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TRANSCRIPT of Proceedings as to Darrell Thomas, Andre Lee Gaines, Kahlil Gibran Green,… — USA v. Thomas et al (Dkt. 892)
Record facts
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia |
|---|---|
| Filed | 2024-02-02 |
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia · No. 1:20-cr-00296-JPB-CMS · Doc. 892 · 2024-02-02 · Docket on CourtListener
Summary
The official transcript of sentencing proceedings for defendant Charles Petty on February 23, 2022 before U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, in No. 1:20-cr-00296-JPB-CMS in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, filed February 2, 2024 as Document 892. The court notes that Petty pleaded guilty to Count 9 of the second superseding indictment for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, and adopts the presentence report without objection. The guideline calculations stated are a total offense level of 21, Criminal History Category III, a range of 46 to 57 months and a fine range of $15,000 to $1,660,834. Defense counsel Kenneth W. Sheppard and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Kitchens both recommend 46 months, and the defense asks for a recommended placement at SCP Miami for its RDAP program.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
THE FOLLOWING IS THE PDF OF AN OFFICIAL
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
)
)
)
-VS-
) DOCKET NO. 1:20-CR-00296-JPB
)
CHARLES PETTY,
)
)
DEFENDANT.
)
TRANSCRIPT OF SENTENCING PROCEEDINGS
BEFORE THE HONORABLE J.P. BOULEE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
FEBRUARY 23, 2022
APPEARANCES:
ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT:
TAL C. CHAIKEN, ESQ.
NATHAN KITCHENS, ESQ.
ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS
ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT:
KENNETH W. SHEPPARD, ESQ.
STENOGRAPHICALLY RECORDED BY:
PENNY PRITTY COUDRIET, RMR, CRR
OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
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(PROCEEDINGS HELD IN OPEN COURT AT 10:10 AM, ATLANTA, GEORGIA)
COURTROOM DEPUTY CLERK: This is the case of USA v.
Charles Petty, Case Number 20-CR-296, Defendant 12.
MR. KITCHENS: Good morning, your Honor. Nathan
Kitchens on behalf of the government. I'm here with AUSA Tal
Chaiken as well.
THE COURT: Good to see both of you.
MR. SHEPPARD: Kenneth Sheppard on behalf of
Mr. Petty, who is present in the courtroom.
THE COURT: Good to see both of you as well.
Mr. Petty pled guilty on November 2nd of last year to
Count 9 of the second superseding indictment for conspiracy to
commit bank fraud and wire fraud.
In accordance with Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure the United States Probation Office has
conducted a presentence investigation and prepared a
presentence report, a copy of which has been provided to both
the government and the defense.
Mr. Sheppard, have you and your client had the
opportunity to read and discuss the presentence report?
MR. SHEPPARD: Yes, we have.
THE COURT: Do you have any questions about the
presentence report or any amendments now other than what's
been previously filed?
MR. SHEPPARD: We do not.
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THE COURT: It appears from the record that there are
no objections to the findings of fact or conclusions of law in
the presentence report by the government or the defendant, is
that correct?
MR. KITCHENS: That is correct, your Honor.
MR. SHEPPARD: That is correct, your Honor.
THE COURT: I will adopt the findings of fact and
conclusions of law in the presentence report to which no
objection has been made.
Based on the findings of fact and conclusions of law
the guideline calculations are as follows:
Base offense level of 7;
Adjusted offense level of 24;
Total offense level of 21;
Criminal History Category of III;
Recommended sentencing range of 46 to 57 months;
Fine guideline range of $15,000 to $1,660,834;
Term of supervised release of 2 to 5 years;
Special assessment of $100.
Any objection to the guideline calculations as stated
by the Court?
MR. KITCHENS: No, your Honor.
MR. SHEPPARD: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: I will now hear from the parties as to
recommendations for a reasonable sentence considering the 18
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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USC, Section 3553(a) factors. I have reviewed the presentence
report.
Any other documents or letters for the Court from
either side?
MR. KITCHENS: Not from the government, your Honor.
MR. SHEPPARD: Not from the defense, your Honor.
THE COURT: Are there any victims present that wish
to speak or present evidence in connection with the sentence
in this case?
MR. KITCHENS: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Any witnesses on behalf of the defendant?
MR. SHEPPARD: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Sheppard, would you like to make any
argument on behalf of your client regarding sentencing?
MR. SHEPPARD: Only that -- yes. Would you like the
argument now?
THE COURT: Yes. Go ahead.
MR. SHEPPARD: Your Honor, we had met with the state
extensively. We did a proffer where we have provided
information but none of it was sufficient to get us a 5K.
