Court filing
Government’s Pre-Hearing Brief — United States v. McClellon (Dkt. 97, W.D. Wash.)
Summary
The government's pre-hearing brief in United States of America v. Donte Jamal McClellon, No. 2:22-cr-00073-LK, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle, filed February 10, 2023 before the Honorable Michelle L. Peterson. The government states that McClellon violated his appearance bond by failing to appear for a hearing on December 28, failing to seek mental health counseling and traveling outside the district without permission, and that although he told the Court he was in the hospital, flight records and email pings show he was in New York. It argues that he is a serious flight risk whose bond should be revoked. It notes an evidentiary hearing set for February 17, 2023 and is signed by Assistant United States Attorneys Lauren Staniar and Zachary Dillon.
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Filed February 10, 2023 in Donte Jamal McClellon; one of 2 filings from this case.
Record facts
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington |
|---|---|
| Filed | 2023-02-10 |
Cite this document
“Government’s Pre-Hearing Brief — United States v. McClellon (Dkt. 97, W.D. Wash.).”
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, No. 2:22-cr-00073, Doc. 97, filed 2023-02-10. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/court-filings/us-v-donte-jamal-mcclellon/2023-02-10-government-s-pre-hearing-brief-dkt-97/
, SHA-256 618199f9cadc85b77e86a14b08ec9aacfa25a96b679571baaa5897d07d4fbecb.Full text
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 1 of 8
1 The Honorable Michelle L. Peterson
2
3
4
5
6
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE
8
9
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, NO. 2:22-cr-00073-LK
10
Plaintiff
GOVERNMENT’S PRE-HEARING
11
BRIEF
12 v.
13 DONTE JAMAL MCCLELLON
14 Defendant.
15
16
Defendant Donte McClellon failed to appear for a hearing on December 28, failed
17
to seek mental health counseling, and traveled outside the district without permission, all
18
in violation of his appearance bond. McClellon told the Court he was in the hospital, but
19
the Government’s evidence—including flight records and email pings—clearly shows that
20
he was in New York. He likely has been living in New York for much of his pretrial
21
supervision, not at home in Seattle with his mother as he promised the Court he would.
22
McClellon’s persistent disregard for this Court’s orders and willingness to lie to cover his
23
tracks make him a serious flight risk. His bond should be revoked, and he should be
24
remanded to custody pending trial.
25
An evidentiary hearing on McClellon’s bond violations is scheduled for Friday,
26
February 17, 2023, at 1 p.m. before the Honorable Michelle L. Peterson. The government
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 1 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
(206) 553-7970
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 2 of 8
1 anticipates calling two witnesses. Special Agent Armando Ramirez III, Federal Bureau of
2 Investigation, will sit at counsel table. The government intends to file its exhibit list and
3 witness list on February 15, 2023.
4 I. BACKGROUND
5 Defendant Donte McClellon obtained three Payment Protection Program (“PPP”)
6 loans worth more than $500,000 under false pretenses. McClellon is the sole listed owner
7 and manager of three Washington-based LLCs: Frostlake LLC, Cannonlake LLC, and
8 Skylake LLC. He sought a PPP loan on behalf of each company in the early days of the
9 COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed in loan applications that each company had monthly
10 payroll expenses and employees for whom it paid payroll taxes. McClellon submitted
11 supporting documents with the applications, namely, IRS Form 941s, IRS Schedule Cs,
12 and bank documents. McClellon’s PPP applications and the forms he submitted with them
13 were false—each of McClellon’s entities was a sham with no payroll, no employees, and
14 no business operations. A grand jury indicted McClellon for three counts of bank fraud (18
15 U.S.C. § 1344). In December 2022, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment
16 charging three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud. Dkt. No. ¶ 62. Trial is
17 set for March 6, 2023 before Judge King.
18 McClellon was detained early in the case after he lied to pretrial services about his
19 financial accounts and aliases. McClellon claimed in an interview with pretrial services
20 that he had only one financial account that was frozen by the government. See Dkt. 18, at
21 2 (Gov’t Det. Mem.). The government notified defense that McClellon had at least four
22 active accounts of which the government was aware, but McClellon still refused to provide
23 accurate information. Id. McClellon also failed to notify pretrial services that he had an
24 alternate identify—Donte Harrington—and two sets of passports. Id. at 4.
25 The Court reopened detention on defense’s motion in July 2022 and ultimately
26 released McClellon to the third-party custodianship of his mother under conditions. In
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 2 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
(206) 553-7970
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 3 of 8
1 particular, McClellon’s bond requires him to appear in court for all hearings in the case,
2 undergo a mental health evaluation, and provide pretrial services requested financial
3 information, among other obligations. Dkt. No. 39. McClellon signed his appearance bond,
4 see id., and the Court reviewed the conditions in detail with McClellon at the hearing. At
5 the July 29, 2022 detention hearing, this Court explained “Your travel will be restricted to
6 the Western District of Washington. . . . I am also directing that you maintain residence at
7 your mother’s house. You cannot leave her house or move anywhere else without letting
8 Pretrial Services know, and you have to get approval from pretrial Services to leave your
9 mother’s house.” [USA-00008596, at 1–2 & 19–24] This Court also reminded McClellon
10 that his bond required him to “undergo some mental health and psychological evaluation
11 and then I’m going to order that you follow up on any treatment recommendation including
12 takin medication if that’s prescribed to you.” Id. at 1–5.
