United States v. Young

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SHAWN TYRONE YOUNG, Defendant

Criminal Action No. 7:16-cr-10

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA ROANOKE DIVISION

June 30, 2020

By: Michael F. Urbanski Chief United States District Judge

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On June 5, 2019, defendant Shawn Tyrone Young, proceeding pro se, filed a motion to vacate his conviction and sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. ECF No. 220. The government filed a motion to dismiss Young's petition on September 11, 2019, ECF No. 224, to which Young did not respond. For the reasons stated below, the court will GRANT the government's motion and DISMISS Young's petition.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 18, 2016, Young was indicted on two counts of distributing heroin and two firearm counts. ECF No. 19. On June 6, 2016, Young entered into a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute 1,000 grams or more of a mixture containing heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(b)(1)(A) (Count 1) and one count of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (Count 11). Plea Agrm't, ECF No. 109 at 1-2. He pled guilty the same day. ECF Nos. 107, 108. On September 16, 2016, Young was sentenced to 151 months on Count 1 and 24 months on Count 11, to run concurrently. The remaining counts were dismissed. ECF No. 150.

Young's § 2255 motion is based on the participation of Officer Craig Frye in the investigation and prosecution of his case. In April 2018, nineteen months after Young was convicted and sentenced, the government filed a motion seeking disclosure of grand jury materials and potential impeachment materials regarding Officer Frye. The court granted the motion on May 16, 2018. ECF No. 213. Young's motion recounts much of the information disclosed about Frye, as does the government's motion to dismiss.

The complaints about Officer Frye included concerns over not following proper procedures and protocols for handling informants and drug information, making disrespectful and offensive comments about women and minority groups, making false statements in court proceedings, and not reporting expunged arrest and charge information. Based on this claimed misconduct, a Roanoke County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney decided not to sponsor Frye's testimony in any further cases unless the testimony was corroborated by other evidence. Also, the United States Attorney determined that Frye would no longer be permitted to testify as a government witness. None of the undisclosed claimed misconduct was related to Young's case.

Given the above revelations about Frye, Young argues that he should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea on the charges brought against him. He claims that Frye played a critical role in securing the charges and asserts that he would not have pled guilty had he known about the information bearing on Frye's credibility. However, a review of the record indicates that while Frye was involved in the search of Young's home, there were several officers present and Frye's report of the search was supported by another report filed at thetime. The fact that Frye was involved in the search, without more, is insufficient to warrant relief under § 2255.

On November 4, 2015, several officers, none of whom were Frye, conducted surveillance on an apartment and vehicle traffic that resulted in the arrest of Michael Patterson and Randy Niday for drug-related offenses. Incident Reports, ECF No. 224-1 at 1-10. A report from the Virginia State Police dated November 3, 2015, which does not list Frye as being present or involved in the investigation, states that Patterson said he had known his heroin source for approximately two months. The source was known to Patterson as "Ghost" and Ghost had a "right-hand-man" known as "Black." Ghost lived with his girlfriend, Chasity Bailey, in an apartment in Vinton, Virginia. Patterson described his relationship with Ghost as Patterson buying heroin from Ghost and reselling it in Roanoke. The report was signed by Special Agent J.A. Crowder. ECF No. 224-1 at 11-12.

On December 18, 2015, a controlled buy of heroin was made from Chasity Bailey's apartment in Vinton, Virginia. The buy was overseen by a detective with the Roanoke County police department with assistance from two other detectives. Frye's name was not mentioned in the report. ECF No. 224-1 at 13-16.

On January 11, 2016, a second controlled buy of heroin was made from Bailey in a parking garage in Roanoke, Virginia. The buy was overseen by the same detective who conducted the first buy and there is no mention of Frye in the report. A note was added to the report that on January 13, 2016, the confidential informant (CI) contacted the detective and told her that the CI was now able to communicate and purchase heroin from a malesubject, believed to be Bailey's boyfriend, and believed to be named Christian Davis. Bailey was believed to be distributing heroin and other narcotics for Davis. ECF No. 224-1 at 17-21.

