Opinion ID: 752060
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Plea Hearing

Text: 6 Later that day, the district court held a plea hearing. 6 The government described the agreement to the court as follows: 7 There will be a disposition in this case. Mr. Toothman will be pleading guilty to a Superseding Information in eight counts. The first count is the misdemeanor charge in violation of Title 18 United States Code section 242, civil rights violation. And counts 2 through 8 are substantive violations of the 201, 18 U.S.C. 201, public official seeking sexual favors. 8 See Appellant's R. at 21. There was no further description of the plea agreement made to the court. 9 The court asked Toothman whether Count One was a felony or misdemeanor. Toothman and his attorney said the charged offense was a misdemeanor. The court then asked Toothman to indicate the maximum possible punishment he could receive for Count One. Toothman responded, One year, $100,000 fine, and a 25 dollar assessment. See Appellant's R. at 33. Toothman then acknowledged that Counts Two through Eight were felonies, carrying a maximum term of fifteen years. 10 With respect to the sentence Toothman would receive as a result of his pleas, the following dialogue took place: 11 Court: And you understand that I as the trial judge, not the attorneys, will decide what the appropriate sentence in your case will be? 12 Toothman: Yes, your Honor. 13 Court: And you will be sentenced according to the Sentencing Guidelines. Have the sentencing guidelines that apply to your case been explained to you by [your attorney]? 14 Toothman: Yes, your Honor. 15 Court: Counsel, what are the guidelines that would apply? 16 Toothman's Attorney: Your Honor, with respect to Count 1, the guidelines that would apply are the guidelines for section 242. I believe that that would be an offense level of 6. With respect to Counts to 2 through 8, the guidelines that apply are, as I recall, 2(C)1.1 which apply to bribery. There is a base offense level of 10, plus 2 for more than one event or more than one commission of the offense. And then there may be--the government will be seeking possible additional enhancements. And we will be seeking a reduction for acceptance of responsibility. All of those matters have been reserved for the court's determination at the time of sentencing. 17 Court: What's the criminal history level? 18 Toothman's Attorney: Mr. Toothman, to my knowledge, has no previous convictions of anything, so his criminal history category is 1. 19 Court: Okay. So the resulting guideline range, assuming an offense level of 8--of 12, the criminal history category 1, would be 10 to 16 months. 20 Government Attorney: Your Honor, there's no agreement as to the appropriate application of the guidelines. 21 Court: I understand that, sir, but I have to advise him as to something. 22 Government Attorney: Well-- 23 Toothman's Attorney: And we understand, of course, that the court's indication is before the various calculations and arguments have been done. And I've told Mr. Toothman that we've estimated these as best as we can, but we cannot with precision in advance of the sentencing date give a viable prediction or give anything with certainty. It's only our best feeling as to what the likely result is. The government has certain positions they wish to advance and we have certain positions. I've informed Mr. Toothman that the ultimate determination is that of your Honor. 24 Court: And I'll also inform Mr. Toothman that if you should incorrectly compute the guidelines, it would not be a basis for him to withdraw his pleas of guilty. Do you understand that, sir? 25 Toothman: Yes, your Honor. 26 Government Attorney: I just wanted to point out that although the 2(C)1.1 and the other guideline is appropriate, 2(H)1.4 is a guideline which allows the civil rights violation, although it's a misdemeanor, to include an addition which is applicable to an underlying offense. And that certainly will be a matter at sentencing. Mr. Toothman should be aware that we're not talking about the government agreeing to these. The guidelines range would be 10 to 16 months. 27 Court: You understand that, sir? 28 Toothman: Yes, your Honor. 29 Court: You understand that I may depart from those guidelines, decide to impose a sentence on you that is greater or lesser than the guidelines if I find that the guidelines do not take into consideration other relevant facts concerning you or the crimes to which you're pleading guilty? 30 Toothman: Yes, sir.Court: You also understand that the court will not be able to determine the guideline sentence for your case until after a presentence report has been completed, you and the government have had an opportunity to challenge the facts as reported by the probation officer? 31 Toothman: Yes, your Honor. 32 See Appellant's R. at 34-37. The court then accepted Toothman's guilty pleas and informed Toothman he would be sentenced following the presentence investigation.