos’s sentencing hearing as well. After Morales testified inconsistently at the sentencing hearing, the government moved to withdraw its sec.5K1.1 motion, which the district court granted. Morales filed a motion to reconsider, which the district court denied and sentenced him to 151 months in prison. This consolidated appeal followed.
II.
A. Efrain Santos
Efrain Santos appeals only his money laundering convictions, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of money laundering because his cash payments to the bolita’s collectors and winners were essential transactions of the illegal gambling business, and thus cannot also constitute transactions under the promotion provision of the money laundering statute, 18 U.S.C. sec.
1956(a)(1)(A)(i).
"A defendant bears an extremely heavy burden in
attempting to overturn a conviction on the basis
of insufficient evidence;" United States v. Vega,
Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of *4 some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity--
(A)(i) with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity [shall be punished].
To prove money laundering under this promotion
provision, the government must show that the
defendant: 1) conducted a financial transaction
with the proceeds of an illegal activity; 2) knew
that the property represented illegal proceeds;
and 3) conducted the transaction with the intent
to promote the carrying on of the unlawful
activity. United States v. Emerson,
While Santos acknowledges that he used illegal
proceeds to pay the bolita’s collectors and
winners, he contends that his transactions merely
completed the substantive offense of illegal
gambling, and thus did not "promote the carrying
on" of the bolita. He claims that since the money
laundering statute created the separate crime of
money laundering, it only punishes the practice
of reinvesting the proceeds of an already
completed unlawful activity to promote the
expansion of that unlawful activity, and thus the
government failed to prove that his transactions
satisfied the statute’s promotion requirement.
A transaction satisfies the promotion provision
of the money laundering statute if it constitutes
"the practice of plowing back proceeds of [the
illegal activity] to promote that activity."
United States v. Jackson,
In this case, the government established that
Santos reinvested the bolita’s proceeds to ensure
its continued operation for over 5 years, well
beyond the 30 days required to complete the
substantive offense of illegal gambling under 18
U.S.C. sec. 1955. Furthermore, his own records
show that the income to his bolita expanded from
approximately $250,000.00 per year for the years
1989 to 1992, to $330,000.00 for 1993, and up to
$410,000.00 for 1994. His payments to his
collectors, Diaz and Morales, compensated them
for collecting the increased revenues and
transferring those funds back to him. And his
payments to the winning players promoted the
bolita’s continuing prosperity by maintaining and
increasing the players’ patronage. See United
States v. Cole,
Benedicto Diaz appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his plea agreement, arguing that since his testimony fulfilled his side of the bargain by assisting the convictions of his co-defendants, the government breached the agreement by failing to file a downward departure motion for him under sec.5K1.1./3
We review the district court’s denial of a
motion to withdraw a guilty plea for abuse of
discretion. United States v. Schilling, 142 F.3d
388, 394 (7th Cir. 1998). A court may permit a
defendant to withdraw a guilty plea if the
defendant provides "any fair and just reason."
Id. at 398 (citing United States v. Abdul, 75
F.3d 327, 329 (7th Cir. 1996)). And we will
uphold the district court’s findings about
whether the defendant has provided a fair and
just reason unless they are clearly erroneous.
Schilling,
In this case, Diaz’s plea agreement provided in part:
I further understand that at the time of sentencing, in exchange for my cooperation, the United States of America will file a departure motion with the Court pursuant to guideline section 5K1.1 and Title 18, United States Code, *6 Section 3353(e); I further understand that if the Court accepts this plea agreement and grants the government’s 5K1.1 motion, the government will recommend a departure which places my final guideline sentencing range between level 1 to level 15 on the guideline sentencing table.
However, I understand that this recommendation is based upon my continuing cooperation with the United States and my agreement to always provide truthful and complete information and testimony; I also understand that if I fail to provide complete, truthful and candid information and testimony as required by this plea agreement, the government will not be obligated to file the departure motion and I will not be allowed to withdraw my guilty plea.
