Opinion
CASE NO. MJ 11-388
09-06-2011
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. MICHELLE RENEE HUGHES, Defendant.
DETENTION ORDER
Offense charged: False Statement in Application for Passport (two counts), Social Security Fraud, Unlawful Production of Identification Document, Aggravated Identity Theft Date of Detention Hearing: September 6, 2011.
The Court, having conducted a detention hearing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3142(f), and based upon the factual findings and statement of reasons for detention hereafter set forth, finds hat no condition or combination of conditions which defendant can meet will reasonably assure the appearance of defendant as required and the safety of other persons and the community.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR DETENTION
1. The AUSA proffers information that defendant has a history of fleeing court orders and poses a risk of flight, asserting that a 2005 bench warrant from North Carolina remains outstanding, despite notice to the defendant, which he has eluded. The United States contends that numerous identification documents were seized during the search of defendants residence, including fraudulent documents, birth certificates, national identification cards for England and Japan, and a British passport application that had been filled out for the defendant, as well as numerous other blank applications for other foreign passports. The AUSA proffers that during a search in 2007 pursuant to another case, the police found stacks of identification documents for various individuals, including eleven tax returns of other persons. The AUSA further proffers that the defendant claimed to be an undercover federal agent when interviewed by law enforcement.
2. Although the defendant has family ties to the area, he is unemployed and has no financial ties to the area.
3. Defendant poses a risk of nonappearance due to his association with multiple alias identifiers, as well as the alleged possession of identification information related to other persons, false identification documents in his own name, and the alleged possession of equipment capable of being used for the manufacture of false identity documents. Defendant poses a risk of danger due to criminal history.
4. There does not appear to be any condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the defendant's appearance at future Court hearings while addressing the danger to other persons or the community. It is therefore ORDERED:
1. Defendant shall be detained pending trial and committed to the custody of the Attorney General for confinement in a correction facility separate, to the extent practicable, from persons awaiting or serving sentences or being held in custody pending appeal;
2. Defendant shall be afforded reasonable opportunity for private consultation with counsel;
3. On order of the United States or on request of an attorney for the Government, the person in charge of the corrections facility in which defendant is confined shall deliver the defendant to a United States Marshal for the purpose of an appearance in connection with a court proceeding; and
4. The Clerk shall direct copies of this Order to counsel for the United States, to counsel for the defendant, to the United States Marshal, and to the United State Pretrial Services Officer.
Mary Alice Theiler
United States Magistrate Judge