Opinion ID: 2976454
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant Riley Troy Graham

Text: Shortly before his trial was set to begin in May of 2005, Riley Troy Graham received an offer of a plea agreement from the Government. By its own terms, the offer was set to expire at 2:00 P.M. on May 25, 2005. Graham attempted to communicate his acceptance of the offer “late on May 25, 2005,” which presumably means that he attempted to accept it after the 2:00 deadline. On May 26, 2005, Riley Troy Graham, his lawyer, and three Assistant United States Attorneys all signed the plea agreement. Graham then went before the district court to plead guilty to engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848, and conspiring to launder monetary instruments in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956. The district court conducted a meticulous plea colloquy in order to determine that Graham understood the significance of a guilty plea as well as the significance of the rights that he was waiving. Graham was also subjected to careful questioning by the district court and the Government to ensure that there was a factual basis for his plea. -7- Nos. 06-1026/06-1027/07-1081 United States v. Graham On September 26, 2005, exactly four months after entering his plea, Graham filed a pro se motion to withdraw it. The sole reason asserted in his motion was that the plea was based on an invalid plea agreement. According to Graham, his plea agreement was invalid because it was signed one day after the expiration of the Government’s original written offer of a plea agreement. Graham’s motion was heard prior to his sentencing hearing on November 22, 2005. At that hearing, Graham’s standby counsel also asked the district court for a continuance so that Graham could have more time to reply to the Government’s response to his motion, and so that Graham could supplement his motion with newly discovered evidence. The district court refused to allow Graham to withdraw his plea and denied his request for a continuance. After denying those requests, the district court sentenced Graham to 240 months in prison. At oral argument before this court, Riley Troy Graham’s counsel, Kevin Schad, notified the court that he had become aware of information that would prevent him from ethically moving forward with the arguments raised in the brief that he had filed on his client’s behalf. As a result, he informed the court that he would be submitting a motion to withdraw the brief. Mr. Schad filed his motion shortly thereafter, and this panel construes that motion as a motion to withdraw as counsel as well as a motion to withdraw the brief.