Gatson v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation

TOKYO GATSON, Plaintiff, v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 15-5068

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

August 31, 2017

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

OPINION

John Michael Vazquez, U.S.D.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter comes before the Court by way of Plaintiff Tokyo Gatson ("Gatson" or "Plaintiff") and Defendant the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (the "FBI" or the "Government" or "Defendant") cross-motions for summary judgment. D.E. 28 & 30. The Court considered the written submissions of the parties¹ and decides the motions without oral argument pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 78(b) and Local Civil Rule 78.1(b). For the reasons that follow, Defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted, and Plaintiff's motion is denied.²

II. FACTS³ AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Plaintiff's Record Requests

This matter concerns pro se Plaintiff's request to the FBI⁴ pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, for certain records and documents relating to himself, thirteen FBI Special Agents, Plaintiff's prison cellmates, and the "James Bond Gang." Declaration of Tokyo Gatson ("Gatson Decl.") ¶ 1. In particular, on February 11, 2015, Plaintiff requested:

• Copies of any and all files, FBI teletype, "field notes," T.R.A.K Messages, correspondence, memoranda, E-mails, Text, faxes, and other records, whether paper or electronic or otherwise which, directly or indirectly, report upon, concern, reference or refer to the Requestor Mr. Tokyo Daniel Gatson between November 5, 2012 through February 11, 2015.

• Copies of any and all documents, correspondence, T.R.A.K Messages, memoranda, E-mails, Text, faxes, and other records, whether paper or electronic or otherwise which reflecting communications between any government agency or officialdirectly or indirectly, report upon, concern, reference or refer to the Requestor Mr. Tokyo Daniel Gatson between November 5, 2012 through February 11, 2015.

• Copies of any and all documents, correspondence, T.R.A.K Messages, memoranda, E-mails, Text, faxes, and other records, whether paper or electronic or otherwise which reflecting communications between any Bergen County Prosecutor or official directly or indirectly, report upon, concern, reference or refer to the Requestor Mr. Tokyo Daniel Gatson between November 5, 2012 through February 11, 2015.

• Copies of any and all records[,] documents, memoranda, correspondence[,] E-mails, Text, faxes, and other records, whether paper or electronic or otherwise which pertain to any disciplinary matters that may have involved the following Special Agents: SA Benjamin E. Mininger; SA Jordan Bensen; SA Carlos Morales; SA Ryan Alexander Guerra; SA Gregory Donovan; SA Paul Szabo; SA Kurt Limpert; SA Buddy Early; SA Douglas Dye; SA Ruben Marchand; SA Mason Gant; SA Joshua Thompson; SA Cory Cloud; and

• Copies of any and all records regarding any remedial measures or additional policies implemented by the U.S. Attorney's office to prevent future unauthorized practice of law by the following Special Agents: SA Benjamin E. Mininger; SA Jordan Bensen; SA Carlos Morales; SA Ryan Alexander Guerra; SA Gregory Donovan; SA Paul Szabo; SA Kurt Limpert; SA Buddy Early; SA Douglas Dye; SA Ruben Marchand; SA Mason Gant; SA Joshua Thompson; SA Cory Cloud; and

• Copies of any and all documents, correspondence, memoranda, E-mails, Text, faxes, and other records, whether paper or electronic "which contain any debriefing/proffer statements made/given by Requestor Mr. Tokyo Gatson's Cellmates between October 11, 2013 through February 11, 2015.

• Copies of any and all files, FBI teletype, "field notes," correspondence, T.R.A.K Messages, memoranda, E-mails, Text, faxes, and other records, whether paper or electronic or otherwise which, directly or indirectly, report upon, concern, reference or refer to the Bergen County "James Bond Gang" between November 5, 2012 through February 11, 2015.

Id.

Plaintiff was also a defendant in another matter in this District. United States v. Gatson, et al., Crim. No. 13-705. That case was presided over by Judge Martini. Plaintiff was indicted, found guilty in November 2015 following a multi-week jury trial, and sentenced in 2016. It appears that Plaintiff's FOIA requests related, at least in part, to the underlying criminal investigation and/or prosecution. To be clear, Plaintiff's FOIA request is reviewed pursuant to different legal standards than those relating to discovery in Plaintiff's criminal case. To the extent Plaintiff had concerns with the discovery produced in his criminal prosecution, such issues needed to be raised with Judge Martini.

