United States v. Ward

          Anthony P. Patti, United States Magistrate Judge.

          OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO VACATE SENTENCE [#50]

          Hon. Gershwin A. Drain, United States District Court Judge.

         I. Introduction

         On June 13, 2017, Defendant Damond Ward pled guilty to One Count of Bank Robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Per the agreed upon guidelines range set forth in the plea agreement, the Court sentenced Defendant to a term of 108 months imprisonment. Defendant now moves to vacate that sentence, arguing trial counsel was ineffective in not challenging certain sentence enhancements.

         Present before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Vacate Sentence. Dkt. No. 50. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will DENY the Motion [#50].

         II. Background

         Defendant was charged with and convicted of committing a bank robbery that occurred on June 6, 2016. Dkt. No. 37, p. 2 (Pg. ID 102). That day, Defendant entered the Lake Trust Credit Union located at 2222 Packard Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, approached a teller, and presented a note which demanded (paraphrased): “GIVE ME 45000 I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU.” Id. Upon receiving the note, the teller emptied the contents of her cash drawer and handed it over to Defendant. Id. Defendant then fled the scene on foot with a total of $12, 063. Id.

         In addition to the above robbery, Defendant admitted to committing, aiding and abetting, and/or conspiring with others to commit seven other bank robberies between May 19, 2016 and September 12, 2016. Id. at pp. 4-5 (Pg. ID 104-05). Based on the stipulated facts surrounding four of those robberies, the parties agreed that Defendant would receive four two-level sentence enhancements under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, which provides for such where a defendant was “an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor in any criminal activity.” See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c). The factual bases for those robberies are as follows:

(1) On June 1, 2016, Ward drove with others from Detroit to Plymouth, Michigan and entered a PNC Bank. Ward approached a teller and presented a note demanding money. The teller surrendered $3, 300.00 cash to Ward. To accomplish this bank robbery, Ward recruited another person to drive him to the bank and serve as the getaway driver. The bank's deposits were then insured by the FDIC.

(2) On July 8, 2016, a bank robbery using a demand note occurred at a Huntington bank in Toledo, Ohio. Ward admits that he helped plan this bank robbery with other individuals and aided and abetted the commission of this bank robbery, which resulted in $10, 000 being taken. The bank's deposits were then insured by the FDIC.

(3) On August 12, 2016, a bank robbery using a demand note occurred at a Great Lakes Credit Union in Sylvania, Ohio. Ward admits that he helped plan this bank robbery with other individuals, that he recruited other individuals to participate in this robbery, and that he aided and abetted the commission of this bank robbery, which resulted in $10, 634 being taken. The credit union's deposits were then insured by the NCUA. Ward admits that he was on pretrial release when he committed this offense.

(4) On August 16, 2016, a bank robbery using a demand note occurred at a Genesys Credit Union in Marysville, Michigan. Ward admits that he helped plan this bank robbery with other individuals, that he recruited other individuals to participate in this robbery, and that he aided and abetted the commission of this bank robbery, which resulted in $8, 922 being taken. The credit union's deposits were then insured by the NCUA. Ward admits that he was on pretrial release when he committed this offense.

Dkt. No. 37, pp. 4-5 (Pg. ID 104-05). Pursuant to the plea agreement, Defendant also received a two-level sentence enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(2)(F) for each of the eight robberies because they all involved someone making a threat of death. See U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(2)(F). The stipulated facts for all but one^[1] of the robberies acknowledge the use of a demand note to carry out the offenses. See Dkt. No. 37, pp. 2-5 (Pg. ID 102-05).

         III. ...