Watson v. United States

PIERRE WATSON, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent.

No. 4:19-cv-01545-AGF

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division

August 4, 2021

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

AUDREY G. FLEISSIG UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on Petitioner Pierre Watson's motion filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence. Watson and two codefendants were charged with multiple offenses related to a counterfeiting scheme. On November 7, 2016, Watson entered into an open plea and pled guilty to the following charges: conspiracy to defraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count One); bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344 (Count Two); and passing counterfeit securities in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 513(a) (Count Nine). However, Watson's plea to Count Nine was later withdrawn and dismissed on the government's motion.

Following a bench trial also held on November 7, 2016, this Court found Watson guilty of three additional charges: passing counterfeit securities in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 513(a) (Count Eight); possessing an implement suitable for making counterfeit securities in violation of 18 U.S.C § 513(b) (Count Eleven); and tampering with a witness in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(1) (Count Twelve).^[1] The Court sentenced Watson to 60 months' imprisonment on Count One and 84 months' imprisonment on Counts Two Eight, Eleven, and Twelve, all such sentences to run concurrently.

In his pro se motion to vacate and set aside his conviction and sentence, Watson asserts numerous claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and prosecutorial misconduct. The Court scheduled an evidentiary hearing and appointed new counsel to represent Watson. On March 10, 2021, the Court held the evidentiary hearing on Watson's claims, at which Watson and the attorney who represented him in the underlying criminal case, Talmage E. Newton, IV, testified. Based on the entire record, and having had the opportunity to observe and evaluate the demeanor of the witnesses at the hearing, the Court will now deny Watson's motion.

BACKGROUND

Criminal Investigation

The events leading up to the filing of criminal charges in this case were summarized by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on direct appeal as follows:

On August 30, 2014, Maryland Heights, Missouri, police officers approached a stopped car and found Watson in the driver's seat. Watson was arrested on several outstanding warrants. An inventory search of the vehicle revealed the following items: four counterfeit payroll checks; a business check in the name of an insurance company; two pieces of perforated check stock; copies of a deposit ticket containing images of two checks drawn on a Bank of America account belonging to the Law Offices of J.P.; two photocopies of checks drawn on an Enterprise Bank and Trust account belonging to the law firm, Sher & Shabsin, P.C.; and a social security card that was not issued to Watson.

The investigators discovered that from August 10 through August 19, 2014, the conspirators successfully passed six counterfeit checks drawn on the Enterprise Bank account of Sher & Shabsin. One of these checks, written for $465.90 was deposited into an account at U.S. Bank by co-defendant Shontell Hill.

The counterfeit Sher & Shabsin checks were similar, but not identical, to the two photocopied Sher & Shabsin checks seized during the inventory search. The name of the bank, the bank routing number, and the five digit length of the check numbers matched Sher & Shabsin's account. On the counterfeit checks, a transposed letter changed “Sher & Shabsin” to “Sher &amp Shasbin.” The counterfeit checks also omitted the last digit of the law firm's account number, modified the number of signature lines, inserted a law firm logo, removed Enterprise Bank's logo, and included language that the check was “VOID AFTER 90 DAYS” and “Do Not Cash If Amount Exceeds $10, 000.00.”

United States v. Watson, 883 F.3d 1033, 1035-36 (8th Cir. 2018).

Original and Superseding Indictments

As a result of the investigation, a federal grand jury returned an indictment on September 23, 2015 (“Original Indictment”)^[2] charging Watson and a co-defendant Darisha Taylor, with the following:

COUNT^[3]

DATE

CHARGE

FACTS

One

August 11, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson and Taylor used the name of “J.F.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

Four

August 30, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(b), Possessing Counterfeit Implements

Watson possessed a template of a business check in the name of Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Co.

Five

August 30, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson possessed the name of “J.F.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

United States v. Watson, Case No. 4:15CR00440 AGF, ECF No. 1 (E.D. Mo. Sept. 23, 2015).^[4]

Newton was appointed to represent Watson, and Newton entered his appearance on October 1, 2015. On October 2, 2015, the government disclosed evidence pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16. Crim. ECF No. 14. The evidence included, among other things, the items seized from Watson's vehicle on August 30, 2014; two Maryland Heights police reports; a University City police report; a St. Louis County police report; records from Sher & Shabsin; and a photographic line-up in which Watson was identified as the individual who provided counterfeit checks. Id.

