United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
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.
...