The United States Attorneys and I met extensively on
this case and discussed everything about the case. And we
jointly agree that the appropriate sentence -- I'm not going
to say that.
I have agreed that the appropriate sentence is
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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46 months. And we are asking the Court to sentence Mr. Petty
to the low end of the guideline range, 46 months.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, Counsel.
Mr. Petty, I've had the benefit of hearing from your
counsel, but if there's anything you would like to personally
say before I sentence you, I would be happy to hear from you
now, sir.
MR. SHEPPARD: We do have a post-sentencing request
as to placement.
THE COURT: What is that?
MR. SHEPPARD: Your Honor, we're asking that --
recommend that he be placed at the satellite prison camp by
Miami. The reason why is there is an RDAP program there. And
his wife will be working in that area. So we are asking for
SCP Miami.
THE COURT: SCP Miami, correct?
MR. SHEPPARD: That's the information I have, your
Honor.
THE COURT: Any objection to that from the
government?
MR. KITCHENS: No objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Petty, I know you asked your counsel
to make that request, but anything else you would like to say?
THE DEFENDANT: No, that's it, just reiterating what
he said. The biggest thing about getting to that location is
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the RDAP program which will help, and they have a few other
programs there. I think it's officially FCI Miami. It's
either designation but it's the camp there. So it's listed as
SCP Miami or FCI Miami camp.
Like I said, my wife will be down there working, that
means I can have more access to my children and stepchildren
while I'm down there. Other than that, I'm fine.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, Mr. Petty.
And does the government wish to respond?
MR. KITCHENS: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: Go ahead.
MR. KITCHENS: The government also agrees with the
recommendation of 46 months. That is the low end of the
guidelines and we think it is appropriate that the defense
recommended that as well.
We think that ultimately that 46-month sentence at
the low end appropriately accounts for his conduct after he
was charged in this case as well as his history and
characteristics. And we'll talk about that in just a little
bit.
But the guideline sentence is necessary in our view
because of the seriousness of the offense and the need for
deterrence in this case.
In terms of the seriousness of the offense, I think
there's two aspects of this. One, and certainly the Court is
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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well familiar with, which is just the nature of the overall
scheme, targeting a government aid program at a time of
crisis.
The defendant and his co-conspirators exploited this
COVID relief fund near the onset of the pandemic that
ultimately wrecked the economy. And the dollar amount here --
for each dollar that was essentially obtained in this loan,
that was an additional dollar that was not available to
companies that were truly in need and in dire straits trying
to make ends meet as the economy collapsed through the
pandemic. This was greed plain and simple by the defendant
and his co-conspirators. And they did so at a time of
national crisis.
The second aspect of this is that the defendant, as
is reflected in the guidelines in the PSR, was in a leadership
role, and that's a little bit different than some of the other
defendants that we've seen previously in this case. He was
not someone who was the direct loan applicant and provided his
information for one of his companies to apply for a loan. He
was someone that helped essentially in the middle to work with
people that were higher up in the chain and communicated
instructions to the loan recipient, Bern Benoit. By doing so,
I think that reflected a level of sophistication beyond just
your normal loan applicant.
Mr. Petty's role, and he knew exactly what he was
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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doing, was providing specific instructions about how the
proceeds of that PPP loan should be distributed to other
co-conspirators within the scheme. That is different. I
think it reflects the seriousness of the defendant's role in
that offense. And that is, again, appropriately accounted for
in the guidelines. He received a three-level increase in the
guidelines which had a significant effect in his overall
guideline range here.
I think really the overriding factor, however, with
Mr. Petty is the need for deterrence given the nature of the
crime. We've talked I think previously in this matter the
need for general deterrence, and that certainly is the case
given the nature of white collar fraud crime in general and
the Eleventh Circuit authority noting the importance of
general deterrence. But also, of course, specifically with
PPP loan fraud, the truth of the matter is that it is grossly
under prosecuted just simply because there was such massive
degrees of fraud that to the extent that we are able to
prosecute it and catch people in the act that it's important
to send the right message about that being improper conduct.
Here I think the most troubling factor, of course, is
specific deterrence with Mr. Petty. This is a rare situation
where the defendant is not a stranger to this courthouse. He
was previously convicted in 2016 for a different bank fraud
and wire fraud offense and ultimately sentenced in 2016.
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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I was the prosecutor in that underlying case for
Mr. Petty in 2016. And this is a first in my career where
I've had a defendant appear again before me. It's something I
hope never to be repeated. You hope when we go through this
process, and I know the Court has the same goal, that that's
the only time we will see that defendant, that they will use
the wake-up call from any prison time or whatever to improve
their life and have a positive direction.