(Plea Agreement para.9(i).) At his plea hearing,
Diaz also acknowledged that if he failed to
testify "fully and completely and truthfully,"
the government would have no obligation to file
the departure motion. Thus, under the terms of
the agreement, the government validly conditioned
its obligation to file the sec.5K1.1 motion on
Diaz’s "complete, truthful and candid" testimony.
See United States v. Lezine,
At the trial, Diaz testified that he never really thought that the lottery was illegal./4 The district court found that Diaz’s trial testimony was inconsistent with earlier statements he made under oath, and bolstered the defense of his co-defendants. His trial testimony contradicted: 1) his plea hearing (where he admitted that he knowingly conspired to launder the proceeds of an illegal enterprise); 2) his earlier statements to co-conspirators about his fear of going to jail for participating in the lottery; and 3) his earlier admission to an FBI agent that he knew that the bolita was illegal after the FBI’s March 30, 1993 search. And the fact that Diaz moved his collection operations to another bar after the FBI search further demonstrates that he knew that the lottery was illegal at that time. Moreover, his trial testimony supported Santos’s defense theory that Santos and his co-conspirators had always thought that the lottery was legal. Therefore, the district court did not commit clear error in finding that Diaz failed to testify completely or truthfully.
The "overarching theme" of Diaz’s plea agreement
was his complete, truthful, and candid testimony.
See United States v. Ramunno,
C. Angel Morales
On appeal, Morales argues that he was denied: 1) his right to an interpreter in violation of the Court Interpreter’s Act; 2) his Sixth Amendment right to counsel when he appeared to testify at Santos’s sentencing hearing; and 3) his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel.
1. The Court Interpreter’s Act.
Morales argues that since English is not his primary language, he was denied his right to an interpreter in violation of the Court Interpreter’s Act, 28 U.S.C. sec. 1827. The Act requires the court to provide an interpreter for a defendant who primarily speaks a language other than English, 28 U.S.C. sec. 1827(d)(1)(A); its purpose is to ensure that the defendant can comprehend the proceedings and communicate effectively with counsel. United States v.
Sanchez,
Morales first contends that he was unable to comprehend his plea colloquy without an interpreter, and thus he did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his right to appeal his sentence. According to Morales, the following exchange demonstrates that it was difficult for him to comprehend his waiver:
Q And if I [the district court] sentence you within the appropriate range, are you giving up or waiving your right to appeal your sentence on any ground and also agreeing not to contest your sentence in any post-conviction proceeding?
A No.
Q You’re not. Read paragraph M and see if you want to change that answer. (Conference between counsel and client, not within hearing) A Yeah, I--my right to appeal.
(Tr. 23-24.)
The complete transcript of his plea hearing, however, shows that he understood the proceedings. At the start of the hearing, the court asked Morales whether he can "speak, read, write and understand English," and he answered, "I get by." He also confirmed that he fully discussed his indictment and guilty plea with his counsel. When the court asked him if he wanted to review the plea agreement with his attorney once more before the court proceeded with further questions, he declined the opportunity. After Morales consulted with his attorney, the court carefully reviewed the waiver with him again to confirm that he understood that provision: Q Okay. If you’re sentenced within the appropriate guideline range, as I understand this agreement, you are expressly giving up your right to appeal your sentence and you’re also giving up your right to contest your sentence under any post-conviction proceeding, is that true?
A Yes, sir.
Q Okay. Do you understand what all that means? A Yes.
(Tr. 24.) The court continued: Q Do you fully understand the terms of this plea agreement that we went over?
A Yes, sir.
Q No doubt about it?
A No doubt about it, sir.
(Tr. 25-26.) Again, the court confirmed that Morales understood that he was waiving his right to appeal:
Q Now, normally, under certain circumstances, you or the Government would have the right to appeal any sentence that I impose. But you do understand, sir, that by entering into your plea agreement with the Government and entering your plea of guilty here today, you are giving up your right to appeal your sentence?
