NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of Initial Appearance Proceedings as to… — USA v. Thurmond et. al. (Dkt. 94)

Record facts

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia · No. 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE · Doc. 94 · 2024-07-11 · Docket on CourtListener

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA 
AUGUSTA DIVISION 
 
 
United States of America, 
)
) 
Plaintiff,
) 
) 
vs.
)   Case No. 1:23CR21 
) 
Brandon Jamal Thurmond,    
)
) 
Defendant.
) 
______________________________) 
 
 
INITIAL APPEARANCE 
BEFORE THE HONORABLE BRIAN K. EPPS 
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2023; 10:02 A.M. 
 
 
FOR THE PLAINTIFF: 
 
Jennifer A. Stanley, Esquire 
U.S. Attorney's Office 
Post Office Box 2017 
Augusta, Georgia 30903 
(706)724-0517 
 
 
 
FOR THE DEFENDANT: 
 
Brandon Jamal Thurmond, Pro Se 
 
 
 
TRANSCRIBED FROM DIGITAL RECORDING BY: 
 
Lisa H. Davenport, RPR, FCRR 
Post Office Box 5485 
Aiken, South Carolina 29804 
(706)823-6468 
Case 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE     Document 94     Filed 07/11/24     Page 1 of 14

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(Call to Order at 10:02 a.m.)
THE CLERK:  The court calls case no. 1:23CR21, the
United States of America versus Brandon Jamal Thurmond.
Jennifer Stanley for the government.  Here for initial
appearance.
THE COURT:  Good morning, everybody.
MS. STANLEY:  Good morning, Your Honor.
THE DEFENDANT:  Good morning.
THE COURT:  All right.  Good morning, Mr. Thurmond.  I
brought you here today without an attorney because I am not
quite sure what your intentions are in that regard and there
are some important things that I need to explain to you pretty
quickly, but don't worry; today is mainly for your benefit, you
know, to give you information you need to get your case started
and once we have an attorney by your side we'll proceed with
your case trying to get it ready for trial.  Okay?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  All right.  So before we talk about all
those things I need to make sure you're competent so I have a
couple of questions for you.  In the past three to four months
have you been seen by any type of medical practitioner
including any physician, psychologist, or psychiatrist?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  In that same timeframe have you undergone
any type of counseling or therapy?
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THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  In your lifetime have you ever been
diagnosed with any type of mental health condition or mental
illness?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Are you currently prescribed any
medications?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Have you had any alcohol, medicine or
drugs of any kind in the past 24 hours?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Based on your general appearance and your
answers to my questions, I find that you're competent.  You're
here today because of an Indictment handed down by the grand
jury in the Southern District of Georgia charging you with two
bank and financial-related crimes.  The purpose of this hearing
today is to make sure you understand the nature of the charges
and the maximum penalties associated with those charges as well
as your basic rights, your right to legal representation, and
your right to remain silent, and we won't take any kind of plea
from you today.  The next time I see you with an attorney we'll
take a not-guilty plea from you, and at that time the
prosecutor will give to your attorney all the information and
the government's files that you're entitled to receive as we
prepare for -- as you prepare for trial in this matter.
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We'll touch on the issue of bond versus being detained
pretrial in a minute and explain a couple of those things to
you, and, finally, I am going to ask you about your citizenship
because if you're a citizen of another country there are some
additional rights I'll need to explain to you.  So the first of
these things is your right to legal representation.  You have
the right to be represented by an attorney at every stage of
this case both in and out of court and including any
questioning by law enforcement.  You have the right to consult
with an attorney before questioning may occur at any time.  You
may hire your own attorney if you're financially able to do so
and if you're unable to afford an attorney, I will appoint one
to represent you at no cost to you.  Do you understand your
right to legal representation?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  I understand here that you are making
attempts to hire an attorney with your own money.  Is that
right?
THE DEFENDANT:  That's a question mark in the air
right now.
THE COURT:  I'm sorry?
THE DEFENDANT:  It is a question mark right now.
THE COURT:  Okay.
THE DEFENDANT:  So I would rather have one appointed
to me.
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THE COURT:  Okay.  Well, you know, if I were you I
wouldn't hesitate to ask for court-appointed counsel if you
cannot afford somebody because we have really good attorneys --
THE DEFENDANT:  Yeah, I'll go with it.
THE COURT:  -- who serve in a court-appointed capacity
here.  So if you're having trouble, you know, getting the money
together to hire somebody and you think you can't afford it,
I'll be glad to appoint somebody to represent you.
THE DEFENDANT:  I would appreciate that.
THE COURT:  Okay.  We have a one-page financial
affidavit that Mr. Brownlee will meet with you and help you
fill out that gives me an indication of whether you qualify or
not.  You probably have no source of income right now?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Okay.  And probably have little to nothing
in terms of checking or savings account?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.  Just some pennies.
THE COURT:  Okay.  All right.  Well, based on that I
think you probably qualify, but I'll need those details in a
one-page affidavit that Mr. Brownlee will have you fill out
before you leave here today.  I'll review that document and if
it looks like you qualify, we'll get someone in place to
represent you and they'll be in touch with you very shortly
from today's date.  If I find that you don't qualify and that
you have enough money to hire someone, then I'll tell
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Mr. Brownlee and he'll let you know you need to continue your
search for someone.  Okay?
THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  All right.  The next thing we need to talk
about is your right to legal represent -- I mean your right to
remain silent.  You have the absolute constitutional right to
remain silent which means no one associated with the government
