United States v. Sanders

1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. PREONTE TERRAN SANDERS

No. 1:23-cr-7

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania

February 29, 2024

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Susan Paradise Baxter, United States District Judge

Defendant Preonte Terran Sanders (“Sanders”) stands accused in this case of possessing fentanyl and methamphetamine, with intent to distribute same. These charges were filed after Sanders was found to be travelling on December 31, 2022 in an Uber vehicle that held suitcases allegedly containing drugs. Following a vehicle stop, Sanders was taken to the state police barracks where he was questioned and made statements to the investigating agents. Pending before the Court is Sanders' motion to suppress the evidence obtained by law enforcement officers on December 31, 2022. The parties have briefed Sanders' motion, and the Court held an evidentiary hearing on December 20, 2023.

At the suppressing hearing, the Government presented testimony from Pennsylvania State Troopers Jonathan Matson, Gary Knott, and Adam Mourer. Each of these officers was involved in some aspect of the events giving rise to Sanders' detention and the ensuing interview. Sanders did not present testimony in support of his suppression motion, but his counsel did cross-examine each of the Government witnesses and offered argument on his behalf.

Apart from testimony, the prosecution offered into evidence a video recording of the challenged traffic stop (Government Exhibit “A”), the waiver-of-rights form that Sanders executed at the state police barracks (Government Exhibit “B”), and the search warrant application and affidavit of probable cause relating to the luggage that was confiscated from Sanders' Uber vehicle (Government Exhibit “C”). Sanders' counsel identified as an exhibit the affidavit of probable cause that Trooper Mourer submitted in support of the initial criminal complaint. (Defense Exhibit “1”). Although this document was not admitted in evidence, its contents were read into the record.

The Court has had an opportunity to review the entire record and consider the parties' respective arguments. Having listened to the testimony of the Government's witnesses and observed their demeanor, the undersigned finds the testimony of Troopers Matson, Knott, and Mourer to be credible. Each of the witnesses demonstrated a good recollection of the events in question. Their respective accounts were believable, consistent, and corroborated by other evidence in the case. To the extent defense counsel challenged the credibility of the troopers' testimony the Court finds those challenges unpersuasive.

The Court also finds the affidavit that Trooper Mourer submitted in support of the search warrant for the luggage to be a reliable accounting of the agents' investigation. The affidavit was sworn to by Trooper Mourer and is consistent with the testimony and evidence received by the Court. Sanders has not raised a Franks challenge as to any aspect of the probable cause affidavit, even though his counsel had an opportunity to question Trooper Mourer at the suppression hearing. As reliable hearsay evidence, Trooper Mourer's affidavit may be considered by the Court for the purposes of resolving the pending suppression motion. See United States v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667, 679 (1980) (“At a suppression hearing, the court may rely on hearsay and other evidence, even though that evidence would not be admissible at trial.”); United States v Lora, No. 3:16-CR-91, 2019 WL 346410, at *5 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 28, 2019) (suppression hearing court considered an affidavit submitted in support of a tracking warrant), aff'd, Case No. 20-3586, 2021 WL 4622255 (3d Cir. Oct. 7, 2021)).

Based on the foregoing credibility determinations, the Court now makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Trooper Jonathan Matson has been employed by the Pennsylvania State Police (“PSP”) since 2007. For the last ten years, he has been assigned to PSP's Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Drug Law Enforcement Division, where he has been involved in the identification and dismantling of large-scale drug trafficking operations. During much of that time, he has been federally deputized to work with the FBI or the DEA on various drug enforcement groups. Thus, his primary focus is in the area of drug investigations. ECF No. 59 at 11.

2. In March 2021, federal postal inspection agents advised Trooper Matson of a parcel containing approximately three pounds of crystal methamphetamine, which had been sent through the U.S. mail and was addressed to an apartment located at 905 East Grandview Boulevard, in the City of Erie. ECF No. 59 at 12-13. Trooper Matson participated in a surveilled controlled delivery to the East Grandview Boulevard residence and observed Sanders receiving the package at that address. Id. at 13. Agents obtained a search warrant for the residence and subsequently recovered, among other things, blue fentanyl pills, $20,000 in currency, and a pistol. Id. at 13. At the time of the search, Sanders was observed running out of a room where a distinctive tee-shirt displaying the word “drip” was found. Id. at 13-14. Surveillance footage obtained from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service appeared to show Sanders shipping the subject package from Arizona while wearing the same distinctive “drip” shirt that was recovered from the East Grandview Boulevard residence. Id. at 13-14.