And this honestly is a factor that gave the
government the most pause in this case. It certainly should
have been a situation where he received a wake-up call. And
the fact that he perpetrated new fraud is in many ways just
inexcusable and hard to fathom his decisionmaking at the time.
Ultimately, however, I think that 46-month sentence
is an appropriate recommendation in the guidelines range for
several reasons in comparing it to the underlying offense.
First, the original fraud scheme, while I don't mean
to diminish the seriousness of this fraud, but in some ways it
was more serious and concerning. And this is described in
part in the PSR in paragraph 105.
But the defendant in that case, he stole money from
over 65 victims in that case. And, specifically, they were
individuals that were seeking a line of credit. Many of those
individuals were themselves in fairly desperate situations.
In at least one instance they were trying to save their home
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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from going into foreclosure and they reached out based on
Mr. Petty's advertisements and tried to get this line of
credit. Many of those victims were vulnerable.
And while he was on bond in that case, he committed
a new offense of bank fraud and basically took someone's
identity, applied for a fraudulent bank loan and then obtained
money from that while he was on pretrial release.
Those were all facts that were extremely concerning
to the underlying sentencing court, and he received an
appropriately high sentence for that.
The second factor I think is that the conduct after
charging here I think was much more constructive than what
happened the first time Mr. Petty was charged. And, again, I
just discussed after that first arrest Mr. Petty's actions
while on pretrial release was that he committed a new federal
offense of bank fraud. Here, by contrast, after his arrest
Mr. Petty essentially immediately reached out to us and
expressed not only his interest in an early resolution but
also his interest in meeting with us and giving us all the
information he had.
He did, as Mr. Sheppard described, met with us and
provided a full proffer. And he provided, in our view,
truthful information in that proffer. We, as Mr. Sheppard
noted, are not in the position yet where we think that would
rise to the level of substantial assistance, but that is I
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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don't think through any fault of Mr. Petty. He gave us the
information of what he had and described his involvement in
the offense.
The last factor I think that supports the 46-month
recommendation from the government is Mr. Petty, this is not
the end of the road for him in terms of this underlying
arrest. He is after this going to have a separate supervised
release revocation hearing. And based on the guidelines, he
is facing an additional guideline sentence of potentially more
than a year in prison based on that role.
That's a proceeding that will take into account the
fact that Mr. Petty committed this offense while on supervised
release and he will -- it will be the government's
recommendation that he should receive additional prison time
based on that separate supervised release violation.
Overall, we think that 46-month sentence and
recommendation in this instant case is the appropriate one in
light of Mr. Petty's clear efforts after his arrest to try to
essentially make amends, to come clean. And that is
encouraging for the government that he hopefully realizes the
fault of his ways and trying to do things in a constructive
manner to assist the government and to avoid this sort of
trouble again.
And so we believe that that is the fair result for
Mr. Petty. And that it is also the just result given the
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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nature of the offense and his criminal history.
THE COURT: Thank you, Counsel.
I had forgotten to recognize our probation officer
that's here. Good morning.
OFFICER RIDLEY: Good morning, your Honor.
THE COURT: How are you?
OFFICER RIDLEY: I'm doing well. How are you?
THE COURT: I'm well. Thank you.
Is there any other matter that the Court needs to
take up or anything else from either side before I announce
the sentence in this case?
MR. KITCHENS: Not from the government, your Honor.
THE COURT: And what about from the defense?
Anything else, Mr. Sheppard?
MR. SHEPPARD: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
Officer Ridley, do you know which -- what the camp
is called exactly in Miami? I want to get it right for the
record.
OFFICER RIDLEY: I believe it's FCI Miami.
THE COURT: What's that?
OFFICER RIDLEY: FCI Miami.
THE COURT: Thank you.
Mr. Petty, if you could please stand, sir.
Pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, it's
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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the judgment of the Court that you, Charles Petty, are hereby
committed to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to
be imprisoned for a term of 46 months custody as to Count 9.
I'm going to read additional portions of your
sentence, but you can have a seat for that part, sir.
You must pay to the United States a special
assessment of $100 due immediately. The assessment should be
paid to the Clerk, US District Court, Northern District of
Georgia.
The Court finds that you do not have the ability to
pay a fine or cost of incarceration. The Court will waive the
fine and cost of incarceration in this case.
It's further ordered that you shall make restitution
in the amount of $830,417 jointly and severally with Darrell
Thomas, Bern Benoit, Jerry Baptiste, Teldrin Foster,
Denesseria Slaton and Amanda Christian for distribution to
the following victims:
Cross River Bank, $805,504.49;
US Small Business Administration, $24,912.51.