or any law enforcement agency can force or compel you to make
any statement regarding any subject whatsoever including this
case and the allegations being made against you by the
government and the charges that they're asserting against you.
You have a right to remain silent with respect to this
case.  Your right to remain silent is not limited to this case.
Instead your right to remain silent includes any topic.  Any
statement made by you or the answers you give to any questions
asked of you by law enforcement can be used as evidence against
you, not only in connection with this case but also any other
cases currently pending against you or may be brought against
you in the future in any court in any jurisdiction.  The bottom
line is you're not required to make a statement.  If you have
made a statement, you need not say any more, and if you start
to make a statement, you may stop at any time.  Do you
understand your right to remain silent?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Have you received a copy of the charging
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document:  The Indictment and the Penalty Certification?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Okay.  Mrs. Akins, could you please print
a copy of those things for him?
THE CLERK:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  We'll get that printed right away.  While
she's working on that, we can talk about a couple of other
things.
Is the government seeking detention pending trial?
MS. STANLEY:  We are, Your Honor.  I think it will be
moot because of his current custodial status, but we are.
THE COURT:  Right.  Okay.  So the government has asked
that you be detained rather than released on bond.  You are
entitled to a bond hearing in front of me and at that hearing I
would listen very carefully to the evidence and make a
practical, common sense decision about whether you pose the
type of danger to the community or risk of flight that would
require you to be detained rather than released on bond.
I understand, however, that right now you're currently
serving a lengthy sentence with the state of Georgia and
because of that if we have a bond hearing now and once you get
your lawyer and I find that you qualify for release on bond and
order you released into the community, you would not be
released into the community, obviously; right?  You would have
to go back --
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THE DEFENDANT:  Back to the state.
THE COURT:  -- to the state authority where you came
from.  So a lot of times in that setting a defendant says,
look, I don't want a bond hearing now, but if something changes
with the state of Georgia, I would like the right to request
one.  Right?  So talk with your lawyer about that issue about
whether you should waive your right to a bond hearing or
whether you should go ahead and move forward with one now given
your incarceration status with the state.
THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  Okay.  And then if you want a bond hearing
when I see you the next time which will be very shortly from
now after we get your lawyer appointed for you, we'll go
through that and talk about it again.
THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  Okay?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Do you have citizenship in a country other
than the United States?
THE DEFENDANT:  I was in Canada when I was playing
football for them, but I think it's expired now.
THE COURT:  Okay.  Well, let's just assume for a
minute you still are a citizen of Canada because some people
have dual citizenship and it may not have expired.  You can
request that Canadian officials here in the United States be
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notified of this case and your detention and I'm not sure what
benefits Canada may offer --
THE DEFENDANT:  Thank you.
THE COURT:  -- to its citizens.  Potential benefits
include visiting you in jail, notifying any family or relatives
or friends that you have back in Canada of your situation,
perhaps even arranging for retention of a lawyer to represent
you.  There are a lot of potential benefits.  I just can't tell
you what ones Canada may have for you.  Would you like the
prosecutor's office to notify Canada of this case and the fact
that you've been arrested and detained?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Okay.  Now so the final thing is making
sure you understand the nature of the charges, why you're here
to begin with; right?  So now you've received a copy of two
documents.  The first is the Indictment itself that contains
the charges against you and then behind that is the Penalty
Certification that sets forth the maximum penalties allowed by
law for these charges and so now I am going to turn it over to
Mrs. Stanley and ask her to summarize those documents for you.
MS. STANLEY:  Thank you, Your Honor.  This is a
three-count Indictment.  Only the first count is asserted
against this defendant, Mr. Brandon Jamal Thurmond.  The
Indictment begins by identifying the two defendants in this
case and the various financial institutions that are at issue.
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It then goes on to explain by way of background the CARES Act
passed by Congress in or about March of 2020, what the Small
Business Administration is, and then sets out the specifics of
three different federal relief programs -- specifically,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the Paycheck Protection Program
and Unemployment Insurance.  The Indictment explains the
specifics of those various programs and how individuals could
apply for relief under each of them.
Count one of the Indictment against both defendants
charges conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.  It
explains that beginning at least as early as June of 2020 the
two defendants conspired with each other and with others, known
and unknown, to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.  The object
of the conspiracy was for the defendants and others to
unlawfully enrich themselves by, among other things, obtaining
EIDL and PPP proceeds and Unemployment Insurance benefits under
false and fraudulent pretenses.  The Indictment then goes on to
explain that as part of that conspiracy one or both of the
defendants submitted or caused to be submitted multiple
applications for PPP loans, at least one application for an
EIDL loan, and multiple electronic applications for
Unemployment Insurance benefits.
Specifically, there are six false and fraudulent PPP
loans that were submitted through Harvest Small Business
Finance identified, nine applications for Unemployment
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Case 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE     Document 94     Filed 07/11/24     Page 10 of 14