Defendants located approximately 1,750 pages of records responsive to Plaintiff's requests. Defendant's undisputed statement of material facts ("DSOF") (D.E. 28-5) ¶ 15. After reviewing these records, Defendants determined that multiple exemptions under FOIA and one exemption under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, warranted withholding many of the documents from production. Defendants ultimately produced 163 pages in full and 6 pages in redacted form in response to Plaintiff's FOIA request. Id. ¶¶ 19-21. Plaintiff filed a complaint challenging Defendant's withholding of the remaining documents.

B. The FBI's Record Keeping Systems

The FBI uses an extensive system of record keeping known as the Central Records System ("CRS"). DSOF ¶ 24. The CRS consists of "applicant, investigative, intelligence, personnel, administrative, and general files compiled and maintained by the FBI in the course of fulfilling its" duties. Id. The CRS spans the entire FBI and includes the records of FBI headquarters, FBI field offices, and FBI legal attaché offices throughout the world. Id. Records in the CRS are categorized according to a variety of subject matters, such as individual (persons), organization, and event (e.g., terrorist attack or bank robbery). Id. ¶ 27. Information within CRS is indexed aseither a "main entry" or a "reference entry." Id. ¶ 26. A main entry pertains to records indexed according to the primary subject of a file, such as a particular individual or organization. Id. A reference entry is a cross-reference to a record that merely mentions an individual, organization, or other subject matter contained within a "main entry." Id. The FBI does not index every individual, event, or subject matter in the CRS, but rather only information that is considered relevant and necessary for future retrieval. Id. ¶¶ 26-27.

The FBI's Automated Case Support System ("ACS") is an electronic, integrated case management system that became effective in 1995. Id. ¶ 28. As a result, over 105 million CRS records were converted from prior systems into ACS. Id. The FBI's Universal Index application ("UNI") is an automated index of the CRS that permits file retrieval by way of index searching. Id. ¶ 29. Individual names are recorded with identifying information such as date of birth, race, sex, locality, Social Security number, address, and/or date of an event. Id. Currently, UNI consists of approximately 112.5 million searchable records and is updated daily with newly indexed material. Id.

Effective July 1, 2012, the FBI implemented "Sentinel," its "next-generation case management system" that provides a "web-based interface to its users" with the "same automated application that is utilized in ACS." Id. ¶ 30. Sentinel did not replace ACS, but rather works conjunctively through an "index data sharing nexus . . . whereby information indexed into Sentinel is replicated or 'backfired' into ACS. Id. In other words, Sentinel builds on ACS and shares its operational purpose by providing another portal to locate FBI records within the CRS. Id.

C. The FBI's Search Terms and Methods

Upon receipt of Gatson's request, the FBI assigned the request two different request numbers with one called the "James Bond Gang" request (FOPIA Request Number 1322161-000)and the other named the "Tokyo Gatson" request (FOIPA Request Number 1322150-000). The FBI's Record/Information Dissemination Section conducted a CRS index search for responsive records employing the UNI application of ACS and a Sentinel index search by using the following search terms: "James Bond Gang" and "Tokyo Gatson," along with nine aliases found during the search -- "Tokoyo," "Christopher Wright," "Daniel Gatson," "Daniel Tokyo Gatson," "Tokyo D. Gatson," "Akeem Boone," Jarrell Bordeaux," "Jerry Montgomery," and "Marc Rainey." Id. ¶ 32. The FBI's search included a three-way phonetic breakdown of "Tokyo Gatson," a string search for "James Bond Gang," and an on-the-nose search for the eight aliases.⁵ Id. The FBI used Gatson's date of birth and other identifying information to facilitate the identification of responsive records. Id. After conducting the search, the FBI identified only cross-reference records indexed to the James Bond Gang and both main and cross-reference records indexed to Gatson's name. Id.

The FBI identified 169 pages of responsive records that it determined were not exempt under any FOIA exemption. The FBI released to Gatson 163 pages in full and 6 pages in redacted form.

D. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed a one-count Complaint alleging that Defendant improperly withheld outstanding documents located during its FOIA search. At the time Defendant filed its motion forsummary judgment, Plaintiff was incarcerated in the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey. Declaration of David M. Hardy ("Hardy Decl.") ¶ 6 (D.E. 28-7). Also at the time this motion was filed, Plaintiff had already been convicted by a jury in the matter before Judge Martini, as referenced above. Plaintiff was convicted of federal crimes relating to conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce and interstate transportation of stolen property. Id. Judge Martini thereafter sentenced Plaintiff to 300 months imprisonment. Docket No. 2:13-00705 at D.E. 159. On July 11, 2016, Plaintiff filed a notice of...