NOTICE OF FILING OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT of Change of Plea Proceedings as to Brandon… — USA v. Thurmond et. al. (Dkt. 96)

Record facts

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia · No. 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE · Doc. 96 · 2024-07-11 · Docket on CourtListener

Summary

The official transcript of a change of plea hearing in United States of America v. Brandon Jamal Thurmond, Case No. 1:23CR21, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, held November 28, 2023 and filed July 11, 2024 as Document 96. It records a guilty plea to a modified Count One of the indictment, conspiracy to commit wire fraud under Section 1343 of Title 18 of the United States Code, with the bank fraud object excluded. The court summarizes the charge, which alleges that from at least June 2020 to about May 2021 the defendant and a co-defendant sought EIDL, PPP and unemployment insurance proceeds by false representations, including nine unemployment applications and six PPP applications with false Schedule C figures of $100,000 in gross receipts for 2019. The 23-page transcript also records the advice of rights and the court's review of the plea agreement.

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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.
) 
______________________________) 
 
 
CHANGE OF PLEA HEARING 
BEFORE THE HONORABLE J. RANDAL HALL 
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE 
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2023; 11:02 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: 
 
Michon D. Walker, Esquire 
Arthur L. Walker and Associates, LLC 
601 N. Belair Square, Suite 23 
Evans, Georgia 30809 
(706)210-4355 
 
OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER: 
 
