No. 20-6985

Zongli Chang v. United States

Lower Court: Sixth Circuit
Docketed: 2021-01-28
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: appellate-waiver constitutional-rights due-process fines plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment statutory-maximum
Key Terms:
DueProcess FifthAmendment
Latest Conference: 2021-02-26
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Did the Sixth Circuit err in enforcing an unknowing, invalid plea agreement?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED DATE: 12/07/2020 08:19 AM QUESTIONS PRESENTED In a plea agreement that was tied to a fine guideline range, the Petitioner was never told his "maximal possible penalty" in terms of fine and forfeiture could go up to 4 million (11(b)(1)(H) and 32(h) violations make plea unknowing and sentence ve unreasonable), and is ambiguous as to if he waived his appeal as to fines in these language in the plea: "there is no agreement as to fines" and “if the defendant's sentence of imprisonment does not exceed 135 months, the defendant also waives any right he may have to appeal his sentence on any grounds". This broad appellate waiver resulted Dr. Chang to be sentenced at the ; whim of the district in terms of fines. While the statutory maximum fine pursuant to 21 USC 841(b)(1)(C) is $1,000,000 and the . Guideline range fine in plea agreement and PSR defined a maximum fine of 1,000,000 in accordance to statutory maximum, pursuant to 5E1.2(c)(4), the Court imposed the Petitioner to pay a total fine of $4,000,000, including forfeitures, at four times statutory maximum and Guideline maximum. This breached the plea agreement tied to the above guideline range, making the appeal outside of the scope of the appellate waiver. The 2D1.1 Guideline (c)(5), in plea, mismatches with the merely alleged drug quantity and offense level. The Court changed the 2D1.1 Guideline to (c)(3), and sentenced him accordingly, without making more factual findings. When the drug quantity is merely alleged, there is no way to verify the guideline range and figure out where the error originated. The Petitioner reserved objections to fine and forfeiture at sentencing. The Appellate Court ignored petitioner's request to fully brief and dismissed the appeal by essentially treating the appellate waiver as an absolute bar to any appeals citing US v. Grundy 844 F.3d 613 (6th Cir. 2016). The questions presented are: Did the Sixth Circuit err and violate Dr. Chang's Constitutional rights in enforcing an unknowing, invalid plea agreement, by = interpreting ambiguities in favor of government, ignoring breach of promise in fine guideline range and maximum fines in plea, and ignoring fines that exceeded statutory maximum in violation of Supreme Court's rulings in Booker, Apprendi, Southern. Union Company v. US (567 US 343) regarding application of Sixth Amendment jury trial right to Federal Sentencing Guidelines 18 USSC APPX (USSG) including statutes with statutory maximum for criminal fines, while he was sentenced under a different . 2D1.1 guideline c(3) instead of the (c)(5) in plea, with a three point hike, relying on drug quantity that was merely alleged? Did the lower court violate Petitioner's Fifth Amendment right of Due Process and Equal Protection in not applying equitable . »: standards in reviewing my case with the case (US v. Grundy) it used to dismiss the appeal? Is appeal for 32(h) violation waived . when the plea is unknowing? . The petitioner argues that the plea is unknowing and the above appealable issues fall out of the scope of the appellate waiver. . _ ee OO ON eee lS ——— eG teal

Docket Entries

2021-03-01
Petition DENIED.
2021-02-11
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/26/2021.
2021-02-04
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2020-12-08
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 1, 2021)

Attorneys

United States
Elizabeth B. PrelogarActing Solicitor General, Respondent
Zongli Chang
Zongli Chang — Petitioner