A Yes, sir.
Q We’ve gone over that before. Just want to make sure you understand that?
A Yes, I understand.
(Tr. 30.) And the following exchange occurred at the conclusion of the court’s thorough colloquy: Q Do you have any questions of me about anything you and I talked about here this morning?
A No, sir.
Q You understand everything?
A I understand.
Q Fully and completely?
A No doubt about it.
Q No doubt about it?
A No doubt about it.
(Tr. 44-45.)
Morales’s clear and responsive answers throughout the colloquy demonstrate that he comprehended the proceedings, communicated effectively with his counsel, and knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal his sentence. Thus, the district judge did not abuse his "wide discretion" by failing to appoint an interpreter to assist Morales at his plea hearing.
At the subsequent trial, however, the government ensured that Morales testified through an interpreter after he stated that it was difficult for him to speak English, which he could understand only "a little bit." But when he later testified for the government at Santos’s sentencing hearing, he did so without an interpreter; and according to Morales, that caused him to become confused, and to inadvertently testify inconsistently with his prior statements and thus squander his downward departure.
At his plea hearing and at the trial, Morales testified that he began collecting bets for Santos in his bolita in 1984. But at Santos’s sentencing hearing, Morales testified that it was Roberto Febus (not Santos) who hired him to work in the bolita in 1984, and that Santos did not get involved until late 1987 or early 1988.
Moreover, when Morales testified in English at Santos’s sentencing hearing, he affirmed that he was positive that Santos started with the bolita in late 1987 or early 1988, because he recalled that it was after the date of his daughter’s wedding on March 28, 1987. The government concluded that Morales’s testimony was inconsistent, untruthful,/5 and material to the *10 issue of Santos’s sentencing, and thus moved to withdraw its sec.5K1.1 recommendation, which the district court granted.
The record demonstrates that Morales’s testimony at Santos’s sentencing hearing was deliberate, and not the result of confusion or mistake. His testimony that Santos was involved in the bolita in 1984 was consistent at his plea hearing (without the aid of an interpreter) and at the trial (with an interpreter). At Santos’s sentencing hearing, the fact that Morales’s testimony linked Santos’s involvement with the bolita to sometime after his daughter’s wedding day in 1987 (a special and memorable occasion for Morales) shows that his testimony was intentional, and not the result of a misunderstanding. And finally, when Morales claimed that he had difficulty speaking and understanding English at his own sentencing hearing (which occurred after Santos’s sentencing hearing), the district judge (who also presided at Morales’s plea hearing, at the trial, and at Santos’s sentencing hearing) responded that he and Morales "have understood each other from the get-go. Every time I see him, he speaks English and he understands me. I have had no indication in the past that was not the case." While we acknowledge that the conflicting evidence on this issue makes it difficult to resolve, we conclude that Morales had a sufficient command of English to comprehend his proceedings and to testify effectively, and thus was not entitled to an interpreter under the Court Interpreter’s Act./6 2. Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
Morales next argues that his attorney’s failure
to appear and represent him at Santos’s
sentencing hearing violated his Sixth Amendment
right to counsel. The Sixth Amendment guarantees
the defendant the right to counsel at every
critical stage of "the proceedings against him,"
Coleman v. Alabama,
According to Morales, his appearance at Santos’s
sentencing hearing was a critical stage in his
proceedings because the government required his
testimony under the plea agreement, and thus his
downward departure was still at risk. But Morales
was merely a witness at Santos’s sentencing
hearing, which was not an adversarial process
"against him." And while he faced losing his
*11
downward departure if he testified falsely, that
does not entitle him to his counsel’s assistance,
for the Sixth Amendment "is inapplicable to other
types of proceedings, even though they may have a
critical impact on the destiny of the
individual." Ganz v. Bensinger,
3. Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel.