On January 20, 2016, the government filed a superseding indictment (“First Superseding Indictment”), ^[5] containing substantially similar charges as the Original Indictment, but replacing the name “J.F.” with “M.S., ” as follows:

COUNT^[6]

DATE

CHARGE

FACTS

One

August 11, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson and Taylor used the name of “M.S.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

Four

August 30, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(b), Possessing Counterfeit Implements

Watson possessed a template of a business check in the name of Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Co.

Five

August 30, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson possessed the name of “M.S.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

Crim. ECF No. 51.

On January 26, 2016, co-Defendant Taylor pled guilty to the charges against her, and thereafter, on January 27, 2016, the government filed a second superseding indictment (“Second Superseding Indictment”)^[7] against Watson only, charging him with the following:

COUNT

DATE

CHARGE

FACTS

One

August 11, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson and Taylor used the name of “M.S.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

Two

August 11, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(a), Passing Counterfeit Securities

Watson and Taylor passed a counterfeited check in the amount of $869.50 drawn on an Enterprise Bank & Trust account in the name of Sher & Shabsin, P.C.

Three

August 13, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(a), Passing Counterfeit Securities

Watson and an individual named Shontell Hill (“S. Hill”) passed a counterfeited check in the amount of $465.90 drawn on an Enterprise Bank & Trust account in the name of Sher & Shabsin, P.C.

Four

August 18, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(a), Passing Counterfeit Securities

Watson, Taylor, and an individual named Courtney Lowe passed a counterfeited check in the amount of $489.75 drawn on a Wells Fargo Account in the name of Restoration Temple Child Development Center

Five

August 30, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(b), Possessing Counterfeit Implements

Watson possessed a template of a business check in the name of Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Co.

Six

August 30, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson possessed the name of “M.S.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

Seven

November 4, 2015

18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(1), Witness Tampering

Watson attempted to persuade Taylor to complete a fraudulent affidavit in the charged action.

Crim. ECF No. 65.

Watson, through defense counsel, moved to dismiss the charge of possession of under the Commerce Clause.^[8] Crim. ECF No. 73. This Court denied Watson's motion to dismiss on May 11, 2016. Crim. ECF No. 99.

After continued investigation into the activities of Watson and others, the government filed a third and final superseding indictment (“Final Superseding Indictment”)^[9] on May 18, 2016, charging Watson, S. Hill, and Desiree Hill (“D. Hill”)^[10]with the following:

COUNT^[11]

DATE

CHARGE

FACTS

One

July 9, 2014 through May 22, 2015

18 U.S.C. § 371, Conspiracy to Defraud

Watson, S. Hill, D. Hill, Jason Reese, Taylor Lowe, and others engaged in a conspiracy to commit the offenses of bank fraud, identity theft, aggravated identity theft, and passing counterfeit securities between July 9, 2014 and May 22, 2015

Two

August 14, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1344, Bank Fraud

To further their bank fraud scheme, S. Hill withdrew $200.00 from her U.S. Bank account after depositing a counterfeit check drawn on the Enterprise Bank & Trust account of Sher & Shabsin P.C. in the amount of $465.90 that was provided by Watson

Four

August 11, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson used the name of “M.S.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

Five

August 14, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 1028A, Aggravated Identity Theft

Watson used the name of “M.S.” during the commission of the crime of bank fraud

Eight

August 14, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(a), Passing Counterfeit Securities

Watson and S. Hill passed a counterfeited check in the amount of $465.90 drawn on an Enterprise Bank & Trust account in the name of Sher & Shabsin, P.C

Nine

August 18, 2014

18 U.S.C. § 513(a), Passing Counterfeit Securities

Watson and Taylor passed a counterfeited check in the amount of $489.75 drawn on a Wells Fargo N.A. account in the name of...