13 Despite these warnings, McClellon failed to appear for two hearings in December
14 2022, leading the Court to issue a bench warrant on December 28, 2022. Counsel for the
15 government waited more than one week for McClellon to resurface and explain his non-
16 appearance. When that did not happen, the government requested the Court vacate the
17 February 6 trial date so the government could release its out-of-town witnesses.
18 Meanwhile, the government set to work finding McClellon. Records from Google
19 showed that McClellon’s known email addresses communicated with the Google server
20 from an IP address in New York on January 9 and January 25, 2023. Verizon confirmed
21 the IP address was registered to McClellon at his New York apartment. Law enforcement
22 spoke with McClellon’s apartment manager, who said staff had seen him in the apartment
23 building in the past few months, his apartment appeared occupied, and staff heard his voice
24 when calling up food deliveries as recently as January 25, 2023. The government later
25 obtained flight records from Delta showing that McClellon flew from John F. Kennedy
26 airport in New York to SeaTac airport on January 30, 2023.
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 3 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
(206) 553-7970
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 4 of 8
1 II. VIOLATIONS BEFORE THE COURT
2 There are three bond violations currently before the Court. Violation one alleges
3 McClellon failed to appear for a hearing on December 28, 2022 in violation of a standard
4 condition of supervision. Violation two alleges that McClellon left the Western District of
5 Washington without the permission of pretrial services, in violation of a special condition
6 of supervision. Violation three alleges that McClellon failed to obtain a mental health
7 evaluation and provide proof to pretrial services, in violation of a special condition.
8 McClellon has denied all violations, and an evidentiary hearing is scheduled before
9 your honor on February 17, 2023.
10 III. LAW ON BOND REVOCATION
11 18 U.S.C. § 3148 governs sanctions for a violation of a release condition and sets
12 the standard for the revocation hearing. A person who has been released pretrial “and who
13 violated a condition of his release, is subject to a revocation of release, an order of
14 detention, and a prosecution for contempt of court.” 18 U.S.C. § 3148(a). The government
15 must show by “clear and convincing evidence that the person that the person has violated
16 any other conditions of release.” Id. § 3148(b)(1). The Court must order the person detained
17 if it finds that “there is no condition or combination of conditions of release that will assure
18 that the person will not flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the
19 community,” or “the person is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of
20 conditions of release.” Id. § 3148(b)(2).
21 IV. THE GOVERNMENT’S EVIDENCE
22 The government will present the following clear and convincing evidence that
23 McClellon violated the terms of his appearance bond in the manner alleged by pretrial
24 services:
25
26
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 4 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
(206) 553-7970
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 5 of 8
1 • McClellon failed to appear for a hearing in front of your honor on December
2 28, 2022. This Court convened the hearing and made a record that McClellon
3 was not present.
4 • Pretrial services officer Michael Munsterman reminded McClellon multiple
5 times to seek a mental health evaluation, including by text message on
6 December 9, 2022. As far as Officer Munsterman is aware, McClellon never
7 obtained the required evaluation.
8 • McClellon also left the district in violation of his pretrial bond. Records from
9 Delta Airlines show that McClellon flew from JFK airport in New York to
10 SeaTac airport on January 30, 2023, arriving just in time to turn himself in
11 to this Court on January 31, 2023.
12 • The same Delta records suggest that McClellon has been living primarily in
13 New York. He flew from JFK to SeaTac on October 25, 2022, arriving just
14 in time to meet with Officer Munsterman for a home visit in Seattle. He flew
15 back to New York that evening. He flew from JFK from SeaTac again on
16 November 20, 2023 and back to JFK on November 21, 2022.
17 • The government obtained records from Google about Internet Protocol (IP)
18 addresses used to log on to McClellon’s known email address,
19 djmcclellon@gmail.com. Those records show that someone—presumably
20 McClellon—logged into djmcclellon@gmail.com on January 9, 2023 and
21 January 25, 2023 in the state of New York from the same static IP address.
22 • Records obtained from Verizon confirm the IP address was registered to
23 “Donte Mcclellon” at McClellon’s New York apartment, with email address
24 djmcclellon@gmail.com.
