United States v. Joseph R. KollerUnited States v. Joseph R. Koller
A jury found Joseph Koller guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine, distributing cocaine, possessing in excess of 500 grams of cocaine with the intent to distribute, money laundering, and possession of an interstate firearm as a convicted felon. Judge Evans, Eastern District of Wisconsin, sentenced him to 20 years on each of five counts and 27 years on each of three counts, all to be served concurrently. Kol-ler appeals.
Shia Ben-Hur testified that he had sold cocaine to Koller on twenty-one occasions in 1987 and 1988. Koller resold some of this cocaine tо Arlyn Ackley who sold it to an undercover agent on four occasions. Those sales formed the basis for Counts TWO through FIVE of the indictment charging violations of
On this appeal Koller challenges various aspects of his conviction and sentence. Each argument will be addressed separately and any facts particularly relevant to that argument will be set out in the discussion.
I. MONEY LAUNDERING
Koller challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the money laundering conviction on count SEVEN. In April, 1988, Koller’s girl friend, Jane Vossekuil, was taken into state custody for violation of her probation, because she had not paid her restitution obligation. She was told that her probation would be revoked unless she paid. Jane called Koller and asked him if he would pay it. He agreed and indicated that he would get some of the money from outstanding drug debts. After gathering the money, Koller went to the probation office and attempted to pay Jane’s restitution obligation with over $2000 in cash. The probation officer, Ms. Ware, would not accept that amount of cash and told Koller that he needed to get a money order. Koller then took the cash to nearby Security Bank and purchased a money order. He told the teller that he needed the money in order to get his girl friend out of jail. There was no evidence that he was asked his name or that he made any misrepresentation to the bank. Koller returned to the probation office with the
Congress enacted the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, Pub.L. No. 99-570, § 1352, 100 Stat. 3207-18 (codified at
There was a conflict in the evidence as to the source of the funds represented by the money order. Jane Vossekuil testified that Roller told her he was going to use the proceeds of his drug dealing, and there was evidence of such dealings. On the other hand, Ms. Vossekuil, Roller and others testified that he had borrowed the funds. Roller seems to argue that this was insufficient support for a verdict that the money originated from drug dealing, although he also seems to concede that the jury could disbelieve his witnesses. We think the jury could properly resolve this conflict against Roller.
Roller also argues that his payment of Ms. Vossekuil’s obligation was not an offense because in a “classic” money laundering case the transaction is designed to hide the tainted money by converting it into something valuable which will provide a benefit for the money launderer. Here Roller obtained only Ms. Vossekuil’s gratitude or perhaps her contractual obligation to repay the money.
It is true that one court has, in overturning money laundering convictions, considered whether the transaction could be described as a typical money laundering transaction, rejecting the argument that “the money laundering statute should be interpreted to broadly encompass all transactions, however ordinary on their face, which involve the proceeds of unlawful activity.”
United States v. Sanders,
There are two transactions in this case, the purchase of the money order and the transfer of the money order to the probation officer in payment of Ms. Vossekuil’s obligation. Because it is so clear that the purchase of the money order involved no concealment, we have considered, though not argued by Roller, whether that fact would prevent conviction for the second transaction.
In order to convict, the second transaction (where there was evidence of a design
II. SPEEDY TRIAL
Roller objects to his conviction as in violation of the Speedy Trial Act,
A. Speedy Trial Act
The speedy trial clock ultimately began to run with the December 18, 1988, arrest,
Roller challenges only the sufficiency of the showing upon which Judge Evans found witness Ben-Hur unavailable, a ground for exclusion under
B. Sixth Amendment
The fact that there was no violation of the Speedy Trial Act in this case does not prеclude us from finding a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, similar to rights arising from the Speedy Trial Act, does not arise until charges are pending. Periods of delay pri- or to arrest are irrelevant to Sixth Amendment analysis.
United States v. MacDonald,
The U.S. Supreme Court has identified four factors to be taken into account in determining whether the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial has been violated. Those factors are: (1) the length of the delay, (2) the reason for the delay, (3) the dеfendant’s assertion of his speedy trial right, and (4) the prejudice to the defendant caused by the delay.
Barker v. Wingo,
The first factor, length of delay, was identified by the Court as “to some extent a triggering mechanism. Until there is some delay which is presumptively prejudicial, there is no necessity for inquiry into the other factors that go into the balance. Nevertheless, because of the imprecision of the right to speedy trial, the length of delay that will provoke such an inquiry is necessarily dependent upon the peculiar circumstances of the case. For example, the delay that can be tolerated for an ordinary street crime is considerably less than for a serious, complex conspiracy charge.”
Id.
at 530,
The third factor, assertion of thе speedy trial right, does not favor Roller. There was no clear assertion of a speedy trial right, other than Roller’s opposition to the government’s motions for continuances due to the unavailability of Ben-Hur. He did make a motion to dismiss for delay in prosecution 36 days after indictment, but this appears really to have been a claim of pre-indictment delay, which is not relevant to Sixth Amendment analysis. Roller could not be said to have vigorously pursued a speedy trial.
Moving on to the fourth factor, “[prejudice, of course, should be assessed in the light of thе interests of defendants which the speedy trial right was designed to protect. Th[e] Court has identified three such interests: (i) to prevent oppressive pretrial incarceration; (ii) to minimize anxiety and concern of the accused; and (iii) to limit the possibility that the defense will be impaired ... If witnesses die or disappear during a delay, the prejudice is obvious.”
