United States v. Hodge

1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. MELVIN HODGE, Defendant.

No. 1:23-cr-00195

United States District Court, N.D. Ohio, Eastern Division

November 29, 2024

James E. Grimes, Jr. Magistrate Judge

OPINION AND ORDER

J Philip Calabrese United States District Judge

In this case, the indictment charges multiple defendants with various serious crimes as part of a conspiracy. (ECF No. 1.) Defendant Melvin Hodge brings two motions to suppress certain evidence and requests evidentiary hearings for both. (ECF No 90; ECF No. 92; ECF No. 134 (supplemental briefing).) The United States opposes each motion. (ECF No. 110; ECF No 111.) Defendant also moves to compel production of certain materials in discovery. (ECF No. 122). In compliance with the Court's order, the United States did not file a brief in opposition to the motion to compel but did oppose it at oral argument. (ECF No. 133, PagelD #2639-45.)

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On April 6, 2023, the United States indicted four individuals on various drug possession and conspiracy charges: Melvin Hodge, Carvin Cook, Sherman Thomas, and Frank Black. (ECF No. 1.) In a separate case, Quinton Parries was also charged in connection with this conspiracy. See United States v. Parries, No. 1:23-cr-250 (filed May 3, 2023). Mr. Parries has since pled guilty.

In this case, the indictment is based in part on data collected from Defendants' cell phones and evidence found in searches of Defendants' residences and places of business. The pending motions involve cell site information data turned over in response to a pen register application for Mr. Hodge's cell phone and two physical searches: a search of Mr. Hodge's residence at 804 Timberline Trail in Northfield, Ohio and a search of Mr. Hodge's place of business at 5450 Omega Avenue, Suite 4 in Bedford Heights, Ohio.

On August 22, 2022, the Magistrate Judge granted a pen register application under 18 U.S.C. §§ 3122 and 3123. (ECF No. 90-1, PagelD #440-43.) On January 9, 2023, the Magistrate Judge signed an affidavit authorizing searches of the Timberline Trail residence in Northfield and the Omega Avenue business in Bedford Heights. (ECF No. 95-1, PageID #539.) The search warrants sought items like currency, books, records, bank statements, logbooks, papers related to purchasing and distributing controlled substances, travel-related records and tickets, photographs, firearms, personal identification, electronics, and storage media that could contain the records listed above. (ECF No. 110-1, PageID #843-44; ECF No. 110-2, PageID #851-52.)

On January 11, 2023, law enforcement conducted a search of the Timberline Trail residence in Northfield and seized five cell phones, three firearms, ammunition, and cash. (ECF No. 110-1, PageID #845-46.) On January 11, 2023, law enforcement conducted a search of the Omega Avenue business in Beford Heights and found a laptop, a USB thumb drive, an external electronic storage device, a plastic baggie with white powder, an iPad, a DVR, and a hard drive tower. (ECF No. 110-2, PageID #853-54.)

FINDINGS OF FACT

Defendant's motion to suppress cell site location information alleges that the United States unlawfully obtained cell site location information through a pen register and trap device without a warrant as required under Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018). Defendant alleges that the cell site location information helped support subsequent physical searches of his home and place of business. Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained at the Timberline Trail residence in Northfield and the Omega Avenue business in Beford Heights challenges the information in the affidavit supporting each search warrant.

A. Cell Site Location Data

On August 22, 2022, the United States submitted an application pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 3122 and 3123 to authorize the installation and use of a pen register and a trap-and-trace device to “record, decode, and capture dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information associated with communications to or from” a target telephone number in the 602 area code. (ECF No. 90-1, PageID #433.) T-Mobile provided service for this number. (Id.) The applicant certified “that the information likely to be obtained by the requested pen/trap device is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the Investigative Agency of possible violations of Title 21, U.S. Code, Sections 841 and 846 (distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiring to distribute controlled substances) by Carvin L. Cook, and others as yet unknown.” (Id., ¶ 5, PageID #434.)

The United States sought information regarding the date, time, and duration of communications involving the target phone. (Id., ¶ 14, PagelD #436-37.) Also, it sought, without geographic limit, source and destination phone numbers, source and destination email addresses, and any unique identifiers associated with the cell phone. (Id.) The United States did not request any cell site location information. On August 22, 2022, the Magistrate Judge approved and ordered the application. (ECF No. 90-1, PageID #440-43.) The pen register/trap device began on August 23, 2022 at 4:54 p.m. (ECF No. 90, PageID #427; ECF No. 114-1, PageID #902.) The last recorded entry on the pen record was on February 4, 2023 at 7:14 p.m. (ECF No. 114-1, PageID #891.)

