Opinion
CR 17-15-BU-DLC
10-30-2017
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. RICHARD LEE CLARKE, Defendant.
ORDER
United States Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch entered Findings and Recommendation in this matter on October 11, 2017. Neither party objected and therefore they are not entitled to de novo review of the record. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); United States v. Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir. 2003). This Court will review the Findings and Recommendation for clear error. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Commodore Bus. Mach., Inc., 656 F.2d 1309, 1313 (9th Cir. 1981). Clear error exists if the Court is left with a "definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." United States v. Syrax, 235 F.3d 422, 427 (9th Cir. 2000).
Judge Lynch recommended this Court accept Richard Lee Clarke's guilty plea after Clarke appeared before him pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11, and entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiring to possess, with the intent to distribute, methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846 (Count I), as set forth in the Indictment. In exchange for Defendant's plea, the United States has agreed to dismiss Count III of the Indictment.
I find no clear error in Judge Lynch's Findings and Recommendation (Doc. 42), and I adopt them in full, including the recommendation to defer acceptance of the Plea Agreement until sentencing when the Court will have reviewed the Plea Agreement and Presentence Investigation Report.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Richard Lee Clarke's motion to change plea (Doc. 28) is GRANTED and Richard Lee Clarke is adjudged guilty as charged in Count I of the Indictment.
DATED this 30th day of October, 2017.
/s/_________
Dana L. Christensen, Chief District Judge
United States District Court