On January 14, 2016, a third controlled buy of heroin from Bailey was conducted by detectives of the Roanoke Regional Drug Unit in Vinton. Bailey's boyfriend, known only to the CI as "Boo" and tentatively identified as Christian Davis, was present for part of the transaction. Bailey had summoned Boo from the bedroom to "hear that his dope was good because someone else had said it wasn't." Frye was not mentioned in the report of the buy. ECF No. 224-1 at 22-26.

A report dated January 27, 2016 summarizes a controlled purchase and interview of a CI by the Rockbridge Regional Drug Task Force, which was described as a "buy/bust." The name of the subject of the buy/bust is redacted, so it is unclear if the buy/bust was related to Young's drug activities. Frye prepared the report, but his role in the buy/bust is not described in the report. ECF No. 224-1 at 31-33.

On January 27, 2016, Special Agent Joe Crowder of the Virginia State Police swore out a search warrant for Bailey's apartment. Crowder stated that he had interviewed a CI who told him that the CI had been the apartment in the last 72 hours and had dealt with a black male known to the CI as "Ghost." The black male produced several bags containing a white powdery substance consistent with cocaine and was observed to be handling other clear plastic bags containing baseball-size amounts of heroin. The CI purchased both crystal meth and cocaine from Ghost and reported that Ghost was Bailey's boyfriend and was living with herat the apartment.¹ There was no mention of Frye in the application for the search warrant. Search Warrant, ECF No. 224-1 at 27-29.

The search warrant was executed the same day. ECF. No. 224-1 at 33-44. Frye prepared the report of the search, which also was signed by Resident Agent in Charge James J. Panos, III. Frye reported that he, along with members of the Virginia State Police and the HIDTA² Roanoke group, executed the search warrant at the home of Bailey and Young in Vinton, Virginia. Young and Bailey were in the house, along with James Christopher Davis and Elisha Blake. Id. at 33. The officers found various quantities of heroin, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, and other unknown types of narcotics. In addition, they found two semiautomatic pistols under the bed in the master bedroom along with the cocaine. The officers also found $28,897 in currency in various locations around the house, digital scales, a food grinder, plastic bags, and other indicia of drug distribution. Rep't of Investigation prepared by Craig Frye, ECF No. 224-1 at 33-34.

Young was read his Miranda³ rights and stated that the heroin and cocaine located in the bedroom were his. He further stated that he was getting approximately 200 grams of heroin every week to week-and-a-half to distribute. He stated that the firearms in the bedroom were his and that he had received them from someone who owed him money. Young further stated that cocaine located in the bathroom did not belong to him and therefore had to belong to Davis. Id. at 34.

Attached to Frye's report was a report by the Virginia State Police, signed by Special Agent Southern, describing the search, the people who were present at the apartment during the search, and the items seized. In addition to Frye, five other law enforcement officers participated in the search. The report noted that the evidence was located and left in place until Detective D. Clark and Agent Southern could photograph and collect the items. Id. at 35-40. A handwritten evidence log also was attached to Frye's report, although it is unclear who prepared it. Id. at 41-44.

Frye swore out the complaint against Young, which was based on the items found during the search. Frye described who was in the apartment when it was searched and the drugs and firearms that were found in the apartment. ECF No. 1. After Young was arrested, counsel was appointed and Young later was indicted by the Grand Jury on the charges described above. ECF Nos. 7, 19.

Young argues that he should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea to the drug and firearm charges based on Frye's credibility issues. He asserts that he did not look behind the reports that detailed Frye's involvement because he assumed that Frye was a professional law enforcement officer committed to even-handedly enforcing the law. Young does not describe any particular wrongful action taken by Frye in the investigation of his case and asserts only that he would have challenged Frye's credibility.

II. DISCUSSION

A. 28 U.S.C. § 2255

To state a viable claim for relief under § 2255, a petitioner must prove: (1) that his sentence was "imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States;" (2) that"the court was without jurisdiction to impose such a sentence;" or (3) that "the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law, or is otherwise...