Exhibit - United States v. David T. Hines

Record facts

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida · No. 1:21-cr-20011-DPG · Doc. 52-3 · 2021-05-09 · Docket on CourtListener

Full text

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To the Honorable Judge Marcia Cooke,
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I am writing this letter on behalf of my son 
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David Tyler Hines.  I want to first and foremost express 
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my gratitude for your time and attention in allowing me to 
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share with you some things about my son that paint a more 
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accurate picture of who my son is aside from what you will 
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hear from the prosecution or read in arrest records.  
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I would like to start by saying that David, who 
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his family refers to as Tyler, is extremely loved.  He's 
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not only my son, he's a husband to his wife, a step father 
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to his step son, a grandson to my mother, a nephew to my 
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sister and brother, a cousin to my nieces and nephew, and 
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he is a friend to many.  His father and I were so excited 
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to bring him into this world and loved him beyond measure, 
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but we were just children ourselves.  I was 18 and had 
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just graduated high school a month before giving birth to 
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him.  His father and I were married and tried to make 
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things work for as long as possible, but unfortunately 
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split up when Tyler was around 3 years old.
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About a year later, I made the decision to move 
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to Miami to be closer to my sister and to start fresh.  In 
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hindsight, I realize what a selfish choice it was to move 
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so far away from his father, but we made the best of it 
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and he spent every summer and every holiday with his 
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father.  He was also blessed with having my brother-in-law
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Case 1:21-cr-20011-DPG   Document 52-3   Entered on FLSD Docket 05/09/2021   Page 1 of 6

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as a role model along with my brother who we later moved 
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closer to as well.  
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Tyler was born with a big heart and from an early 
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age was a care taker of people around him.  When he was 2 
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and a half years old, he used to walk his great-great 
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grandmother to her bedroom because she was scared to go by 
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herself.  He never let me drive by a stray dog without 
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stopping and trying to find the owner which we did on 
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several occasions.   In March of 2017, we found out that 
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his father had been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer.  
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This came at a time when Tyler's business was at its peak 
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and his company had just been rated one of the top 10 
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moving companies in the country.  Regardless of the fact 
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that he was busy and working non-stop trying to run his 
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business, he flew to North Florida every weekend for the 
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next three months straight to be there with his father 
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until his passing on Father's Day of 2017.  
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Tyler immediately focused all of his attention on 
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trying to figure out a way to help his younger siblings 
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that were living with his father before his passing.  All 
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he wanted to do was to help them even though he was 
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hurting himself and grieving the loss of his father.  He 
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felt a sense of responsibility for them and even attempted 
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to get custody of them even though he was only in his 
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early 20's and still a young man himself.
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Case 1:21-cr-20011-DPG   Document 52-3   Entered on FLSD Docket 05/09/2021   Page 2 of 6

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After his father's passing, my relationship with 
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my son slowly began to change and he did as well.  I 
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wasn't sure what was going on with him, but I knew he 
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wasn't himself.  He behavior was different and distant and 
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out of character for him.  At one point, I even had him 
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Marchman Acted because I was so concerned for his safety 
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and well being.  In conjunction with my awareness of this 
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dramatic change in his personality, he also began getting 
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in trouble and getting arrested which was clearly because 
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of his drinking and use of Adderral.  I was beginning to 
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feel like my son was passed the point of no return because 
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of how dramatic the change was with him.  We went from 
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having dinner together once a week, talking a couple of 
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times a week, and taking family vacations together to 
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almost no contact at all.  And when we did speak, he was a 
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totally different person from the son I had always known.  
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Fast forward to July of 2020 which is what brings 
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us here today, he and his wife and their son moved in with 
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me.  I didn't know what to expect because it had been a 
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couple of years that the relationship between he and I had 
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been so different, but I am happy to report that our 
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relationship is getting back to where it was before.  He 
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has been off of Adderral and also not drinking and there 
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is a clear difference in him.  We are getting back to the 
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relationship we've always had and he's back to being the 
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Case 1:21-cr-20011-DPG   Document 52-3   Entered on FLSD Docket 05/09/2021   Page 3 of 6

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loving and gentle man that I've always known.  
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Tyler did not have it easy growing up.  Although 
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he had two parents who loved him dearly and did the best 
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they could, we fell short a lot.  He lived with me the 
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majority of his childhood as a single mom working full-
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time and going to school full-time as well.  I was also 
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dealing with a lot of emotional baggage and was developing 
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unhealthy habits and coping skills so it's no surprise 
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that he would travel down the same path.  By the grace of 
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God and also the love and support of my family and mostly 
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my sister who is a psychologist and my greatest support 
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system, in 2009, I decided to get some help and started 
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seeing a therapist and also attending AA meetings.  As a 
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result, I have been sober now since July of 2009.
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I grew up in a Christian home with Christian 
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values and church was a regular part of that.  I tried to 
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do the same for Tyler and we've been attending University 
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Baptist since the year 2000.  Tyler always expressed a 
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desire to know God and has gone to great lengths to get 
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close to Him and strengthen his faith and trust in him.  
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He was very close to my grandmother, his great-grandmother 
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who was very involved in her church and had a strong faith 
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which she shared with David as he was growing up.
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David befriended a man named Michel Domit who is 
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very well known in Mexico and around the country for being 
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Case 1:21-cr-20011-DPG   Document 52-3   Entered on FLSD Docket 05/09/2021   Page 4 of 6

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a spiritual leader and guide.  David has traveled to 
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Mexico a couple of times to attend spiritual retreats that 
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Michel was leading and became close to Michel over the 
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years speaking to him many times a week.
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Tyler is a self made entrepreneur and began his 
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first moving company when he was just 20 years old.  His 
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first attempt was successful, but he was still learning 
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and ran into a couple of obstacles which led him to close 
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that company and later start another one with some 
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partners.  His second attempt was also successful, but yet 
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again a few obstacles led him to close that one which is 
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when he went out on his own and began operating one of the 
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most successful moving companies in the country.  He never 
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gave up and he never saw an obstacle too big for him to 
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try and overcome.  His resilience and tenacity and drive 
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were and are unstoppable. 
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I would like to emphasize that I am not making 
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excuses for any of Tyler's mistakes, I am simply 
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explaining some of the causes that were contributing 
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factors.  I have no doubt in my mind that Tyler had no 
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idea that the decision and mistake he made which brings us 
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here today would ever end up in him being sent to prison 
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or committing a federal crime.  He thought that he would 
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have to pay it back worse case scenario, but never did he 
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see this as a possible outcome.
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Tyler was raised in a family that provided love 
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and support and were law abiding citizens and he has also 
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been that for the better part of his life.  He has 
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expressed to me his remorse and shame for the decisions 
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and behavior that he's had for the past couple of years 
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and has also expressed a desire to stay sober and receive 
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support and help for that.
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I have no doubt in my mind that when my son has 
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completed the sentence that he is facing that he will come 
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out a better and stronger man.  He will resume taking care 
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of his wife and son and that he will find his way to 
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success in his personal life as well as his business life 
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and will make all efforts necessary to being a law-abiding 
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productive member of society.
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I thank you again for your time.  I have the 
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utmost respect for your position and I pray that this 
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letter has given you some further guidance on what is 
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appropriate for my son's future.
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Jennifer Lewis
jennlew73@yahoo.com
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786-422-2144
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Case 1:21-cr-20011-DPG   Document 52-3   Entered on FLSD Docket 05/09/2021   Page 6 of 6

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