Court Opinion

ID: 9455940
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:37:49.296698+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:47.832657
License: Public Domain

LUMBARD, Chief Judge
(concurring) :
Although I concur in the majority opinion and agree with the result reached, see United States v. Lopez, 414 F.2d 272 (2d Cir. 1969), the troublesome nature of this ease prompts me to add several comments.
Liguori, together with Henry Rosa, Luis Custodio and Eli Samuel Gonzalez, was charged in a six count indictment with possession, sale, and distribution of marihuana and with conspiracy to do the same.1 Liguori pleaded guilty to count three charging him with failure t'ó pay the transfer tax on 52 lbs. of marihuana, in violátion of 26 U.S.C. § 4744(a), under which the penalties are not less than two to not more than ten years, a fine up to $20,000, and the possibility of probation after serving the minimum two years. Liguori was also charged with four counts of selling and distributing marihuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a, the penalties for which are not less than five years to not more than twenty years, a fine of $20,000, and no eligibility for probation until the minimum five years has been served. See 26 U.S.C. § 7237. The four counts charging violations of § 176a, counts one, two, four and six, as well as an additional count charging a further violation of § 4744(a), count five, were dismissed after the guilty plea to count three was taken. As a consequence, Liguori actually received a three year sentence on count three, which is significantly less than if he had been convicted on any one of counts one, two, four or six, which carried the mandatory minimum sentence of five years without eligibility for probation until the five years had been served.
Relying on Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6, 89 S.Ct. 1532, 23 L.Ed.2d 57 (1969), Liguori now attempts to have his conviction after a guilty plea reversed. I would have little hesitation in arriving at the result we reach today if Leary, supra, had simply declared 26 U.S.C. § 4744(a) to be unconstitutional, in which case Liguori would have entered a plea to a count which did not charge *851a crime. Although the statute has been significantly emasculated, it is not completely void. As the majority notes, a corporation could still be convicted under the statute, and the privilege can be knowingly and intelligently waived. As a result, Section 4744(a) retains a certain value in a plea bargaining situation. See footnote 2, majority opinion. It is this point regarding plea arrangement that I find most troublesome.
There can be no doubt that a bargain was reached in this case and that Liguori, by pleading to count three and securing the dismissal of all the other counts, benefited greatly from the arrangement. That he can now assert the benefit of his bargain and avoid entirely the reciprocal burden was certainly not within the contemplation of the court or the parties.
In such a situation there appears to be every reason to permit the government either to re-indict Liguori on the other counts, or to move in the district court to vacate the dismissal of the other counts. If the government elects to continue with the prosecution of Liguori it must do so promptly, as the acts charged occurred more than four years ago and the running of the statute of limitations will soon become a bar to any further prosecution. In the event the government does continue the prosecution, I do not think that the defense of double jeopardy will be a bar. See United States v. Chase, 372 F.2d 453 (4th Cir. 1967); Robinson v. United States, 284 F.2d 775 (5th Cir. 1960); Hensley v. United States, 82 U.S.App.D.C. 14, 160 F.2d 257, cert. denied, 331 U.S. 817, 67 S.Ct. 1305, 91 L.Ed. 1835 (1947).
The majority assumes in footnote 3 that the charges against Liguori cannot be proved because the charges against a co-defendant were dismissed with the consent of the government after Leary, supra. It does not follow, however, that the evidence against Liguori is insufficient to make out a case on one or more of the five counts which were dismissed. Based on the overt acts alleged in the conspiracy count of the indictment, Li-guori may well have been the ringleader of the entire operation. He is alleged to have made two different telephone calls to buyers and on another occasion he allegedly met with two buyers to negotiate the terms of delivery and sale of the marihuana. None of the other defendants is alleged to have made any telephone calls and their participation in the scheme seems to have been less central than Liguori’s. These factors would seem to be a strong indication that Liguori had actual knowledge of the source of the marihuana he was distributing. In any event, the mere fact that the charges were dropped against a co-defendant is in no way indicative of the quantum of proof that may exist against Liguori.
The purpose of a guilty plea is to resolve and settle issues with finality, and only in exceptional circumstances will the disposition after a guilty plea be subject to review on appeal. A defendant is still bound by his guilty plea and conviction even though he might have pleaded differently had later decided cases then been the law. McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (May 4, 1970). In Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (May 4, 1970) the Court further indicated that
“[Ajbsent misrepresentation or other impermissible conduct by state agents, cf. Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S. 708, 68 S.Ct. 316, 92 L.Ed. 309 (1948), a voluntary plea of guilty intelligently made in the light of the then applicable law does not become vulnerable because later judicial decisions indicate that the plea rested on a faulty premise.” 90 S.Ct. at 1473.
The Court continued, saying
“We find no requirement in the Constitution that a defendant must be permitted to disown his solemn admissions in open court that he committed the act with which he is charged simply because it later develops that the State would have had a weaker case than the defendant had thought. * * * ” 90 S.Ct. at 1474.
*852In Liguori’s case however, the development is not merely that the government would have a weaker case against him, but that it would have no case against him. As is pointed out in the majority opinion, the government no longer has any proper interest in punishing Liguori for his failure to incriminate himself. Such reasoning does not apply to the serious charges brought against Liguori under 21 U.S.C. § 176a. The government has every legitimate and proper interest in punishing those who on a commercial scale distribute and sell narcotics, knowing the same to have been imported.

. Ligouri was indicted on six counts:
(1) on or about January 26, 1966, receiving, concealing and facilitating the transportation of 23.361 kilograms (approx. 52 lbs.) of marihuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a;
(2) on or about January 26, 1966, selling 23.361 kilograms of marihuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a;
(3) on or about January 26, 1966, obtaining 23.361 kilograms of marihuana without paying the transfer tax, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 4744(a) ;
(4) on or about January 26, 1966, concealing 2.949 kilograms (approx. G1/, lbs.) of marihuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a;
(5) on or about January 26, 1966, obtaining 2.949 kilograms of marihuana without paying the transfer tax in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 4744(a) ;
(6) on or about January 24 and 26, 1966, conspiring to do the above, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a.