3. In May 2021, based on the foregoing events, Sanders was indicted in the Western District of Pennsylvania for attempting to possess methamphetamine, with intent to distribute. After pleading not guilty, he was released on an unsecured bond under the care of a third-party custodian. The conditions of his release were later modified in August 2021 to allow his return to Phoenix, Arizona, so that he could reside with his girlfriend and their children. See United States v. Sanders, Case No. 1:21-cr-23, at ECF Nos. 3,4,17, 20, 22, 23, 30; see also ECF No. 59 at 14.

4. In October 2022, a task force agent based in Cleveland informed Trooper Matson that Sanders had been involved in a suspicious pattern of flights between Arizona and Cleveland. ECF No. 59 at 14-15. Based on his training and experience, Trooper Matson was aware that analyzing travel patterns is a common investigative technique for discerning drug trafficking activity. Id. at 15. According to Trooper Matson, people who are couriers or traffickers oftentimes book their flights shortly before the flight takes off and then make quick return flights. Id. Drug traffickers will often purchase a plane ticket for their courier and pay the courier to physically move the drugs while traveling on the same flight in order to oversee the transaction and ensure that the sales proceeds are returned. Id. at 16. The head of the drug association will often stay back and communicate via phone while the courier physically moves the drug packages. Id. at 17. In this manner, the courier can “take the hit,” rather than the head of the organization, if the police step in. Id.

5. Trooper Matson learned in October 2022 that Sanders had engaged in a series of flights between Arizona and Cleveland, typically purchasing his ticket to Cleveland on the day of his flight or the day before, and then booking a return flight to Arizona the next morning, sometimes spending less than 24 hours at his flight destination. ECF No. 59 at 15-16. Trooper Matson was also aware of a particular email address associated with these flight bookings, and it revealed that several other individuals were booked on the same flight as Sanders. Id. at 16. Trooper Matson interpreted these circumstances as consistent with drug trafficking activity, warranting further investigation. Id.

6. In November of 2022, Trooper Matson came into contact with a confidential informant (“CI”), who advised that Sanders was the head of a large-scale drug trafficking group. ECF No. 59 at 18. The CI stated that Sanders often flew in large amounts of contraband from Arizona to Cleveland; then, either Sanders or his courier would bring the drugs to the Erie area by Uber or rideshare. Id. at 18, 20. The CI related that, in every instance of which the CI was aware, the drugs had been transported in suitcases. Id. at 20. This same individual identified different hotels and locations where the couriers would meet up with local drug dealers to exchange the drugs and the money. Id. at 18-19. In addition, the CI showed Trooper Matson electronic communications from Sanders that contained information relative to drugs. Id. at 19.

7. In December of 2022, Trooper Matson's investigation into Sanders' suspected trafficking began to overlap with an ongoing investigation being conducted by PSP's vice unit. ECF No. 59 at 20. In the course of its investigation, the PSP vice unit made consensualized calls to Sanders with the assistance of the confidential source. Id. at 21. Through these calls, the investigators were able to get a general idea as to when Sanders would next be traveling to Erie. Id. Trooper Matson was present for at least one such call, occurring in late December 2022, during which he personally heard Sanders tell the CI that he would be coming to Erie with large amounts of contraband in the near future. Id. at 24-25. Trooper Matson's team then investigated further and discovered that Sanders had booked a flight from Arizona to Cleveland, departing on December 30, 2022 and arriving in Cleveland in the early morning hours of December 31, 2022. Id. at 21-22, 24-25.

8. Based on this information, Matson and the other agents established a surveillance team to track Sanders' movements upon his arrival at the Cleveland airport. ECF No 59 at 21. Approximately ten (10) agents...