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Insurance benefits to five different states, and then one EIDL
application which is in the name of Brandon Thurmond.
Counts two and three, again, are against only
defendant La'Kyera Me'Lika Thurmond.
The maximum penalties for count one, conspiracy to
commit wire fraud and bank fraud, are not more than 30 years of
imprisonment, not more than a 1 million-dollar fine, not more
than five years of supervised release, and a $100 special
assessment.
THE COURT:  Thank you, Mrs. Stanley.
Is it fair to say that you understand the nature of
the charge against you as well as the maximum penalties
associated with that charge, Mr. Thurmond?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Okay.  I know we threw a lot at you, but I
think she did a really good job of summarizing it, and, of
course, you got the Indictment there you can take back with you
and read that when you have more time.  I believe that takes
care of everything we need to talk about today.
Like I said, we'll bring you back again very shortly
with an attorney by your side and at that time I'll take a not
guilty plea from you.  The prosecutor will hand over all of the
information in the government's files to your attorney that
you're entitled to receive.  Your attorney will start looking
through all of that information pretty quickly and then decide
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whether to file any pretrial motions on your behalf for the
court.  Those are simply documents filed with the court asking
the court to take certain action in advance of trial.  In some
cases motions should be filed and in others they're not
necessary.  It just depends on your case; right?  So your
attorney will be doing that work in the next month or so and
then letting you know whether they should file any motions or
whether your best thing to do is focus on getting ready for
trial.
THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  And then don't forget the bond issue, too.
If you want a bond hearing we'll probably have that the next
time I see you as well.
THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  Do you have any questions for me about
anything we've talked about?
THE DEFENDANT:  I know you mentioned about my state --
my state time I had left, but is there any way that you guys
can get me released from the state to deal with this?
THE COURT:  That typically does not happen.  So, you
know, usually what happens is if you're detained here until
trial in federal custody that state sentence may or may not --
the time you spend here may or may not be credited against that
state sentence, but it certainly will not relieve you of the
obligation to complete that sentence.
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THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  And that's something you need to talk with
your attorney about.
THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  The effect that your pretrial detention in
this case might have on your state case.
THE DEFENDANT:  Okay.
THE COURT:  That's a good question.  Okay.  Anything
else?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Okay.  You've understood everything I've
explained to you?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Okay.  All right.  Ms. Stanley, anything
further from your perspective?
MS. STANLEY:  No, Judge.
THE COURT:  Okay.  Court is adjourned.  Thank you.
(The hearing is concluded.)
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Case 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE     Document 94     Filed 07/11/24     Page 13 of 14

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CERTIFICATE OF OFFICIAL REPORTER 
 
 
 
 
I, Lisa H. Davenport, Federal Official Court Reporter, in 
and for the United States District Court for the Southern 
District of Georgia, do hereby certify that pursuant to Section 
753, Title 28, United States Code that the foregoing is a true 
and correct transcript of record of the digitally-recorded 
proceedings to the best of my ability and that the transcript 
page format is in conformance with the regulations of the 
Judicial Conference of the United States. 
 
 
 
 
_______________________________ 
 
Lisa H. Davenport, RPR, FCRR 
Federal Official Court Reporter 
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Case 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE     Document 94     Filed 07/11/24     Page 14 of 14
Digitally signed by Lisa 
Davenport 
Date: 2024.07.11 14:33:30 
-04'00'

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