UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus FRANCISCO MONTANO, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 03-11950
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
February 4, 2005
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING February 4, 2005
[PUBLISH] D. C. Docket No. 98-00018-CR-WCO-2-3
* Honorable J. Owen Forrester, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, sitting by designation
PER CURIAM:
Plaintiff-Appellee‘s Petition for Rehearing filed November 10, 2004 is GRANTED in part, in order to remedy incorrect references to
Francisco Montano appeals the district court‘s denial of his motion seeking leave to file an untimely
On April 13, 1998, state and federal law enforcement officers directed a confidential informant to meet with Montano in a grocery store parking lot in Gainesville, Georgia. Inspector Bennett of the Hall County Sheriff‘s Office accompanied the confidential informant to this meeting. After introducing Inspector Bennett to Montano, the confidential informant left the scene. Montano told Inspector Bennett he wished to obtain .38 caliber revolvers, 9 mm pistols, and .380 caliber pistols. Further, Montano informed Inspector Bennett he wished to exchange methamphetamine for the guns. Inspector Bennett agreed to the methamphetamine-for-guns deal and stated he would inform Montano when the guns were available.
On April 23, 1998, Inspector Bennett met Montano in the same Gainesville, Georgia parking lot and allowed Montano to inspect eleven firearms. Inspector Bennett advised Montano that he wanted one-quarter pound of methamphetamine, and would pay for the difference between gun value and drug value with cash. Montano then informed Inspector Bennett he would exchange the one-quarter pound of methamphetamine for the eleven guns and $1650.00 in cash. After striking this deal, Montano left to obtain the methamphetamine, and Inspector Bennett went to arrange for the additionаl cash. Approximately one hour later, the two men met actually to complete the transaction. Once Montano produced the quarter-pound of methamphetamine, he was immediately arrested. Montano never took possession of the firearms. A search of his vehicle revealed additional supplies of methamphetamine. Montano was arrested with approximately 117.2 grams of methamphetamine in his possession, the quarter-pound (110 grams) involved in the drugs-for-guns transaction, as well as 7.2 additional grams of methamphetamine found in his car. Montano‘s presentence report also reveals that he was involved in a 111.1 gram cocaine transaction on October 20, 1997, a 25.9 gram methamphetamine transaction on January 28, 1998, and the sale of a firearm on March 31, 1998.
Montano was indicted on May 28, 1998 on five counts:2 conspiring to possess
Montano‘s appeal presents us with a procedural question: Can Montano bring his
A 1-year period of limitation shall apply to a motion under this section. The limitation period shall run from the latest of—
(1) the date on which the judgment of conviction becomes final;
(2) the date on which the impediment to making a motion created by governmental action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States is removed, if the movant was prevented from making a motion by such governmental action;
(3) the date on which the right asserted was initially recognized by the Supreme Court, if that right has been newly recognized by the Supreme Court and made retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review; or
(4) the date on which the facts supporting the claim or claims presented could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence.
I. “Use” of a Firearm
In Smith v. United States, 508 U.S. 223, 241 (1993), aff‘g 957 F.2d 835 (11th Cir. 1992), the Supreme Court affirmed our holding that bartering guns to obtain drugs was “use” of a firearm within the meaning of
at 228-29 (citing Webster‘s New International Dictionary 2806 (2d ed. 1939) and Black‘s Law Dictionary 1541 (6th ed. 1990)). Using these resources, the Court concluded that in trading a gun for drugs, Smith had clearly derived service from the gun, as it was through utilizing the firearm as an item of barter that Smith was able to secure the drugs he sought. Id. Smith, then, holds that bartering guns for drugs is “use” of a gun in relation to a drug trafficking offense and a violation of the statute.
The meaning and extent of “use” in
Although [in Smith] we declined to limit “usе” to the meaning “use as a weapon,” our interpretation of
§ 924(c)(1) nonetheless adhered to an active meaning of the term. In Smith, it was clear that the defendant had “used” the gun; the question was whether that particular use (bartering) came within the meaning of§ 924(c)(1) . Smith did not address the question we face today of what evidence is required to permit a jury to find that a firearm had been used at all.
