United States District Court, D. Massachusetts
ORDER
TIMOTHY S. HILLMAN U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE
Background
Juan
Rodriguez (“Rodriguez” or
“Defendant”) has been charged with conspiracy to
distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine,
in violation of 21 U.S.C. §846 (Count One). Rodriguez
was arrested in Hawaii on a related criminal complaint and
the Government moved to detain him pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
§'3142(f)(1)(C) (Defendant is charged with an offense for
which a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more is
prescribed in the “Controlled Substances Act”)
and (f)(2)(A) (risk of flight). A detention hearing was held
on June 7, 2019 and the court, Mansfield, M.J.) granted the
motion to detain Rodriguez as on the grounds that he is a
danger to the community and risk of flight. Rodriguez was
ordered to be held pending trial and was transferred to this
District.
On
September 3, 2019, Rodriguez filed a motion to revoke the
order of detention on the grounds that he is not a risk of
flight and that there are conditions, or a combination of
conditions that can assure that he is not a danger to the
community. See Docket No. 50. A hearing was held on
this motion on September 30, 2019. For the reasons set forth
below, that motion is denied.
Discussion
Standard
of Review; Rebuttable Presumption
This
Court conducts a de novo review of the Order to
detain Rodriguez. Rodriguez is charged with a drug offense
for which the maximum penalty is 10 years or more-
consequently, the rebuttable presumption set forth in 18
U.S.C. §3142(e) applies. Accordingly, there is a
presumption that Rodriguez is both a danger to the community
and risk of flight. Rodriguez can rebut that presumption upon
showing by a preponderance of evidence that there are
conditions or a combination of conditions that will assure
his appearance as required, or by clear and convincing
evidence that there are conditions or a combination of
conditions that will assure that he is not a danger to any
other person and the community.
Rodriguez's
History and Characteristics
Rodriguez
is a life-long resident of Central Massachusetts. At the
hearing, Rodriguez's lawyer stated that he currently
resides in Southbridge Massachusetts with his significant
other and had been living there for over a year. However,
Rodriguez told pretrial services in Hawaii that his address
is 69 Cutler Street in Worcester Massachusetts and that he
has lived there with his father for the past 3 years (his
father owns the property). He reported that he previously had
lived on and off with his significant other for three years.
He also reported the Cutler Street address as his residence
when arrested on state charges and his car is registered to
Cutler Street. Pursuant to a search warrant issued in this
investigation, cocaine, crack cocaine, guns, ammunition, drug
paraphernalia and other items related to drug activity were
found during a search at the Cutler Street residence.
Rodriguez maintains strong relationships with his significant
other, father, three of his half-siblings and three children
who live in the area. Rodriguez's father verified the
information he provided pretrial services-in fact, he told
pretrial services that he and Rodriguez had lived together on
the second floor of 69 Cutler St. for 10 years. Rodriguez is
the owner of a barbershop in Worcester, MA.
Rodriguez's
prior criminal history includes the following offenses which
were continued without a finding and then dismissed: motor
vehicle offenses, disorderly conduct/resisting arrest,
assault and battery on a police officer/resisting arrest,
trafficking in a Class B substance, possession of ammunition
w/o a license and possession of a stun gun. He also has a
felony conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous
weapon. Rodriguez currently has charges pending against him
for trafficking of a person under the age of 18 for sexual
servitude for which he was released on $50, 000 cash bail.
The offense charged in this case is alleged to have occurred
while the state charge for sex trafficking was pending.
Rodriquez has also been charged with additional state
criminal charges while the sex trafficking case was pending.
Rodriguez has at least five defaults on his record, but none
appear to be for failure to appear.
Rodriguez's
Proposed Conditions
Rodriguez
asserts that the nature and circumstances of this case do not
warrant detention, including that: (1) he is charged with a
drug offense which does not include any allegations of
violence (2) he is not charged with possessing a fire arm in
connection with the charged drug conspiracy, (3) he was not a
leader, supervisor or organizer of any other person in the
charged conspiracy, and (4) he is a long-term resident of the
community and has strong family ties.
Rodriguez
suggests that there are conditions or a combination of
conditions that can be imposed to assure that he would appear
as required and would not be a danger to any other person or
the community if released. More specifically: (1) he live
only at the residence located on West Main Street in Dudley,
MA with his father, his father's wife and three children;
(2) he be released into his father's custody and his
father act as third-party custodian; (3) he be subject to
electronic monitoring and not be permitted to leave his
residence except for work, legal, medical and religious
reasons; (4) his travel be restricted to Massachusetts; (5)
he furnish a surety bond acceptable to the court secured by
real property (his father's residence in Dudley which has
equity of $50, 000-$100, 000); and (6) he be subject to the
standard conditions of release such as surrendering his
passport (which is currently expired) and not applying for a
new one, he not possess a firearm, dangerous weapon or
destructive device, testing, reporting to probation,
etc. In addition, he would work at the barbershop he
owns in Worcester, MA.
Whether
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