Lisa H. Davenport, RPR, FCRR 
Post Office Box 5485 
Aiken, South Carolina 29804 
(706)823-6468 
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(Call to Order at 11:02 a.m.)
THE CLERK:  The court calls case no. 1:23CR21.  United
States of America v Brandon Jamal Thurmond.  Jennifer Stanley
for the government.  Michon Walker for the defendant.  Here for
a change of plea.
THE COURT:  Thank you.  Good morning.
MS. STANLEY:  Good morning.  
MRS. WALKER:  Good morning.
THE DEFENDANT:  Good morning. 
THE COURT:  You are Mr. Thurmond?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Mr. Thurmond, I understand that you've
entered into a Plea Agreement with the government that calls
for you to come into court today and to plead guilty to a
modified Count One, I believe, of an Indictment which is
Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.  Is that correct?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Has anyone forced you, threatened you or
pressured you to come to court today and to plead guilty to
this charge?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  If you have any trouble hearing me or
understanding me during this morning's hearing, let me know and
I will correct the problem.  You are represented by
Mrs. Walker.  If you feel like you need to speak to her during
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the hearing, by all means feel free to do so.  Okay?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  All right.  The Clerk will now place you
under oath.
(Brandon J. Thurmond is duly sworn.)
THE CLERK:  Please state your name for the record.
THE DEFENDANT:  Brandon Thurmond.
THE CLERK:  Thank you.
THE COURT:  Mr. Thurmond, by taking that oath you have
promised to tell the truth during this morning's hearing.  If
you do not, the government could prosecute you for perjury and
could use statements made in court against you in any such
prosecution.  How old are you, sir?
THE DEFENDANT:  33.
THE COURT:  And are you single or married?
THE DEFENDANT:  Single.
THE COURT:  Do you have any children?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes.
THE COURT:  Tell me about your children.
THE DEFENDANT:  I have a daughter.  She's 10.  And I
have a stepdaughter and she's 12.
THE COURT:  And what kind of work do you do?
THE DEFENDANT:  I work for Publix warehouse in
Dacula -- Dacula, Georgia.  I have been there for like a month
now.
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THE COURT:  How far did you go in school?
THE DEFENDANT:  School?  I graduated college with a
bachelor's degree.
THE COURT:  Where did you go to college?
THE DEFENDANT:  University of Arkansas Pine Bluff.
THE COURT:  Are you under the influence of any alcohol
or drugs today?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  Are you currently being treated for any
type of mental illness?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.  I do have to go to an
evaluation.  It was part of my other situation.
THE COURT:  What kind of evaluation?
THE DEFENDANT:  Mental health evaluation.
THE COURT:  How did that turn out?
THE DEFENDANT:  I still have to go.  I have to make an
appointment.
THE COURT:  But you're not being treated at this point
in time?  There's no diagnosis?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  So the grand jury returned an Indictment
against you and a co-defendant that charges you as follows --
there are two counts.  Count one is conspiracy to commit wire
fraud and bank fraud.  Count two is bank fraud.  Count three --
actually, count three is bank fraud.
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MS. STANLEY:  Your Honor -- 
THE COURT:  Yes?  
MS. STANLEY:  -- counts two and three are only to his
co-defendants.
THE COURT:  Okay.  That's what I thought, but the
Indictment has three counts.  There are three counts:
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two bank fraud charges.
As to you you are only covered by count one which is conspiracy
to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.  Okay?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Now without getting into the initial 28
paragraphs of the Indictment that deals with the background,
let me just say that you are charged with beginning at least as
early as June of 2020 and continuing to in or about May of
2021, within the Southern District of Georgia, you and your
co-defendant, La'Kyera Me'Lika Thurmond, did conspire and agree
with each other to commit the following offenses:  Wire fraud;
that is, to devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice
to defraud individuals and to obtain money and property by
means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses,
representations, and promises, and for the purpose of executing
the scheme attempting to do so to cause to be transmitted by
means of wire communication in interstate commerce signals and
sounds all in violation of Section 1343 of Title 18 of the
United States Code.
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There is a second part of this that deals with bank
fraud, but you are not pleading to the bank fraud portion;
right?
So paragraph B is not included within what he is
pleading to?
MS. STANLEY:  Correct, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  Just the wire fraud?
MS. STANLEY:  Yes.
THE COURT:  It was the object of the conspiracy for
you and your co-defendant and others to unlawfully enrich
yourself by, among others, obtaining EIDL and PPP proceeds and
Unemployment Insurance benefits under false and fraudulent
pretenses.  These all arise out of the EIDL, PPP and UI
benefits that came about as a result of the Covid pandemic.
It was part of the conspiracy and the manner and means
thereof that one or both of the defendants submitted or caused
to be submitted multiple false and fraudulent applications for
PPP loans to financial institutions, at least one electronic
application for an EIDL from the SBA knowing the same to
contain materially false representations and multiple
electronic applications for unemployment -- UI -- benefits
including pandemic unemployment benefits from the states of
Arizona, California, Georgia, Virginia, and West Virginia at
each state's SWA online portal knowing the same to contain
materially false representations.
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From June 2020 to August of 2020 one or both of the
defendants which includes you submitted or caused to be
submitted at least the following nine electronic applications
for UI benefits.  Each application contains false information
that the applicant resided in and/or was eligible for
unemployment benefits within the state to which the application
was submitted.
On or about June 6, 2020, application to WWV for
Brandon Thurmond; on or about June 10, 2020, an application to
Arizona DES for Brandon Thurmond; on or about June 15, 2020,
application to Arizona DES for an Individual 1; on or about
June 15, 2020, application to Arizona DES for Individual 2; on
about June 15, 2020, an application to Arizona DES for
Individual 3; on or about June 16, 2020, application to Arizona
DES for Individual 4; on or about July 13, 2020, application to
Georgia DOL for Brandon Thurmond; on or about August 9, 2020,
application to VEC for Brandon Thurmond; on or about August 11,
2020, application to California EDD for Brandon Thurmond.
From April to May of 2021 one or both of the
co-defendants which includes you either submitted or caused to
be submitted at least the following six PPP loan applications
to Harvest on behalf of various reported businesses.  Each
application falsely represented the applicant's average monthly
payroll.  To support the false payroll amounts of each PPP
application the defendants created fabricated IRS forms
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Schedule C that were submitted to the PPP application.
