United States v. Rodriguez-Preciado

476 F.Supp.3d 341

UNITED STATES of America,

v.Juan Gabriel RODRIGUEZ-PRECIADO, Defendant.

CRIMINAL NO. 2:19cr164

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Norfolk Division.

Signed August 5, 2020

Megan Cowles, United States Attorney Office, Norfolk, VA, for United States of America.

OPINION AND ORDER

Robort G. Doumar, Senior United States District Judge

On October 2, 2019, a federal grand jury sitting in Norfolk named defendant Juan Gabriel Rodriguez-Preciado ("Defendant") and four co-defendants in a thirteen-count criminal indictment, charging Defendant with: Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) (Count One); and Distribution of Cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count Ten). ECF No. 3. On April 24, 2020, Defendant, through counsel, filed the instant motion to suppress any and all evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant for 6045 Laveta Drive in Richmond, Virginia executed on August 29, 2019, in connection with a law enforcement investigation into a drug trafficking organization in the Richmond area ("Motion to Suppress" or "Motion"). ECF No. 122. In his Motion, Defendant asserts that all evidence—specifically, the incriminating statements Defendant made during a custodial interrogation after Defendant was found and arrested during the execution of a search warrant at 6045 Laveta Drive, Richmond, Virginia—should be suppressed on two grounds. Id. at 1. First, because Defendant's waiver of his Miranda rights was not knowing or intelligent ("Fifth Amendment Violation"); and second, there was no probable cause for the search warrant for 6045 Laveta Drive ("Fourth Amendment Violation"). Id. at 3, 6.

The United States ("Government") filed its response to Defendant's Motion to Suppress on May 8, 2020 ("Government's Response"). ECF No. 123. On July 16, 2020, the Court held a hearing concerning the Defendant's Motion to Suppress ("Motion to Suppress Hearing"). ECF No. 142. During the Motion to Suppress Hearing, Defendant, through counsel, proffered one witness, Chesapeake Police Department Detective Ashley Souther, who applied for and obtained the presently disputed search warrant for 6045 Laveta Drive. Id. At the conclusion of Detective Souther's testimony, defense counsel withdrew Defendant's Fifth Amendment Violation. As a result, the Government did not proffer any additional witnesses during the Motion to Suppress Hearing. Therefore, for the purposes of this Opinion and Order, the Court need not discuss Defendant's previously alleged, now-withdrawn Fifth Amendment Violation. The Court will only discuss Defendant's Motion to Suppress based on the alleged Fourth Amendment Violation. For the reasons stated herein, Defendant's Motion to Suppress is hereby DENIED.

I. FACTUAL FINDINGS¹

A. OVERVIEW OF THE INVESTIGATION

In July of 2019, law enforcement began a multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization ("DTO") in the Richmond area. The DTO was responsible for distributing cocaine and collecting proceeds of such drug sales in the Eastern District of Virginia. Law enforcement learned through a reliable confidential defendant ("Confidential Defendant" or "CD"), that the three main individuals of the DTO were: Adian Barth ("Mr. Barth"), Corey Evans ("Mr. Evans"), and Derrick Lewis ("Mr. Lewis"). According to the Confidential Defendant, Mr. Barth was the leader of the DTO, Mr. Evans was the debt collector, and Mr. Lewis was second in line for the narcotics aspect. Law enforcement also learned from the Confidential Defendant that the DTO was a large scale narcotics organization, responsible for distributing large quantities of cocaine, and using multiple houses in the Richmond area as stash houses to maintain some of their illegal contraband and U.S. currency. The Confidential Defendant also told law enforcement that the DTO's stash houses were possibly also the homes that Mr. Barth was professionally flipping. The Confidential Defendant, however, did not provide law enforcement with any specific addresses for the alleged stash houses.

Based the Confidential Defendant's information,² law enforcement set up E911 on Mr. Barth's and Mr. Evans' phones, and conducted physical and electronic surveillance on the DTO members including but not limited to their home residences—10924 Sunset Hills Drive North Chesterfield, Virginia ("Sunset Hills Drive"); 4107 Mallard Landing Circle #204 Midlothian, Virginia ("Mallard Landing Circle"); and 6044 Shiloh Place Mechanicsville, Virginia ("Shiloh Place") and any business or residences that showed up on E911 pings—specifically a residence located on 6045 Laveta Drive Richmond, Virginia ("Laveta Drive"); as well as an automobile dealership on 10 Westover Hills Boulevard #D Richmond, Virginia ("Westover Hills Boulevard"). As a part of its investigation, law enforcement also conducted multiple controlled buys from the DTO.³