25 • Law enforcement interviewed the property manager at McClellon’s New
26 York apartment building, ARO NYC, and learned that his apartment has not
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 5 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
(206) 553-7970
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 6 of 8
1 been rented out to another party. The property manager last saw McClellon
2 at the building about one or two months ago, and ARO staff informed law
3 enforcement that McClellon received food deliveries to his apartment in
4 January 2023.
5 • ARO staff knocked on McClellon’s apartment door on January 25, 2023, but
6 there was no answer. Staff attempted a welfare check and discovered the
7 security latch was engaged from the inside and the lights were on, suggesting
8 someone was in the apartment.
9 • Later that day, McClellon received a food delivery in his name to his New
10 York apartment. ARO staff called up to his apartment to inform him of the
11 delivery, and the staff member heard McClellon’s voice.
12 • McClellon received mail at his New York apartment in his name as recently
13 as last week, namely, a FedEx package from a New York-based law firm.
14 • Agents surveilled McClellon’s Seattle residence on January 9, 6, and 5 to
15 ascertain his whereabouts. They did not see him or any sign that he was
16 present at the house.
17 • McClellon did not obtain permission from pretrial services to leave the
18 district between October 2022 and January 2023.
19 This evidence clearly shows that McClellon left the district without permission at
20 minimum in October, November, and January. The evidence also shows that he failed to
21 attend the December 28 hearing and failed to seek a mental health evaluation, all in
22 violation of his pretrial bond. That bond should be revoked.
23 V. MCCLELLON SHOULD BE DETAINED
24 The Court must order McClellon detained pending trial if it finds “there is no
25 condition or combination of conditions of release that will assure that the person will not
26 flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community,” or “the person
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 6 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
(206) 553-7970
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 7 of 8
1 is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of conditions of release.” Id.
2 § 3148(b)(2). Both circumstances apply here.
3 First, McClellon is a serious flight risk, and no conditions or combination of
4 conditions will assure his presence. All evidence indicates McClellon has been living in
5 New York for the better part of his pretrial supervision, not at his mother’s home in Seattle
6 as he promised the Court on July 29. This is a serious breach of trust and indicates an
7 unwillingness to abide by the Court’s orders. Simply put: McClellon already fled once, and
8 there’s every reason to believe he’ll do so again. He also went to great lengths to avoid
9 detection by flying from New York to Seattle to meet with his pretrial services officer for
10 a home visit on October 25, suggesting knowledge of guilt.
11 Second, McClellon is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of
12 conditions. Even before McClellon absconded, his behavior on pretrial supervision shows
13 he should be detained pending trial. Probation Officer Mike Munsterman wrote in a
14 December 9, 2022 status report that McClellon’s “adjustment to supervision has been
15 challenging at times,” and report suggests McClellon simply does not engage with pretrial
16 services. For example, McClellon insisted on signing routine intake paperwork “under
17 duress,” and he routinely fails to respond to correspondence from his probation officer.
18 McClellon has refused to communicate directly with his probation officer, insisting that
19 defense counsel must be involved in most conversations. When pretrial finally scheduled
20 a home visit for October 2022 (several months after he was ordered released), McClellon
21 was unable to substantiate claims that he was working as a photographer. McClellon was
22 released on the condition that he would participate in pretrial supervision and comply with
23 the conditions of his bond. He has wholly failed to do both. This, coupled with his flight to
24 New York, confirms he cannot be on pretrial supervision. Indeed, this Court previously
25 noted that “in order for the relationship to work on the outside if you were to be released,
26
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 7 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
(206) 553-7970
Case 2:22-cr-00073-LK Document 97 Filed 02/10/23 Page 8 of 8
1 there has to be trust between you and your Pretrial Services officer.” Dkt. No. 30-1, at
2 16:19–20.
3 Finally, McClellon is charged with stealing more than half a million dollars from
4 financial institutions under false pretenses. Discovery in this case is rife with instances
5 where McClellon lied and falsified documents to get what he wanted. Given this history,
6 the Court should not rely on McClellon’s assertions that he has been in the hospital, and it
7 should view any paperwork provided by McClellon with skepticism.
8 VI. CONCLUSION
9 McClellon’s recent flight from supervision confirms that he presents a serious flight
10 risk in the future. And his conduct on pretrial supervision confirms there is no condition or
11 combination of conditions that will reasonably assure his appearance. See 18 U.S.C.
12 § 3142(e). His bond should be revoked, and he should be detained pending trial.
13
14 DATED this 10th day of February, 2023.
15
16 Respectfully submitted,
17
NICHOLAS W. BROWN
18 United States Attorney
19
20
s/ Lauren Watts Staniar
21 Lauren Watts Staniar
Zachary Dillion
22
Assistant United States Attorneys
23 700 Stewart Street, Suite 5220
Seattle, WA 98101-1271
24 Telephone: (206) 553-5172
25 Fax: (206) 553-0582
Email: Lauren.Staniar@usdoj.gov
26 Email: Zachary.Dillon@usdoj.gov
27
Gov’t Hearing Brief - 8 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220
United States v. McClellon / 22-cr-00073
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
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