Restitution shall be paid in full immediately. You
must pay the above-noted financial penalties in accordance
with the schedule of payment sheet of the judgment. Payment
of criminal monetary penalties is due during the period of
imprisonment. All criminal monetary penalties except those
payments made through the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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Financial Responsibility Program are to be made payable to the
Clerk, US District Court, 2211 US Courthouse, 75 Ted Turner
Drive, Southwest, Atlanta, Georgia, 30303.
Any balance that remains unpaid at the commencement
of the term of supervised release shall commence within 60
days after release from imprisonment on the following terms:
Payable at a rate of no less than 250 monthly to the
US District Court Clerk.
You must notify the Court of any changes in economic
circumstances that might affect the ability to pay this
financial penalty.
The Court determines that you do not have the
ability to pay interest and it is ordered that the interest
requirement is waived for restitution.
If applicable, forfeiture of your right, title and
interest in certain property is hereby ordered consistent with
the plea agreement and verdict of forfeiture. The United
States shall submit a proposed order of forfeiture forthwith.
I saw that there was a forfeiture clause. I don't
think I've seen anything on that. Have I, Counsel?
MR. KITCHENS: That's correct, your Honor. And
there's no specific assets that would be forfeited by
Mr. Petty.
THE COURT: Very well.
Sir, upon release from imprisonment you'll be on
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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supervised release for a term of five years.
You must comply with the mandatory conditions of
release.
You must not commit another federal, state or local
crime.
You must not unlawfully possess a controlled
substance.
You must refrain from any unlawful use of a
controlled substance.
You must submit to one drug test within 15 days of
release from imprisonment and at least two periodic drug tests
thereafter as determined by the Court.
You must cooperate in the collection of DNA as
directed by the probation officer.
You must make restitution in accordance with 18 USC,
Section 3663 and Section 3663(a) or any other statute
authorizing a sentence of restitution.
As part of your supervised release, you must comply
with the standard conditions of supervision. These conditions
are imposed because they establish basic expectations for your
behavior while on supervision and identify the minimum tools
needed by probation officers to keep informed, report to the
Court and bring about improvements in your conduct and
condition.
Standard conditions of supervision will be included
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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in the judgment.
You must comply with the following special conditions
during the term of supervised release:
You must make full and complete disclosure of your
finances and submit to an audit of your financial documents at
the request of your probation officer.
You must provide the probation officer with full and
complete access to any requested financial information and
authorize the release of any financial information. The
probation office may share the financial information with the
United States Attorney's Office.
You must not incur new credit charges or open
additional lines of credit without the approval of the
probation officer.
You must participate in an alcohol and/or other
substance abuse treatment program and follow the rules and
regulations of that program. The probation officer will
supervise your participation in the program.
You must pay all or part of the cost of the program
based on your ability to pay unless excused by the probation
officer.
You must submit to substance abuse testing to
determine if you have used a prohibitive substance.
You must not obstruct, attempt to obstruct or tamper
with any testing methods.
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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You must pay all or part of the cost of the testing
program based on your ability to pay unless excused by the
probation officer.
You must not use or possess any controlled substances
without a valid prescription. If you do have a valid
prescription, you must disclose the prescription information
to the probation officer and follow the instructions on the
prescription.
You must refrain from excessive use of alcohol.
You must not knowingly purchase, possess, distribute,
administer or otherwise use any psychoactive substances,
synthetic marijuana, synthetic cathinones, commonly referred
to as bath salts, et cetera, that impair physical or mental
functioning except with prior approval of the probation
officer or a valid prescription from a licensed medical
practitioner.
You must submit your person, property, house,
residence, vehicle, papers, computers, other electronic
communications or data storage devices or media or office to
a search conducted by the United States Probation Officer.
Failure to submit to a search may be grounds for revocation of
release.
You must warn any other occupants that the premises
may be subject to searches pursuant to this condition.
An officer may conduct a search pursuant to this
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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condition only when reasonable suspicion exists that you
violated a condition of your supervision and that areas to be
searched contain evidence of this violation. Any search must
be conducted at a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner.
You must permit confiscation and/or disposal of any
material considered to be contraband.
At the conclusion of this proceeding, you'll be
remanded to the custody of the US Marshal.
Although I do not have the authority to select your
detention facility, I can recommend a detention facility. And
I do so. I hereby recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that the
defendant be housed at FCI Miami. And the reason for that is
he will have family in that area and that will be more
convenient for him to have contact with his family, which I
think will be helpful to him as he hopefully proceeds through
his sentence and on to supervised release.