For the first time on appeal, Morales raises
several reasons why he was denied his Sixth
Amendment right to the effective assistance of
counsel. While "it is not our province as an
appellate court to make findings regarding
counsel’s performance when, unlike the district
court, we have not had the benefit of actually
having observed it," we will resolve this issue
"when, as here, both parties ask us to resolve
the matter, the question has been briefed and
argued, and we have the entire trial record
before us." United States v. Reiswitz, 941 F.2d
488, 495 (7th Cir. 1991)./7 "In reviewing a
claim of ineffective assistance, we apply the
familiar two-pronged test of Strickland v.
Washington,
Morales first contends that his counsel was
ineffective by failing to refresh his
recollection of his prior testimony before
Santos’s sentencing hearing, and thus he
mistakenly testified to the wrong date of
Santos’s involvement in the bolita, and
squandered his downward departure. But since
Morales had already testified consistently at his
plea hearing and at the trial that he began
working as a collector for Santos in the bolita
in 1984, his counsel had no reason to believe
that he would need to refresh his recollection.
Additionally, the record does not indicate that
Morales informed his counsel that he needed to
review his prior testimony, or that he intended
to change his testimony. See Strickland, 466 U.S.
at 691 ("The reasonableness of counsel’s actions
may be determined or substantially influenced by
the defendant’s own statements or actions.").
Rather, the record demonstrates that Morales’s
*12
contradictory testimony at Santos’s sentencing
hearing was deliberate, and not the result of
confusion or mistake. And since the Sixth
Amendment does not require defense counsel to
take all possible precautions to protect a
defendant from testifying falsely and breaching
his plea agreement, this claim fails./8
Morales next argues that his counsel was
ineffective by failing to file a motion to
withdraw his guilty plea after the government
withdrew its sec.5K1.1 motion. A defendant needs
a "fair and just" reason to withdraw a guilty
plea. Schilling,
D. Roberto Febus
Roberto Febus’s pro se appeal raises several
challenges to his conviction and sentence. He
first contends that a juror’s post-verdict
statements prove that he was denied his Sixth
Amendment right to an impartial jury. He bases
his argument on a purported newspaper article
that reports statements by a juror that the
court’s instructions confused her, and that other
jurors pressured her to vote for a guilty verdict
that she did not truly support. But Febus did not
make the article part of the record, so we cannot
consider it. See New Haven Inclusion Cases, 399
U.S. 392, 450 n. 66 (1970) (the court will not
consider newspaper articles that are not record
evidence). Moreover, even if we had the article,
it would be inadmissible under Federal Rule of
Evidence 606(b), which bars juror comments about
any internal influences on the jury’s
deliberations. Fed. R. Evid. 606(b); see Tanner
v. United States,
"We review a district court’s application of the sentencing guidelines de novo but defer to the court’s finding of facts unless they are clearly erroneous." United States v. Payton, 198 F.3d 980, 982 (7th Cir. 1999). Under sec. 3B1.1(a), the district court may increase a defendant’s offense level by four points if the defendant "was an organizer or leader" of a criminal enterprise that involved five or more participants. U.S.S.G. sec. 3B1.1(a).
Furthermore, "the sentencing court need not
confine itself to the offense of conviction but
may look to all relevant conduct within the scope
of U.S.S.G. sec. 1B1.3 (Relevant Conduct)."
United States v. Montague,
In this case, the record demonstrates that: 1)
the bolita ran continuously from the 1960’s until
1994; 2) Febus ran the Indiana operation in the
late 1970’s and early 1980’s; and 3) he also
allowed the bolita’s runners to use his bar in
the 1990’s as a collection site for betting slips
and money. Precisely because Febus’s interim
leadership of the bolita was part of the illegal
lottery’s continuous operation, his leadership
conduct was relevant to his offense of
conviction. Furthermore, because he was still
participating in the same bolita over a decade
later, he never abandoned the conspiracy. See
United States v. Patel,
Febus also asserts that the government violated
*14
18 U.S.C. sec. 201(c)(2) by providing leniency
and money to government witnesses. This argument
was originally sanctioned, then rejected by the
Tenth Circuit. United States v. Singleton, 165
F.3d 1297 (10th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied,
Miller,
Here, since the jury knew about the government’s payments to the witnesses, we have no reason to disturb their verdict under sec. 201(c)(2).
