Opinion ID: 766770
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conviction and Sentence for Both Conspiracy and Continuing Criminal Enterprise

Text: 6 At the time Robinson was convicted and sentenced, our cases interpreting the relevant statutes permitted district courts to enter convictions and impose concurrent sentences for conspiracy and CCE as long as the total penalty did not exceed the maximum allowed under the CCE statute. Jeffers v. United States, 432 U.S. 137 (1977); United States v. Bond, 847 F.2d 1233, 1238 (1988), overruled by Rutledge v. United States, 517 U.S. 292, 300 (1996). Since then, the Supreme Court has held that conspiracy as defined in sec. 846 does not define a different offense from the CCE offense defined in sec. 848. Rutledge v. United States, 517 U.S. 292, 300 (1996). Consequently, conspiracy is a lesser-included offense of CCE, and, as such, a court may not impose punishment for both offenses. Id. at 297, 300. Robinson argues that in light of Rutledge his convictions and sentences on both the conspiracy and CCE counts violate the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment. The district court ruled that Robinson waived this argument by pleading guilty. 7 Robinson contends that a guilty plea does not waive a claim that an information or indictment, judged on its face, is constitutionally deficient in violation of the double jeopardy clause. Whether a guilty plea bars a Rutledge challenge to convictions for both conspiracy and CCE is an issue of first impression in this circuit. However, the general rule is that a guilty plea bars double jeopardy collateral attacks, with two notable exceptions. United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563, 569, 574 (1989). Under one exception, a guilty plea does not waive a double jeopardy claim to a charge that the government may not constitutionally prosecute, so long as it is clear from the face of the record the court had no power to enter the conviction or impose the sentence. Id. at 569, 575; see also Dawson v. United States, 77 F.3d 180, 183 n.3 (7th Cir. 1996) (noting narrow exception to guilty plea waiver where on the face of the record a court had no power to enter the conviction or impose the sentence at all); United States v. Montilla, 870 F.2d 549, 552-53 (9th Cir. 1989) (ruling that the waiver applies only if the judge could determine at the time of accepting the plea, from the face of the indictment or from the record, that sentence or conviction could not be imposed); Cf. Taylor v. Whitley, 933 F.2d 325, 330 (5th Cir. 1991) (guilty plea despite indictments or a trial court record that evince on their face a double jeopardy violation does not waive right to challenge the violation unless expressly relinquished). This exception to the general rule of waiver does not apply, however, if the record alone cannot establish the double jeopardy violation. Broce, 488 U.S. at 576; United States v. Makres, 937 F.2d 1282, 1286 (7th Cir. 1991) (double jeopardy challenge foreclosed by guilty plea where evidentiary hearing required to prove claim). 8 The record in this case demonstrates that the criminal conduct charged in the conspiracy count also served as the basis for the CCE charge; thus, Robinson's double jeopardy claim was not waived by his guilty pleas. For example, the time frames listed in the indictment for both the conspiracy charge (count 1) and the CCE charge (count 3) are identical--1980 until March 1992. Similarly, the indictment indicates that both the conspiracy and CCE charges involved the distribution of cocaine and marijuana in St. Clair County, Illinois, and the conspiracy and CCE are jointly referred to as this drug trafficking enterprise in the stipulated statement of facts. The indictment charges that as part of the conspiracy Robinson used couriers to transport large sums of money from southern Illinois to co-conspirators in Florida and elsewhere to acquire large quantities of marijuana and cocaine. This same activity is described as part of the CCE charge in the statement of stipulated facts. Thus, because it is clear from the record that convicting and sentencing Robinson on both the conspiracy and CCE charges violated his Fifth Amendment rights, he did not waive his double jeopardy claim. 9 The government never addressed Broce or whether Robinson's double jeopardy claim fits within the record exception. Instead, the government argues that if Robinson's guilty plea did not waive his double jeopardy claim it is barred by Teague v. Lane, 506 U.S. 461, 467 (1993). The government concedes that Rutledge created a new rule of law, but contends that under Teague new rules may not be applied retroactively to cases on collateral review. However, in Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. 614, 620 (1998), the Supreme Court made it clear that Teague's retroactivity bar applies only to new rules of criminal procedure not to changes in substantive law. Thus, the government is incorrect; Teague has no bearing on Robinson's double jeopardy claim.