On or about April 14, 2021, application for Brandon
Thurmond containing a false Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in
gross receipts for 2019; on or about April 26, 2021,
application for Business 1 containing a false Schedule C
containing $100,000 in gross receipts for 2019; on or about
April 28, 2021, application for Business 2 containing a false
Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in gross receipts for 2019; on
or about May 8, 2021, application for Brandon Thurmond
containing a false Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in gross
receipts for 2019; on or about May 28, 2021, application for
Business 2 containing a false Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in
gross receipts for 2019; on or about May 28, 2021, application
for Business 3 containing false Schedule C reflecting $100,000
in gross receipts for 2019.
In June of 2020 one or both of the co-defendants
submitted or caused to be submitted the following EIDL
application that falsely represented the purported business
gross revenues and number of employees.  On or about June 16,
2020, application for purported business called Brandon
Thurmond for $98,325 in gross revenues in the 12 months
preceding January 31, 2020, and 10 employees.  In reliance on
these false representations made in the EIDL application the
SBA, by means of interstate and wire communications, disbursed
a $10,000 grant into your bank account.
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All right.  That is a summary, if you will, of the
charge in count one, again, which is the only count in this
indictment that includes you as a named defendant.  Have you
gone over this indictment and this charge with your lawyer?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes.
THE COURT:  Do you clearly understand what the court
-- well, the grand jury -- has charged you with?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Have you had as much time to talk to
Mrs. Walker as you would like to about this indictment and your
plea today?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Are you satisfied with the help that she's
provided you as your lawyer in this case?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Now you have previously plead not guilty.
The law says that when you are charged you have a right to
plead not guilty and to persist in that plea.  By persisting in
that plea you would then have the right to a jury trial.  At
trial you would be presumed to be innocent and the government
would have to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  You
would have the right to the assistance of a lawyer for your
defense appointed by the court, if necessary, at trial and at
every other stage of your case.
You would have a right to see and hear all the
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witnesses and to have them cross examined in your defense.  You
would have a right on your own part to decline to testify -- in
other words, to remain silent -- unless you voluntarily elected
to testify as part of your own defense.  You would also have
the right to use the court's subpoena power to compel the
attendance of witnesses to testify in any defense.
Should you decide not to testify or to put on any
defense or facts or evidence, these facts could not be used
against you.  By entering into a guilty plea today for this
modified count one if I accept your plea there will be no trial
on count one.  You will have waived or given up your right to a
trial that I just described along with the trial-related rights
that I just described.  Do you understand then that those are
the rights that you are giving up by pleading guilty today?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Knowing these rights now do you wish to
waive your right to a jury trial and plead guilty to the
modified count one that is only wire fraud?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  I mentioned the Plea Agreement.  I have a
copy in front of me.  Did you sign this Plea Agreement?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Did you go over it carefully with
Mrs. Walker before you signed it?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
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THE COURT:  Does this Plea Agreement contain
everything you agreed to?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Other than the promises that the
government through the U.S. Attorney's Office made to you in
this Plea Agreement has anyone else on behalf of the government
promised you anything else?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  When you enter into a Plea Agreement with
the government you agree to be bound by all of the terms of the
agreement and you agree that all the facts that are contained
in the agreement are true and accurate.  Do you understand
that?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  I do want to point out a couple of things
about this Plea Agreement.  For purposes of sentencing you and
the government have agreed to recommend to the probation office
and to the court that the amount of loss for purposes of the
Sentencing Guidelines is more than $150,000 but less than
$250,000.  You have agreed to waive and abandon your interest
in any property that may have been seized in connection with
this case.
I want you to know that this Plea Agreement that
you've entered into, Mr. Thurmond, has two appeal waivers.
First, you are waiving your right to directly appeal your
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conviction and sentence on any ground but with three
exceptions:  You may appeal your sentence if your sentence
should exceed the maximum penalty that the law allows for this
crime or should the sentence exceed the advisory guideline
range determined to apply in your case or should the government
appeal.
The second waiver calls for you to waive your right to
collaterally attack your conviction and sentence on any ground.
The only exception to this waiver is that you may still base a
claim on ineffective assistance of counsel.  Do you understand
that the Plea Agreement that you've entered into contains the
two appeal waivers that I just described to you?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  All right.  Let me go over with you the
consequences of pleading guilty today.  Upon a conviction of
this charge the law provides that you could be sent to prison
for up to 20 years, fined up to but not more than $1 million,
placed on supervised release following any prison sentence for
not more than three years, pay all restitution as may be
ordered by the court, forfeit all forfeitable assets as ordered
by the court and agreed to in any Plea Agreement and be
required to pay a $100 special assessment at the time you are
sentenced.  Do you understand that these are the potential
penalties you could face in this case?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
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THE COURT:  Now you are in a federal court.  In the
federal system there is no parole.  So if you receive a prison
sentence you will be in custody for all of the prison sentence
you receive reduced only by credit for good time you may earn
while incarcerated.  After you have served any prison sentence
you will be released onto supervised release.  That means
you're not in custody, but you are under the court's
supervision and rules for a period of time -- in your case not
more than three years.  If you break those rules while on
supervised release, you can be arrested, brought back to court,
and if I revoke supervised release you can be sent back to
prison to serve an additional period of time.
Also, Mr. Thurmond, as a result of this felony
conviction there are a number of civil rights that can be
impacted.  So you'll lose the right to vote, to serve on a