Febus raises Sixth Amendment ineffective
assistance of counsel claims as well; since the
parties have briefed this issue, and we have the
record before us, we will resolve it. Reiswitz,
Febus contends that his counsel should have asked Ken Eto (a government witness who narrowly survived an assassination attempt in which he sustained gunshot wounds to his head) about his head wounds and whether he was fit to testify. Eto was associated with organized crime in Chicago where he ran the bolita’s Illinois operation until he became an informant for the FBI in 1983 after the assassination attempt.
Febus’s counsel cross-examined Eto, but declined
to ask him about his gunshot wounds and risk
opening the door for the government to inform the
jury about his participation in organized crime.
That was a reasonable strategy. See Kokoraleis v.
Gilmore,
Jose Santos’s appellate counsel seeks to
withdraw under Anders v. California,
Jose Santos rented a bar called the "Poolroom," and allowed the bolita’s operators (including his brother Efrain Santos) to use the Poolroom as a bolita collection site after another bar/collection site was searched by authorities. Therefore, the record demonstrates that Santos knew that he was facilitating the bolita’s continued operation by allowing his bar to function as a new collection site, and thus counsel properly concluded that this argument would be frivolous.
Counsel also considered whether Santos could
argue that the district court should have severed
Jose Santos from Efrain Santos under Fed. R. Civ.
P. 14, or admonished the witnesses early in the
trial to specify when they were speaking about
Jose or Efrain Santos. Because Jose Santos’s
trial counsel did not seek a severance, this
issue is reviewed for plain error only. United
States v. Wilson,
Zafiro v. United States,
Santos cites to no cases in which co-defendants
with the same last name required a severance, and
he does not specify any instances in the record
where he may have been prejudiced. We will not
scour the record "searching haystacks for
needles," Wagner,
Finally, counsel considered whether Santos could argue that the district court erred by refusing to adjust Santos’s sentence downward by two points for being a minor participant in the bolita under Guideline sec. 3B1.2(b). We lack jurisdiction to review a district court’s discretionary refusal to depart downward unless the sentence was imposed in violation of the law or as a result of an incorrect application of the sentencing guidelines. United States v. Yoon, 128 F.3d 515, 529 (7th Cir. 1997). In this case, the district court’s statements at the sentencing hearing indicate that it knew it had authority to depart, but decided, in its discretion, that Santos "in no way" qualified for a downward departure. Moreover, the record demonstrates that Santos participated in the bolita in a substantial way by knowingly providing his bar as a collection center for the bolita’s operations in exchange for a monthly payment. We conclude, therefore, that this argument is frivolous. Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and dismiss Jose Santos’s appeal.
In conclusion, we AFFIRM the district court’s decisions by holding that: 1) there was sufficient evidence to convict Efrain Santos of money laundering, and thus his sentence was proper; 2) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Benedicto Diaz’s motion to withdraw his plea agreement; 3) Angel Morales was not entitled to an interpreter under the Court Interpreter’s Act, and was not denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel or his right to the effective assistance of counsel; and 4) Roberto Febus was not denied his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury or his right to the effective assistance of counsel, and that his conviction and sentence were proper. We also GRANT Jose Santos’s appellate counsel’s motion to withdraw, and we DISMISS Jose Santos’s appeal.
/* Appeals No. 98-1252 and 98-2709 were submitted for decision without oral argument.
