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United States v. Pitts, 997 F.3d 688

Facts

Demetrius Pitts was monitored by the FBI after making social media posts encouraging military training for Muslims. He expressed a desire to meet with an al-Qaeda operative and planned a bombing in Cleveland, leading to his arrest after discussing follow-up attacks in other cities. Pitts was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, threatening the President, and making false statements to law enforcement, to which he pleaded guilty.

The FBI began monitoring Pitts after he made social media posts encouraging Muslims to pursue military training. Eventually, Pitts expressed a desire to meet with an al-Qaeda operative, and the FBI deployed an undercover agent (“UA”) to play this role. The two planned a bombing in downtown Cleveland, and the FBI arrested Pitts after he pitched follow-up attacks in Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Issue

Did the district court err in accepting Pitts's guilty plea based on the claims of lack of factual basis, incompetency, and misunderstanding of the plea terms?

Pitts argues that his plea agreement is invalid. Although his brief presents them as a monolith, we understand Pitts to be making three distinct arguments. First, there is no factual basis for his plea in the record. Second, he was incompetent to enter a plea agreement altogether. Third, he did not knowingly enter his plea agreement because he did not understand the government's charges or his appellate waiver.

Rule

A district court must determine that there is a factual basis for a guilty plea and that the defendant is competent to enter the plea, ensuring the plea is made knowingly and voluntarily.

Before entering judgment on a guilty plea, the [district] court must determine that there is a factual basis for the plea. Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(3). We review this alleged violation of Rule 11, which Pitts's attorney did not raise before the district court, for plain error.

Analysis

The court found that there was sufficient evidence in the record to support the factual basis for Pitts's guilty plea, including his admissions during the plea colloquy and the details outlined in the Presentence Investigation Report. Additionally, the court determined that Pitts was competent to enter the plea, as he had undergone a psychological evaluation that concluded he understood the proceedings and the charges against him.

The operative change-of-plea proceedings, the PSR, and the affidavit attached to the criminal complaint provide a factual basis for Pitts's guilty plea. These sources establish that Pitts intended to provide material support—including his personal efforts—to al-Qaeda, that Pitts knew al-Qaeda had engaged in terrorism, and that he had made substantial steps toward commission of the crime.

Conclusion

The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's acceptance of Pitts's guilty plea, concluding that there was no error in the findings regarding the factual basis, competency, or understanding of the plea agreement.

Thus, Pitts's acknowledgment of the factual basis for the plea agreement, both through his admissions on the record and by signing and initialing each page of the written agreement, established a factual basis for his plea.

Who won?

The government prevailed in the case as the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision to accept Pitts's guilty plea.

The Court of Appeals, Nalbandian, Circuit Judge, held that: 1 district court did not plainly err in finding that there was factual basis for defendant's guilty plea to charge of attempting to provide support to foreign terrorist organization; 2 district court did not plainly err in finding, at change-of-plea-hearing, that defendant remained competent to enter a plea; and 3 district court did not plainly err when it found that defendant's guilty plea to charge of attempting to assist foreign terrorist organization and his waiver of right to appeal except to a very limited extent in plea agreement were both knowing, voluntary, and intelligent.

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