Court Opinion

ID: 9911227
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-19 19:00:42.555833+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:57:00.236370
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-30141         Document: 00517006483             Page: 1      Date Filed: 12/19/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                        United States Court of Appeals
                                      ____________                                       Fifth Circuit

                                                                                       FILED
                                        No. 23-30141                           December 19, 2023
                                      ____________                                Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                       Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Julius Cerdes, Jr.,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Eastern District of Louisiana
                               USDC No. 2:06-CR-115-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Davis, Engelhardt, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          The district court denied the petition for writ of coram nobis filed by
   Defendant-Appellant, Julius Cerdes, Jr., after determining that Cerdes failed
   to demonstrate sound reasons for not seeking appropriate relief earlier. We
   conclude, however, that Cerdes had sound reasons for filing his petition
   when he did. Therefore, we VACATE and REMAND.

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-30141      Document: 00517006483         Page: 2   Date Filed: 12/19/2023

                                   No. 23-30141

                              I. BACKGROUND
          In September 2006, Cerdes pleaded guilty pursuant to a written plea
   agreement to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The factual basis for
   Cerdes’s guilty plea described the events leading up to Cerdes’s arrest as
   follows:      Special Agent Chad Scott with the Drug Enforcement
   Administration (DEA) and members of the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s
   Department received information from a confidential source (CS) that
   Cerdes was awaiting the delivery of marijuana from a Hispanic male in a
   pickup truck. Based on this information, officers established surveillance at
   Cerdes’s home and nearby workshop on November 14, 2005.
          Officers observed a pickup truck matching the description provided
   by the CS arrive at the location. A Hispanic male exited the pickup truck,
   opened the door to the workshop, and then drove the truck into the
   workshop. Task force agents subsequently entered the shop and discovered
   Ramon Quintanilla dismantling a tire on the floor of the workshop. The
   dismantled tire contained approximately seventeen pounds of marijuana.
   Scott and another officer detained Quintanilla when he attempted to flee.
   Quintanilla told Scott he was delivering marijuana to “Junior,” a nickname
   for Cerdes.
          A couple of hours later, Cerdes and an individual later identified as
   Bud Tilley drove up to the residence. When they exited the vehicle, both
   men were arrested. Officers discovered a handgun in Cerdes’s back pocket.
   They also recovered approximately thirty-nine grams of marijuana from
   underneath the driver’s seat of Cerdes’s vehicle. A review of Cerdes’s
   cellphone records revealed that Cerdes tried to contact Quintanilla that
   night. Task force agents searched the property and discovered marijuana in
   an ammunition can in the bushes and in a PVC pipe and ice chest in the shop,
   marijuana stems in the garbage can in the master bedroom, a medicine bottle

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   containing several marijuana seeds in the game room of the residence, and
   over $45,000 in a duffel bag in the attic.
          The Government charged Cerdes and Quintanilla with conspiracy to
   distribute marijuana (Count One) and aiding and abetting the possession with
   intent to distribute marijuana (Count Two). Cerdes alone was indicted also
   for possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense in
   violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (Count Three). The written plea agreement
   required Cerdes to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge (Count One). The
   Government agreed to dismiss the remaining aiding and abetting charge and
   the § 924(c) firearm charge (Counts Two and Three).
          The plea agreement required more than just Cerdes’s plea of guilty to
   the conspiracy charge. It also required him to waive his right to appeal or
   collaterally attack in any post-conviction proceeding his conviction and
   sentence. Furthermore, Cerdes was required to withdraw a formal complaint
   he had made to the DEA regarding misconduct by Scott. Specifically, Cerdes
   asserted that the marijuana found in his vehicle at the time of his arrest was
   not his, but had been planted there by Scott. Cerdes explained that after his
   arrest, he would not consent to a search of his truck, so Scott obtained a
   warrant to search Cerdes’s truck. Three agents and a dog searched the
   vehicle and found nothing. But, an hour or so later, Scott and another agent
   walked over to the truck, and Scott announced, “Here it is. Y’all don’t know
   how to look.”      Scott then came over to Cerdes, holding a bag of
   approximately an ounce of marijuana, pointed in Cerdes’s face, and said,
   “Now you are going to do more time than the Mexican in your shop.”
   Specifically, Scott “informed [Cerdes] now he had [him] on a gun protecting
   drugs charge.” Cerdes was aware that “there were enhanced punishments
   for having a gun located with drugs.”