In response to the order, T-Mobile provided not only the requested records but also cell site location information for some calls even though that information was not requested. (ECF No. 90, PageID #427; ECF No. 114-1, PageID #891-902 (pen register data which includes cell tower locations for select calls).) The United States used this cell site location information in an affidavit to support subsequent search warrants of Mr. Hodge's residence and place of business. (See, e.g., ECF No. 95-1, ¶¶ 47, 55 & 149, PageID #514, #515 & #538; ECF No. 129-1, ¶¶ 47, 55 & 149, PageID #2550, #2551 & #2574.) Additionally, the United States requested ping data through a separate warrant that provided more comprehensive location information than the pen register-which Mr. Hodge does not challenge. (See ECF No. 114-3.)

B. The Searches at Issue

Based on the information presented to the Magistrate Judge in the master affidavit supporting the search warrants, the Court makes the following findings of fact for purposes of resolving the pending motions. By way of background, Special Agent Stephen J. Chokshi of the Drug Enforcement Administration swore out the affidavit. (ECF No. 95-1, PageID #496; ECF No. 129-1, PageID #2532.) At that time, the affiant had thirteen years of experience as a special agent. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 2, PageID #496; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 2, PageID #2532.)

B.1. The Investigation

In July 2022, law enforcement learned of a UPS shipment containing 19 kilograms of multi-colored compression binder and a punch die in the shape of a clover addressed to Cleveland, Ohio. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶¶ 14-17, PagelD #504-05; ECF No. 129-1, ¶¶ 14-17, PageID #2540-41.) On July 12, 2022, Defendant Carvin Cook picked up the package from a UPS facility in Highland Heights, Ohio. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 15, PageID #504; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 15, PageID #2540.) Then, the Magistrate Judge authorized real-time precise location information and pen register trap devices for a phone number associated with Mr. Cook. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 17, PageID #504; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 17, PageID #2541.)

Through this process, officers were able to identify Defendant Sherman Thomas as a frequent contact of Mr. Cook's. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶¶ 22-23, PageID #506-07; ECF No. 129-1, ¶¶ 22-23, PageID #2543-44.) The Magistrate Judge authorized real time precise location information and a pen register and trap and trace device for Mr. Thomas's cell phone.

(ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 24, PageID #507; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 24, PageID #2543.) This information led to the discovery that Mr. Thomas's cell phone number was listed on the UPS shipment containing the compression binder that Mr. Cook retrieved. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶¶ 23 & 25, PageID #507; ECF No. 129-1, ¶¶ 23 & 25, PageID #2543.)

On September 16, 2022, the affiant received information regarding a shipment of 10 kilograms of caffeine and 21 kilograms of various colors of compression binder associated with one of Mr. Thomas's phone numbers. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 28, PageID #508; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 28, PageID #2544). On September 20, 2022, investigators observed Mr. Thomas pick up the UPS package and transport it to a home on Reyburn Road in Cleveland. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 29, PageID #508; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 29, PageID #2544.) Agents then observed Mr. Thomas travel between the Reyburn Road residence and his apartment on Father Caruso Drive. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 29, PageID #508-09; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 29, PagelD #2544-45.)

On September 28, 2022, the Magistrate Judge signed search warrants for two residences tied to Mr. Thomas: one on Father Caruso Drive and one on Reyburn Road, both in Cleveland, Ohio. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 30, PageID #509; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 30, PageID #2545.) At the residence on Father Caruso Drive, officers executed the warrant and found methamphetamine, multicolored pills, a clover stamp, a firearm, a suspected narcotics ledger, and several cell phones. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶¶ 31-32, PageID #509-10; ECF No. 129-1, ¶¶ 31-32, PageID #2545-46.) At the Reyburn Road residence, officers seized a pill press, a rifle, compression binder, blenders containing white residue, and other drug paraphernalia.

(ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 33, PageID #510; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 33, PageID #2546.) On October 4, 2022, the Magistrate Judge authorized a search warrant for the cell phones found at the residence on Father Caruso Drive. (ECF No. 95-1, ¶ 34, PageID #510; ECF No. 129-1, ¶ 34, PageID #2546.)

B.2. ...