/1 Jose Santos (Efrain Santos’s brother) participated in the bolita by allowing the bolita’s operators to use his bar (the "Poolroom") as a new collection center for money and betting slips after another collection site was searched by authorities. The grand jury returned a ten-count indictment against Jose Santos, and he was convicted of Count 1 (conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 371), and Count 2 (aiding and abetting the conducting of an illegal gambling business, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1955 and sec. 2). Jose Santos was sentenced to 12 months on each count to serve concurrently.
Jose Santos’s appellate counsel filed an Anders brief. For the sake of clarity (and because Efrain Santos was the leader of the bolita, and his trial and conviction took center stage in this case) we will address Jose Santos’s Anders brief in Part E of this opinion only. All other references to "Santos" in this opinion (other than in Part E) refer to Efrain Santos.
/2 Santos also challenges his sentence, contending that since his money laundering conviction cannot stand, his base offense should be gambling and not money laundering. Because we have determined that Santos’s conviction for money laundering was correct, there was no sentencing error.
/3 The government files a sec.5K1.1 motion when "the defendant has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense." U.S.S.G. sec.5K1.1.
/4 At oral argument, Diaz contended that since this examination took place after the government’s lengthy direct testimony, and cross-examination by four defense lawyers, he became confused and actually asserted that he never thought that it was illegal to write "printer" on his tax form, not that he lacked knowledge of the bolita’s illegality. In his brief, however, Diaz admits that he testified that he did not know that the bolita was illegal in 1993, and it is clear from the complete transcript of his testimony, as well as his later testimony at his sentencing hearing, that in fact Diaz asserted at trial that he never knew that the bolita was illegal.
/5 The record shows that Santos ran the bolita in 1984, and Morales does not dispute that fact on appeal.
/6 For the same reasons, we reject Morales’s claim that the district court erred in granting the *18 government’s motion to withdraw its sec.5K1.1 recommendation; because the claim is based on his allegation that since his language barrier caused the discrepancy in his testimony, he did not breach his plea agreement by intentionally giving false testimony.
/7 We acknowledge that Morales is not precluded as a
matter of law from raising his Sixth Amendment
challenge on direct appeal rather than upon
collateral attack. United States v. Madewell, 917
F.2d 301, 303-04 n.1 (7th Cir. 1990). But we note
that to raise this claim on direct appeal "is
often a disservice to the defendant because
resolution of this issue on appeal may preclude
the defendant from later developing a record and
presenting the issue in a proceeding pursuant to
28 U.S.C. sec. 2255." United States v. Lawson,
/8 Morales also suggests that his counsel could have protected him from his inconsistent testimony (and thus preserved his sec.5K1.1 departure) by quashing the government’s subpoena, or by appearing at Santos’s sentencing hearing to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. But if Morales’s counsel pursued either strategy, Morales would have forfeited his downward departure anyway, because the government’s obligation to recommend the sec.5K1.1 motion was contingent upon Morales’s continued cooperation, and his "complete, truthful and candid information and testimony." Morales also asserts that his counsel was ineffective by failing to provide him with an interpreter at Santos’s sentencing hearing. But this claim fails because we have already determined that the discrepancy in Morales’s testimony was not the result of any alleged language barrier.
/9 And, contrary to Morales’s position, the district court could not grant him a downward departure under sec.5K1.1 without the government’s motion, which remains an "essential prerequisite" for the court’s power to depart. United States v.
Santoyo,
/10 Supra, note 7.
/11 Febus’s additional Sixth Amendment claims are
patently frivolous. First, he alleges that his
counsel was ineffective because he failed to
investigate whether the government violated sec.
201(c)(2) when it granted plea agreements to
Morales, Diaz, and another co-defendant named
*19
McElroy in exchange for their testimony. But we
have already established that plea agreements are
not "a thing of value" under the statute, and
this claim fails. Condon,
Febus’s remaining argument--that the government erroneously charged him with conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. sec. 371 because the statute only applies to conspiracies against the government-- fails because sec. 371 also prohibits conspiracies that violate the laws of the United States, including the illegal gambling statute, 18 U.S.C. sec.
1955. See United States v. Brandon,