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          Cerdes contended that Tilley informed him that the bag of marijuana
   actually belonged to him (Tilley); that Tilley gave the bag to one of the
   officers, who was a friend of Tilley, on the night of the arrest; that the officer
   gave the bag to Scott; and that Scott put it under the driver’s seat of Cerdes’s
   vehicle so that Cerdes could be falsely charged with a firearms offense under
   § 924(c), which carries a minimum prison term of five years. The plea
   agreement required Cerdes not only to withdraw his formal complaint to the
   DEA, but also “not to pursue any other remedies, including any civil action
   for damages, against any federal agent or police officer for actions taken by
   them in the investigation of this case.” In December 2006, Cerdes was
   sentenced to eighteen months in prison and two years of supervised release.
          Years later, it came to light that Scott and members of his taskforce
   that targeted drug trafficking were themselves breaking the law. In October
   2017, Scott was arrested and later indicted on numerous federal charges for
   acts he committed while leading the task force. After two trials in 2019 and
   2021, Scott was convicted of falsifying government records, obstructing
   justice, perjury, conspiracy to convert property and to remove property to
   prevent seizure, and property conversion by a federal officer. 1 He was
   sentenced to 160 months in prison. 2 This Court recently affirmed his
   conviction and sentence. 3
          During its investigation of Scott, the Government discovered the
   formal complaint Cerdes had filed with the DEA regarding Scott’s planting
   Tilley’s marijuana in Cerdes’s vehicle to create a false § 924(c) offense. The
   Government interviewed Cerdes regarding his complaint, and he and Tilley

          _____________________
          1
              See United States v. Scott, 70 F.4th 846, 854 (5th Cir. 2023).
          2
              See id.
          3
              Id.

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                                     No. 23-30141

   both testified for the Government at Scott’s August 2021 sentencing hearing.
   During his testimony, Cerdes admitted that he had a small amount of
   marijuana on his property and that officers found about an ounce of marijuana
   in his workshop. However, he denied having marijuana in his truck or having
   a gun anywhere near marijuana. According to Cerdes, Scott also stole money
   from his safe on the night of the arrest.
          Cerdes further testified that Scott subsequently proposed a deal with
   Cerdes. Scott agreed to give Cerdes back three boats that had been seized
   from Cerdes’s property if Cerdes would falsely admit that he sold cocaine to
   another individual Scott previously arrested.         However, when Cerdes
   followed through on his part of the agreement and made the false statement,
   Scott refused to give Cerdes his boats back and declared that Cerdes was an
   admitted drug dealer. He contended that “state charges” for “distribution
   of cocaine” were then placed on him and his bond was set at half million
   dollars. Cerdes further testified that after that, Scott’s team went to his “79-
   year-old mother’s house, who lived next door to [Cerdes], and repeatedly
   harassed her if [Cerdes] did not turn [him]self in, they were going to arrest
   her.” He testified that the marijuana charges went from state to federal
   court, where he was denied bond and spent nine months in jail before he was
   offered the plea agreement he now seeks to nullify.
          Cerdes also claimed that he was not guilty of the marijuana conspiracy
   charge. He explained that he pleaded guilty because he was threatened with
   a cocaine distribution charge and because the Government agreed to dismiss
   the § 924(c) charge. On cross-examination, Cerdes denied having knowledge
   of the pounds of marijuana discovered in the tire in his workshop and
   explained that Quintanilla’s vehicle was in his shop without his permission.
   He testified that he only had an ounce of marijuana in his workshop and that
   he was under duress when he signed the factual basis supporting his plea.

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                                     No. 23-30141

          Tilley also testified at Scott’s sentencing hearing. He confirmed that
   he had a bag of marijuana in his boot the night of Cerdes’s arrest. Tilley
   testified that he knew the officer who had put him in handcuffs that night;
   that he told the officer he had a bag of marijuana in his boot; that the officer
   reached in Tilley’s boot and retrieved the bag; and that later the officer told
   Tilley “that the bag of marijuana [Tilley] had was found in Junior Cerdes’[s]
   truck.” During the Government’s argument at Scott’s sentencing, it urged
   the judge to consider Scott’s treatment of Cerdes when determining Scott’s
   sentence.
          In January 2020, Cerdes filed a petition for a writ of coram nobis
   seeking to vacate his conviction for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He
   asserted that his guilty plea was the product of “extraordinarily abusive,
   over-reaching, and unconstitutional tactics” by Scott. Cerdes contended
   that although he previously had purchased marijuana from Quintanilla for
   personal consumption only, he never conspired with him to distribute
   marijuana. He alleged that Scott planted marijuana in his truck, seized
   property and money that had no connection to any drug activity, and
   pressured Cerdes to “say whatever Scott wanted [him] to say in exchange for
   promises of help on [his] case[].” Instead, Scott used Cerdes’s statements
   against him to bring a state cocaine charge and ultimately federal drug
   charges, along with a § 924(c) charge. Cerdes contended that he pleaded
   guilty because he was “[b]eaten down by Scott’s apparent power to lie, cheat,
   and manipulate the criminal justice system with impunity, and fear[ed]
   conviction on the § 924(c) charge which [carried] a mandatory [minimum]
   five-year sentence.”
          The district court denied Cerdes’s petition for coram nobis relief, after
   determining that Cerdes did not meet his burden of establishing sound
   reasons for his failure to seek relief earlier. Cerdes timely filed a notice of
   appeal.