Barker,
With respect to the impairment to his defense, the defendant cannot merely allege possible prejudice, he must show that his defense was impaired such that he suffered actual and substantial prejudice as a result of the delay.
United States v. Deleon,
Roller’s general allegation that his witnesses’ memories faded during the delay does not rise to the level of specificity required to show actual prejudice.
United States v. Brock,
The defense did request a continuance due to the son’s death. Roller’s son had testified before the Grand Jury and the transcript of that testimony was available. Three other witnesses, Ronald Yenter, Nancy Shaw, and Lois Murray, testified that Roller’s son won a gun at a West Allis tavern. Although these three witnesses’ testimony was not particularly strong because they could not definitively identify the rifle, Roller’s son, a known drug addict,
Factors one and four favor Roller but are not strong enough to outweigh the government’s legitimate reason for delay under factor two. The reason for delay in this case was thе unavailability of a key government witness, Shia Ben-Hur. As discussed above, Ben-Hur had suffered a heart attack and undergone triple-bypass open-heart surgery. The delay of five months for Ben-Hur’s recovery was not particularly long. “[A] valid reason, such as a missing witness, should serve to justify appropriate delay.”
Barker,
C. Fifth Amendment
Roller argues that the delay denied him due process. The delay from commission of the criminal act to indictment is relevant to due process analysis. Although the various offenses are alleged to have occurred over a period of about one year, Roller makes no argument concerning the delay before the last offense, and concentrates on the fourteen months from November 2, 1988, to January 16, 1991. During most of this period he was in state custody. The government could have obtained an indictment and retained or obtained custody for trial, but elected not to do so.
Two different standards have developed in this circuit for establishing a violation of due process by delay.
United States v. Williams,
Under either standard Roller has the burden to show actual and substantial prejudice from the delay. “The allegations of prejudice must be specific, concrete and supported by the evidence — vague, speculative, or conclusory allegations will not suffice.”
United States v. Fuesting,
Roller also argues that the pre-indictment dеlay prejudiced him by preventing
The two standards differ as to the proof required of the reason for dеlay. In this case, the pre-indictment delay was caused by the government’s decision to delay the filing of federal charges until Roller was released from state custody for probation revocation. Although the government was not compelled to delay the trial until Roller was released from state custody, its decision to dismiss the indictment and reindict Roller upon his release was not an impermissible course of action.
3
Awaiting his release from state custody was certainly a valid reason for delay rather than a pretext for the government to intentionally gain a tactical advantage over Roller.
See, United States v. Carmany,
III. OUTRAGEOUS CONDUCT
The 500 gram transaction charged in Count SIX increased the possible penalty upon conviction. Roller argues that the “government’s outrageous involvement in creating the offense for punishment purposes only” violated his due process rights. Appellant’s Brief at 35. Roller impliedly argues that the government created the offense in order to convict him of possession of a larger amount of cocaine and, thus, receive a longer sentence. 4
For governmental conduct to constitute outrageous conduct which violates the due process clause, the conduct must be shocking to the universal concept of justice.
United States v. Miller,
The determination of what conduct is shocking to the universal concept of justice is essentially a judgment about whether the government has violated the community’s moral standards.
Miller,
IV. SENTENCING
Roller received sentences within the statutory range for his offenses. Un
That section (enacted long before the Guidelines) applies to additional penalties provided by a repeater statute over and above the maximum penalty prescribed by statute for a particular offense. It has no application to the effect of prior convictions in deciding the appropriate sentence within such maximum pursuant to the Guidelines. Several other circuits have held that
Roller also argues that the district judge erred in not giving him credit for time served prior to sentencing pursuant to
(b) Credit for prior custody — A defendant shall be given credit toward the service of a term of imprisonment for any time he has spent in official detention prior to the date the sentence commences—
(1) as a result of the offense for which the sentence was imposеd
V. CONCLUSION
The convictions and sentences are AfFIRMED.
ORDER
April 22, 1992.
This case is before the court on a petition for rehearing and suggestion for rehearing in banc.
Defendant argues in his petition for rehearing that his arrest occurred December 15, 1987 when the state authority having him in custody was nоtified of the federal warrant, and that the thirty day period allowed by the Speedy Trial Act,
Defendant did not make this argument until his reply brief, and thus waived it.
Egert v. Connecticut General Life Ins. Co.,
All of the judges on the original panel have voted to DENY the petition for rehearing, and no judge in regular active service has requested a vote on the suggestion for rehearing in banc. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the aforesaid petition for rehearing be, and the same is hereby, DENIED.
Notes
. He also had a motive for concealing ownership of funds which could raise a question as to their source. Roller's state parole agent testified that Roller reported to him bimonthly as to his activities. At each such meeting, Roller was required to sign a statement declaring that the report was a true account of his activities and that he understood that providing false information could constitute sufficient cause for revocation of his parole.
. In
MacDonald,
the Court implied the possibility of considering delay between dismissal and indictment where the government dismissed and later reinstituted charges in order to intentionally evade the speedy trial right.
MacDonald,
. If the government had decided to indict Roller prior to his release from state custody and place him under detainer, Roller, of course, could have requested a final disposition of the charges against him and the government would be required to bring him to trial within 180 days of such request. 18 U.S.C. app. Ill § 2 (1988) (Interstate Agreements on Detainers Act).
. We note that Roller does refer to this defense as “entrapment,” but there was clear proof of predisposition.