jury, to hold public office and to own or possess firearms or
ammunition.  Do you now understand the potential consequences
you could be facing by pleading guilty today?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Now if I accept your guilty plea in a few
minutes you will not be sentenced today.  Rather, I am going to
order a Presentence Investigation Report to be prepared by a
probation officer.  The officer will conduct a thorough
investigation of your case and then prepare a draft report.  As
part of that investigation they will meet with you and
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Mrs. Walker and ask you a number of questions.
After preparing the draft report that copy or that
report will be sent to the lawyers.  You will meet with
Mrs. Walker and go over the draft report which I encourage you
to do.  If there are any mistakes in the report or if you or
Mrs. Walker agree or object to any statements or conclusions
then you should notify the probation officer.
After the report has been finalized it will be sent to
me with copies to the lawyers.  Again, you will meet with your
lawyer and go over the final report.  The final report is very
important because that's what I use to determine what your
sentence will be.  So once I have the final report, then we
will schedule a sentencing hearing.  You will come back to
court as you have the right to be present for sentencing.
At that hearing I will first hear and resolve any
outstanding objections to the Presentence Report.  Second, you
and Mrs. Walker can present witnesses, letters of support or
other exhibits or information on any sentencing issue.  You
also have the right to make a personal statement before I
sentence you.  So I'll give you a chance to speak to me if
that's something you want to do.
Now as part of that hearing in relying on the
Presentence Report I will adopt the final Federal Sentencing
Guidelines that apply to your case.  It will be a range of
months.  These are mandatory guidelines.  They are not -- I
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mean these are advisory guidelines.  They are not mandatory.
So what that means is once I adopt the guideline range
suggested by the Sentencing Guidelines, I can sentence you
within that range or I can go below the range or above the
range depending upon a number of factors.  Do you understand
that that is how sentencing will take place?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Have you discussed the guidelines prior to
the hearing today with Mrs. Walker?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Did anyone promise, predict or make a
prophecy that you would receive a specific sentence in this
case?
THE DEFENDANT:  No, sir.
THE COURT:  All right.  We're almost finished.  Now if
you were to go to trial on this conspiracy charge, let me tell
you what the government would have to prove:  First, that two
or more people in some way or manner agreed to try to
accomplish a common and unlawful plan to commit wire fraud as
charged in this indictment; second, you knew the unlawful
purpose of this plan and you willfully joined in it.
That's what the government would have to prove,
Mr. Thurmond.  Now that you're asking to plead guilty are you
admitting to the court that the government would be able to
prove that?
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THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  With that admission, if you will stay
where you are I want to hear -- are you going to do this by
proffer?
MS. STANLEY:  Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  Stay where you are.  I'll hear the factual
basis by proffer.  
You may proceed.
MS. STANLEY:  Thank you, Judge.  From at least June of
2020 to in or about May of 2021 within the Southern District of
Georgia and elsewhere, the defendant, Brandon Jamal Thurmond,
with others known and unknown including his sister and
co-defendant, La'Kyera Me'Lika Thurmond, did conspire,
confederate, and agree with other to commit wire fraud as
defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1343.
It was the object for the conspiracy for the defendant
and others to unlawfully enrich themselves by, among other
things, obtaining Economic Injury Disaster Loans or EIDL and
Payroll Protection Program or PPP and Unemployment Insurance or
UI benefits under false and fraudulent pretenses.
It was part of the conspiracy and the manner and means
thereof that defendant and the other members of the conspiracy
submitted or caused to be submitted, one, multiple false and
fraudulent applications for PPP loans to Harvest Small Business
Finance, LLC; two, at least one electronic application for an
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EIDL from the Small Business Administration or SBA knowing the
same to contain material false representations; and, three,
multiple electronic applications for UI benefits including
pandemic unemployment benefits from the states of Arizona,
California, Georgia, Virginia, and West Virginia at each
state's State Work Force Agency's -- or SWA -- online portal
knowing they contained material false representations.
From June of 2020 to August of 2020 defendant and
other members of the conspiracy submitted or caused to be
submitted at least the following nine electronic applications
for UI benefits:  First, on or about June 6 of 2020, an
application to Work Force West Virginia for Brandon Thurmond;
second, on or about June 10 of 2020 an application to the
Arizona Department of Economic Security or DES for Brandon
Thurmond; three, on or about June 15, 2020, an application to
Arizona DES for Latoya Thurmond; four, on or about June 15,
2020, an application to Arizona DES for Bakari Thurmond; five,
on or about June 15, 2020, an application to Arizona DES for       
Chakoya Sanders; six, on or about June 16, 2020, an application
to Arizona DES for Kendra Sanders; seven, on or about July 13,
2020, an application to the Georgia Department of Labor for
Brandon Thurmond; eight, on or about August 9 of 2020 an
application to the Virginia Employment Commission for Brandon
Thurmond; and, nine, on or about August 11, 2020, an
application to California Employment Development Department for
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Brandon Thurmond.  
Each application contained false affirmations that the
applicant resided in and/or was eligible for unemployment
benefits in the state in which the application was submitted.
In reliance on the false representations made in those UI
applications, some of these SWAs, by means of interstate wire
communication, disbursed funds into various bank accounts.
From April to May of 2021 the defendant and other
members of the conspiracy submitted or caused to be submitted
at least the following six PPP loan applications to Harvest
Small Business Finance, LLC on behalf of various purported
businesses.  Each application falsely represented the
applicant's average monthly payroll.  To support the false
payroll amount for the applicants shown the defendant created
fabricated IRS forms Schedule C that were submitted with the
PPP application.
First, on or about April 14, 2021, an application for
a purported business called Brandon Thurmond contained a false
Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in gross receipts for 2019; two,
on or about April 26, 2021, an application for a purported
business called Phalonda Powell containing a false Schedule C
reflecting $100,000 in gross receipts for 2019; three, on or
April 28, 2021, an application for a purported business called
Brittney Elmy containing a false Schedule C reflecting $100,000
in gross receipts for 2019; four, on or about May 8 of 2021, an
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Case 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE     Document 96     Filed 07/11/24     Page 18 of 23