Id. at 148. Thus, Bailey did not overrule Smith‘s holding that a guns-for-drugs barter could constitute “use” of a firearm within the meaning of
While Smith and Bailey clarified that the bartering of guns to obtain drugs constituted “use” under
Ranged against this line of cases is a set of oрinions which has found that bartering drugs for guns does not violate
The Sixth Circuit also reached the conclusion that passive receipt of a firearm in a drugs-for-guns transaction did not constitute a violation of
Most recently, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has weighed in on this debate in United States v. Stewart, 246 F.3d 728, 733 (D.C. Cir. 2001), also concluding that bаrtering drugs for guns does not constitute use of a firearm under
[W]e cannot see how a defendant “uses” a gun when he receives it during a drug transaction. The recipient has not employed the gun, availed himself of the gun, or derived any service from the gun by simply trading his drugs for it. Indeed, nothing in a person‘s acceptance of a gun embodies the active employment demanded by the Court in Bailey. We therefore agree ... that a person who receives a gun in a trade for drugs has not used the gun in violation of
§ 924(c) .
Id. at 731 (internal citations omitted). Moreover, the Stewart opinion dispensed with the entrapment or inducement issue raised in Warwick, stating that the issue of who first suggested bartering drugs for guns was irrelevant to the legal question; “[u]nder either scenario, the drug dealer has not used the gun within the meaning of
We find the minority positiоn persuasive. While we recognize that the Bailey and Smith Courts did interpret bartering to be an active employment of a firearm within
Moreover, as in Stewart, the record does not show that Montano employed the guns, availed himself of the guns, derived service from the guns, or received any other benefit from the guns that could be considered “active employment.” In other words, Montano had nothing resembling dominion or control over the firearms present at the drug transaction, and thus no means to “convert to one‘s service,” “to employ,” “make use of,” or “to carry out a purpose or action by means of” the guns. Smith, 508 U.S. at 229; cf. United States v. Leonard, 138 F.3d 906, 909 (11th Cir. 1998) (finding а defendant did not have dominion or control over drugs or gun found in a car when he did not own the car, was not driving the car, and was simply a passenger riding in the back seat). In these factual circumstances, the only means by which Montano could have “used” the gun, as contemplated by the statute, would be to make the government agents present at the final transaction somehow comply with his wishes; however, it is impossible, of course, for Montano to conspire with the government. United States v. Lively, 803 F.2d 1124, 1126 (11th Cir. 1986) (citing United States v. Richardson, 764 F.2d 1514, 1529 (11th Cir. 1985)). Accordingly, this сourt must conclude that Montano was not “using” a gun within the meaning of
II. Procedural Obstacles
While we have concluded that Montano did not violate
We noted in Jones, however, that simply showing factual innocence of the
Moreover, in assessing Appellant‘s claim of actual innocence, the district court should heed the Supreme Court‘s instruction that “[i]n cases where the Government has foregone more serious charges in the course of plea bargaining, petitioner‘s showing of actual innocence must also extend to those charges.”
Id. (quoting Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. at 624). Only if Appellant can meet the requirements for proving his actual innоcence will he “then be entitled to have his defaulted claim of an unintelligent plea considered on its merits.” Bousley, 523 U.S. at 624. Accordingly, simply determining that Montano did not “use” the firearms purchased in the drugs-for-guns transaction does not establish Montano‘s actual innocence of the crime.8
We follow the same procedure here as was outlined in Jones. As Appellant has pled guilty to the firearms charge, he is seen as contending that the plea was not knowingly tendered, as was the case in Bousley v. United States. At this stage, we do not have the plea colloquy or any other evidence concerning what the Appellant knew about the possibility that
This is a case where the Government has foregone several more serious charges in the course of plea bargaining. In pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine as well as the firearm charge, Montano avoided trial on three other counts of the indictment: сonspiring to possess methamphetamine and cocaine hydrochloride with intent to distribute in violation of
For all the reasons set forth above, this case is REVERSED and REMANDED to the district court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.
Notes
Except to the extent that a greater minimum sentence is otherwise provided by this subsection or by any other provision of law, any person who, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime (including a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime that provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device) for which the person may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, uses or carries a firearm, or who, in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence or drug trafficking crime—
(i) be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years;
(ii) if the firearm is brandished, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 7 years; and
(iii) if the firearm is discharged, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years.
