US v. Eddie Blanchard

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 3:14-cr-00139-HEH-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999854625].. [15-4497]

Appeal: 15-4497

Doc: 42

Filed: 06/15/2016

Pg: 1 of 4

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-4497

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
EDDIE BLANCHARD, a/k/a Jughead, a/k/a Jug,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond.
Henry E. Hudson, District
Judge. (3:14-cr-00139-HEH-1)

Submitted:

May 31, 2016

Decided:

June 15, 2016

Before GREGORY, SHEDD, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Steven P. Hanna, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant.
Thomas
Arthur Garnett, Michael Calvin Moore, Assistant United States
Attorneys, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

Appeal: 15-4497

Doc: 42

Filed: 06/15/2016

Pg: 2 of 4

PER CURIAM:
A jury convicted Eddie Blanchard of conspiracy to commit
mail and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (2012),
wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2 (2012), mail
fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 2 (2012), aggravated
identity

theft,

(2012),

conspiracy

violation

of

in

18

violation
to

U.S.C.

of

18

obstruct
§

1512(k)

U.S.C.
official

(2012),

§§

1028A(a)(1),

proceedings,
and

obstruction

2
in
of

official proceedings, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), 2
(2012).

The district court sentenced Blanchard to an aggregate

term of 204 months’ imprisonment.

In accordance with Anders v.

California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), Blanchard’s counsel has filed a
brief certifying there are no meritorious grounds for appeal but
questioning

whether

the

codefendant

Junior

Jean

describing

the

district

court

Merilia’s

conspiracy
the

and

erred

out-of-court

implicating

testimony

in

statements,

Blanchard

in

Merilia’s

the

conspiracy,

through

girlfriend.

Although notified of his right to file a pro se

brief, Blanchard has failed to do so.

of

admitting

former

We affirm the district

court’s judgment.
The

district

court

admitted

Merilia’s

statements

to

his

former girlfriend under Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(3).

We review the

district

for

court’s

discretion.

admission

of

these

statements

abuse

of

United States v. Dargan, 738 F.3d 643, 649 (4th
2

Appeal: 15-4497

Cir.

Doc: 42

Filed: 06/15/2016

2013).

declarant

For

must

inculpatory,
corroborated.

the

be

and
Id.

Pg: 3 of 4

statements

unavailable,
(3)

the

to

be

(2)

the

statement

admissible,

(1)

the

statement

must

be

must

be

sufficiently

Merilia’s statements satisfied the first two

requirements, as they clearly implicated him in the conspiracy
and he was unavailable to testify as he had yet to be sentenced
after his guilty plea.

See Mitchell v. United States, 526 U.S.

314, 328-29 (1999) (holding that the Fifth Amendment privilege
against self-incrimination extends to sentencing proceedings).
As to the corroboration of a statement under Rule 804(b)(3), we
have identified six factors to assist in this inquiry:
(1) whether the declarant had at the time of making
the statement pled guilty or was still exposed to
prosecution
for
making
the
statement,
(2)
the
declarant’s motive in making the statement and whether
there was a reason for the declarant to lie, (3)
whether the declarant repeated the statement and did
so consistently, (4) the party or parties to whom the
statement was made, (5) the relationship of the
declarant with the accused, and (6) the nature and
strength of independent evidence relevant to the
conduct in question.
United States v. Kivanc, 714 F.3d 782, 792 (4th Cir. 2013).
We

conclude

that

the

district

court

did

discretion in admitting Merilia’s statements.

not

abuse

its

At the time he

made the statements, Merilia was aware that law enforcement was
investigating codefendant Ramoth Jean, and later himself.

While

Merilia did not repeat the statements a large number of times,
he made several statements to his former girlfriend over the
3

Appeal: 15-4497

Doc: 42

Filed: 06/15/2016

course of several months.

Pg: 4 of 4

Additionally, Merilia had a years-

long relationship with his former girlfriend.
and

Blanchard

were

lifelong

friends.

Moreover, Merilia
Finally,

Merilia’s

statements were corroborated by the other evidence introduced
over the course of the trial.
In

accordance

with

Anders,

we

have

reviewed

the

entire

record in this case and have found no meritorious grounds for
appeal.

We

therefore

affirm

the

district

court’s

judgment.

This court requires that counsel inform Blanchard, in writing,
of the right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States
for further review.
filed,

but

counsel

If Blanchard requests that a petition be
believes

that

such

a

petition

would

be

frivolous, then counsel may move in this court for leave to
withdraw from representation.

Counsel’s motion must state that

a copy thereof was served on Blanchard.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions

are

adequately

presented

in

the

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

4