The Court also recommends that he be housed in a
facility with a substance abuse treatment program.
This sentence is made in view of the sentencing goals
delineated in 18 USC, Section 3553(a) and, importantly, the
parties' arguments as to those factors, including:
The nature and circumstances of the offense and the
history and characteristics of the defendant;
The need for the sentence imposed to reflect the
seriousness of the offense, to afford adequate deterrence and
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - OFFICIAL CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT
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to protect the public;
The kinds of sentences available;
The kinds of sentence in the sentencing range
established for the applicable category of offense committed
as set forth in the sentencing guidelines;
Any pertinent policy statement;
The need to avoid sentencing disparity;
And the need to provide restitution to victims.
The sentence meets the criteria of punishment,
deterrence and incapacitation and is sufficient but not
greater than necessary to comply with the sections of
Section 3553(a).
Mr. Petty, I will say that I think your attorney
did an excellent job for you here. I mentioned that one thing
I considered here is the parties' arguments as to those
Section 3553(a) factors. Had not he and the government both
recommended to me a 46-month sentence, I would have been more
inclined to sentence you to 57 months, at the very highest end
of the guideline, not the low end of the guideline.
As I reviewed this case and your criminal history, it
did seem to me, as Mr. Kitchens argued, a very serious offense
given the amount of money involved and the effects of that
money having been stolen from the government, it did not go to
some other company or companies that could have used it during
our time of national crisis. And I think deterrence is
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important here, both specific and in general.
I genuinely hope, though, sir, that you are able to
see the error of your ways this time and that we won't see you
back here yet again.
Before I advise the defendant of his appeal rights,
does the government or defense have any further objections to
the findings of the Court, the guideline calculations or to
the sentence or manner in which it's been pronounced?
MR. KITCHENS: No objections, your Honor.
MR. SHEPPARD: Just that I think there's more than
one FCI Miami. This would be the FCI Miami Camp.
THE COURT: The Court respectfully recommends to the
Bureau of Prisons that the defendant be housed at FCI Miami
Camp. So, importantly, the camp, not any other FCI Miami.
Anything else, Counsel?
MR. SHEPPARD: Not at this time, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Petty, you can appeal your conviction
if you believe your guilty plea was somehow unlawful or
involuntary or if there was some other fundamental defect in
the proceedings that was not waived by your guilty plea.
You also have a statutory right to appeal your
sentence under certain circumstances, particularly if you
think the sentence is contrary to law. However, a defendant
may waive those rights as part of a plea agreement, and you've
entered into a plea agreement, which, with limited exceptions,
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waives most of your rights to appeal the sentence itself.
Such waivers are generally enforceable, but if you
believe the waiver is unenforceable, you can present that
theory to the appellate court.
With few exceptions, any notice of appeal must be
filed within 14 days of judgment being entered in your case.
If you're unable to pay the cost of your appeal, you
may apply for leave to appeal in forma pauperis, or without
payment of fees.
If you so request, the Clerk of Court will prepare
and file a notice of appeal on your behalf.
On appeal you may also apply for court-appointed
counsel.
If you have any further questions about your right to
appeal, I'm sure that Mr. Sheppard would be happy to advise
you further on this matter, sir.
Mr. Petty, do you have any questions about anything
I've said at today's sentencing hearing, sir?
THE DEFENDANT: I do not. I just thank you. And I
echo your sentiments about my attorney for the record.
THE COURT: Very well.
Counsel, anything else we need to discuss?
MR. KITCHENS: Nothing further, your Honor.
MR. SHEPPARD: Nothing on behalf of the defense, your
Honor.
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THE COURT: All right.
Good to see all of you.
Ms. Pittman, Ms. Coudriet, to our court security
officer, also I think I see deputy marshals or one deputy
marshal, thanks to all of you.
And, Officer Ridley, thank you as well.
Mr. Petty, again, best of luck to you, sir. I
sometimes wonder if what I say up here means anything --
THE DEFENDANT: It does.
THE COURT: -- but I genuinely hope that this time is
the last time --
THE DEFENDANT: I do, too.
THE COURT: -- and that you're able to get things on
track and be a productive member of society and a helpful
person to your family.
THE DEFENDANT: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: Good luck.
(PROCEEDINGS REPORTED WERE CONCLUDED AT 10:34 AM.)
___________________________
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C E R T I F I C A T E
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
I do hereby certify that the foregoing pages are a true
and correct transcript of the proceedings taken down by me in
the case aforesaid.
This the 2nd day of February, 2024.
________________________________
PENNY PRITTY COUDRIET, RMR, CRR
OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
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