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application for a purported business called Brandon Thurmond
containing a false Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in gross
receipts for 2019; five, on or about May 28, 2021, an
application for a purported business called Brittney Elmy
containing a false Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in gross
receipts for 2019; and, sixth, on or about May 28, 2021, an
application for a purported business called Travis Jimperson
containing a false Schedule C reflecting $100,000 in gross
receipts for 2019.  Those PPP loan applications were processed
by means of interstate wire communication.
In June of 2020 defendant and other members of the
conspiracy submitted or caused to be submitted the following
EIDL application that falsely represented a purported business
with gross revenue and a number of employees:  On or about
June 16 of 2020 an application for a purported business called
Brandon Thurmond with $98,325 in gross revenue in the 12 months
preceding January 31, 2020, and 10 employees.
In relying upon the false representations made in that
EIDL application the SBA, by means of interstate wire
communication, disbursed a $10,000 grant into Mr. Thurmond's
bank account.  The total intended loss which includes actual
loss for all of these fraudulent applications was more than
150,000 and less than $250,000.
Thank you, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  Mr. Thurmond, does that sound like an
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    20
accurate description of what happened in this case?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Do you now want to plead guilty to the
modified count one of this indictment, conspiracy to commit
wire fraud?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Are you pleading guilty because you are,
in fact, guilty of committing this crime?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
THE COURT:  The record should now reflect that
Mr. Thurmond has plead guilty to the modified count one,
conspiracy to commit wire fraud, of the Indictment.  His plea
should be signed and entered, please.
THE CLERK:  The defendant's plea of guilty to count
one has been entered.
THE COURT:  With the entry of the signed plea into the
record of the hearing, I find that Mr. Thurmond is competent
and fully understands the charge against him.  There is a
factual basis supporting his guilty plea on this charge.  He
knows the statutory punishment that could be imposed upon a
conviction and he knows his jury rights which he has knowingly
and voluntarily waived.  His decision this morning to plead
guilty was voluntary, knowing and not as a result of any force,
pressure, threats or promises other than the promises made by
the government in the Plea Agreement.  Therefore, his plea is
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    21
now accepted and I adjudge him guilty of count one as modified
to wire fraud only of the indictment based upon his plea of
guilty.
I order the preparation of the Presentence Report and
direct that copies be provided to the parties.  I will schedule
sentencing when the final report has been issued.
Mr. Thurmond, I see that you have been free on bond.
It looks like you've honored all of your bond conditions.  The
recommendation from probation is that I allow you to remain
free on bond pending sentencing.
Any objection by the government to that
recommendation?
MS. STANLEY:  No, Your Honor.
THE COURT:  I see no reason to do any differently.  So
you may remain free on bond pending sentencing.  All of your
bond conditions will remain in full force and effect.  You must
obey all directives from probation or any other court official.
We'll notify you of the time and date of your sentencing.  If
you fail to appear for sentencing that is a criminal offense
for which you can be prosecuted and imprisoned.
Is this your first felony conviction?
THE DEFENDANT:  Federal, yes, sir.
THE COURT:  Federal, but you have state felony
conviction?
THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.
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THE COURT:  All right.  I was going to remind you now
that you are a convicted felon about firearms, but I don't need
to give you that additional advice, but, nevertheless, all bond
conditions remain in full force and effect.  You can check out
if you need to with anybody, but you are free to leave.  See
you at sentencing.
(The hearing is concluded.)
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CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 
 
 
 
     I, Lisa H. Davenport, Federal Official 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 the stenographically-reported proceedings 
held 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 Reporter 
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Case 1:23-cr-00021-JRH-BKE     Document 96     Filed 07/11/24     Page 23 of 23
Digitally signed by 
Lisa Davenport 
Date: 2024.07.11 
13:57:01 -04'00'

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