By Marcus Fields
Last Thursday, in United States v. Wells, the Fourth Circuit vacated the defendant’s sentence and remanded to a different judge for resentencing after finding that the Government breached a plea agreement by improperly using information provided by the defendant during a debriefing against him at his sentencing hearing.
Statements made by Defendant Pursuant to Plea Agreement were Used to Impeach Favorable Witness at Sentencing.
After being stopped with 2.17 grams of crack cocaine in his car, Derrick Wells entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Government. Wells pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute and “agreed to be completely forthright and truthful with law enforcement.” As part of a debriefing with law enforcement, Wells indicated that he was given the cocaine found in his car by his co-defendant Timothy Williams. During sentencing, the government called Williams to testify to certain facts that would support enhancements to Wells’ sentence. Williams “proved to be a hostile witness” and his testimony did not support the enhancements the government sought. During examination the government used Wells’ statements from the debriefing in order to impeach Williams.
When Government Agrees to not Use Defendant’s Cooperation Against Him, it Shall Also not be Used at Sentencing.
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 1B1.8(a) states: “Where a defendant agrees to cooperate with the government … [and] the government agrees that self incriminating information provided pursuant to the agreement will not be used against the defendant, then such information shall not be used in determining the applicable guideline range.”
Government Breached Plea Agreement by Using Information Obtained Pursuant to Agreement to Impeach Witness at Sentencing
The Fourth Circuit found that Wells was reasonable in expecting that, because of the plea agreement, statements he made implicating Williams would not be used to determine Wells’ sentence. It also concluded that the government successfully impeached Williams in part by using the statements provided by Wells. Williams’ testimony at sentencing was generally favorable to Wells, so the government’s use of Wells’ statements in order to impeach Williams impacted the sentence Wells received and thus constituted a breach of the Plea Agreement.
Conviction Affirmed but Sentence Vacated and Remanded.
Because the government breached its Plea Agreement with Wells, the Fourth Circuit vacated his sentence and remanded for resentencing. The Fourth Circuit also determined that the “original sentencing judge ‘cannot reasonably be expected to erase the [improper information] from his mind.’” For that reason, Fourth Circuit ordered the resentencing to be conducted before a different District Court judge.