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Case: 23-30141          Document: 00517006483              Page: 7       Date Filed: 12/19/2023

                                           No. 23-30141

                                      II. DISCUSSION
          Cerdes argues that the district court erred in finding that he did not
   demonstrate sound reasons for failing to seek appropriate earlier relief. He
   asserts that the Government’s investigation and prosecution of Scott
   presented a “changed circumstance” justifying his filing for coram nobis relief
   when he did. The Government acknowledges that Scott’s convictions
   represent new evidence previously unavailable to Cerdes, but argues that
   Cerdes knew about Scott’s misconduct from the beginning and could have
   moved to invalidate his guilty plea earlier, by way of direct appeal or habeas
   petition.
          Although the Government is correct that Cerdes knew of Scott’s
   misconduct early on, we determine that Cerdes nonetheless has
   demonstrated sound reasons for filing his petition when he did. Cerdes
   contends that he had every reason to believe that if he took some action
   contrary to the plea agreement, such as filing a direct appeal or habeas
   petition based on Scott’s misconduct, then there would be adverse
   consequences or reprisals against him by Scott. He asserts that reasonable
   fear and apprehension on his part persisted until it became clear that the
   Government had finally come to recognize Scott as a bad actor. The evidence
   adduced at Scott’s trial and the testimony offered at Scott’s sentencing
   hearing in particular demonstrated just how powerful and dangerous Scott
   was as a rogue DEA agent. 4 Scott planted evidence to fabricate a charge
   against Cerdes that carried a minimum five-year prison term; he stole money
   and property from Cerdes; he tricked Cerdes into falsely admitting that he
   sold cocaine; and he sent a team to harass Cerdes’s 79-year old mother.

          _____________________
          4
              See United States v. Scott, 70 F.4th 846, 852-54 (5th Cir. 2023).

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Case: 23-30141         Document: 00517006483               Page: 8       Date Filed: 12/19/2023

                                           No. 23-30141

           The alleged discovery of drugs in Cerdes’s vehicle allowed Scott to
   make his claim that Cerdes’s presence in the vehicle, while in possession of
   a firearm, supported a § 924(c) weapon charge. This count in the indictment,
   which carried a mandatory five-year sentence, was the principal hammer
   Scott used to manipulate and coerce Cerdes to enter a guilty plea to the drug
   trafficking offense. At Scott’s sentencing hearing, the Government argued
   that Scott “repeatedly victimized people and subverted the rule of law.”
   With respect to Cerdes specifically, the Government asserted that Scott
   “exploited [Cerdes’s] vulnerability, put marijuana in his truck to ratchet up
   a sentence to hurt [Cerdes] in ways that he did not deserve.”
           Furthermore, the fact that the written plea agreement required Cerdes
   not only to waive his appellate and habeas rights, but also withdraw his
   internal affairs complaint describing Scott’s misconduct and refrain from
   filing any other complaint against any law enforcement officer for actions
   taken by them in the investigation of his case indicated that until the
   Government discovered Scott’s misconduct, the Government would
   continue to protect him. In light of Cerdes’s testimony and the unusual
   terms of his plea agreement, it was reasonable for Cerdes to be fearful of what
   would happen if he sought relief from his guilty plea prior to the
   Government’s discovery of Scott’s misconduct. Under the unique and
   extraordinary circumstances of this case, we conclude that Cerdes met his
   burden of establishing sound reasons for not seeking appropriate relief earlier
   and that the district court thus erred 5 in finding otherwise.

           _____________________
           5
             The determination of whether a petitioner for coram nobis relief has sound reasons
   for not seeking appropriate earlier relief is a factual finding; therefore, we review for clear
   error. See Gonzalez v. United States, 981 F.3d 845, 851 (11th Cir. 2020).

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Case: 23-30141     Document: 00517006483          Page: 9   Date Filed: 12/19/2023

                                   No. 23-30141

         Based on the foregoing, we VACATE and REMAND for further
   proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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