B. THE WARRANTS

Based on this information, on August 28, 2019, Chesapeake Police Department Detective Ashley Souther ("Detective Souther"), a member of the law enforcement team investigating the DTO, submitted to a state magistrate in Chesapeake, Virginia ("Chesapeake Magistrate") an affidavit ("Original Affidavit") in support of a search warrant for five target locations:

• Sunset Hills Drive (Target Location One);

• Mallard Landing Circle (Target Location Two);

• Laveta Drive (Target Location Three);

• Westover Hills Boulevard (Target Location Four); and

• Shiloh Place (Target Location Five)

See Def. Ex. 1. The Original Affidavit included "facts and circumstances" pertaining to each of the five target locations. The specific facts and circumstances pertaining to the presently disputed Laveta Drive (Target Location Three), included:

On July 31^[st], at approximately 1617 hours, the investigative team went by TARGET LOCATION [THREE] and observed a blue Nissan van bearing Virginia registration URT5016 parked in the driveway. The van is registered to LEWIS.

On August 7^th, surveillance was conducted on BARTH, who was seen at TARGET LOCATION [THREE] for several minutes. Based on the E911 pings, BARTH and EVANS have routinely spent hours at TARGET LOCATION [THREE] on multiple different dates.

Def. Ex. 1 at 2. A separate attachment also stated that, based on Detective Souther's training and experience in narcotics investigations, she knew "that individuals trafficking narcotics often use various locations to store the illegal narcotics, ledgers, U.S. currency, packing materials, and other indicia commonly associated with the distribution of narcotics." Id. at 4.

In response to Detective Souther's Original Affidavit in support of the application for a search warrant for the five target locations listed above, the Chesapeake Magistrate issued a search warrant, at approximately 7:11 p.m. on August 28, 2019, permitting law enforcement officers to search Sunset Hills Drive (Target Location One), Mallard Landing Circle (Target Location Two), and Shiloh Place (Target Location Five). The Chesapeake Magistrate, however, refused to issue a search warrant permitting law enforcement officers to search Laveta Drive (Target Location Three) and Westover Hills Boulevard (Target Location Four).

After being denied a search warrant for Laveta Drive (Target Location Three) and Westover Hills Boulevard (Target Location Four), Detective Souther departed Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her partner drove straight to Chesterfield, Virginia, where the law enforcement team investigating the DTO was scheduled to meet for a briefing regarding the execution of the search warrant permitting law enforcement officers to search Sunset Hills Drive (Target Location One), Mallard Landing Circle (Target Location Two), and Shiloh Place (Target Location Five) at around 3:00 a.m. While in route to Chesterfield, Virginia, Detective Souther reached out to a Chesapeake Commonwealth Attorney. Based on the Chesapeake Commonwealth Attorney's advice, Detective Souther revisited her case notes—including but not limited to law enforcement's surveillance notes, notes memorializing law enforcement's conversations with the Confidential Defendant, and controlled buy notes—and revised the Original Affidavit for Laveta Drive (Target Location Three) and Westover Hills Boulevard (Target Location Four) to include additional information about both locations ("Revised Affidavit"). Detective Souther made these revisions on her laptop computer while her partner drove them to Chesterfield, Virginia.

Because Detective Souther revised the Original Affidavit while traveling to Chesterfield, Virginia, which is approximately 99 miles from Chesapeake, Virginia, Detective Souther did not present the Revised Affidavit to the Chesapeake Magistrate that initially reviewed the Original Affidavit and denied her search warrants for Laveta Drive (Target Location Three) and Westover Hills Boulevard (Target Location Four). Instead, Detective Souther presented the Revised Affidavit to a state magistrate in Chesterfield, Virginia ("Chesterfield Magistrate"), where Detective Souther was now located. In fact, the Chesterfield Magistrate was located in the same area where law enforcement was scheduled to have its briefing prior to taking actions early the following a.m., which is approximately one and half to two hours (about 99 miles) from Chesapeake, where the first magistrate—Chesapeake Magistrate—was located. Detective Souther advised the Chesterfield Magistrate that the Chesapeake Magistrate previously denied a search warrant permitting law enforcement officers to search Laveta Drive (Target Location Three) and Westover Hills Boulevard (Target Location Four), and that she added additional information to the Revised Affidavit regarding Laveta Drive (Target Location Three) and Westover Hills Boulevard (Target Location Four). Detective Souther testified during the Motion to Suppress Hearing that she had knowledge of the...