Case 1:10-cr-00265-RCL Document 17 Filed 10/15/10 Page 1 of 4

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, : Criminal No. 10-265-03 (RCL)

:
v. :
:
SAQUON BETHEA :
:
Defendant. :

GOVERNMENT’S MOTION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A BENCH WARRANT

The United States of America, by and through its attorney, the United States Attorney

for the District of Columbia, hereby respectfully requests that the Court issue a bench warrant for

the arrest of defendant Saquon Bethea. In support of this motion, the government states as

follows:

On September 28, 2010, a grand jury handed down an indictment charging the defendant

and seven other individuals with Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute 5

Kilograms or More of Cocaine, and 50 Grams or More of Cocaine Base, in violation of 21

U.S.C. §846. That same day, bench warrants for each of the eight defendants were signed by the

Honorable Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson.

The bench warrants for most of the defendants in the case were executed on October 6,

2010, the date that agents made efforts to arrest all eight co-defendants. Defendant Bethea was

not located and arrested that day, and he remains a fugitive. Prior to the arraignment of those

defendants who were arrested on October 6, 2010, this case was unsealed in its entirety. On

October 12, 2010, the U.S. Marshals Service received information from a defense attorney who

indicated that Mr. Bethea would turn himself in that afternoon to the custody of the U.S.

Marshals Service the D.C. federal courthouse. In anticipation of Mr. Bethea turning himself in
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that afternoon, a Deputy U.S. Marshal signed Mr. Bethea’s warrant indicating that it was

executed. However, the defendant never presented himself to the U.S. Marshals Service, was

never arrested, and remains at large. Because the Deputy U.S. Marshal’s signature was already

placed on the bench warrant indicating that the warrant had been executed, the warrant was

entered into law enforcement databases as executed. Because of this error, there is currently no

arrest warrant outstanding for Mr. Bethea.

The government learned of this error in Magistrate Court the afternoon of October 12,

2010, when Mr. Bethea’s case was called. The government learned the above information from

the courtroom deputy and the Deputy U.S. Marshal who signed Mr. Bethea’s bench warrant. At

that time, the government requested that Magistrate Judge Robinson issue a new bench warrant.

Magistrate Judge Robinson indicated that she did not believe she had the authority to issue a

another bench warrant, and stated that she believed that the government would need to apply for

an arrest warrant. The following day, and after consultation with individuals in the U.S.

Attorney’s office and the U.S. District Court Clerk’s Office regarding the proper course for

addressing the erroneously executed bench warrant, the government again requested that

Magistrate Judge Robinson sign a new bench warrant for Mr. Bethea. Although Magistrate

Judge Robinson agreed with the factual background as explained above – that is that a Deputy

U.S. Marshal signed the warrant as executed even though Mr. Bethea never turned himself in

and was never arrested – she decided to take the matter under advisement and did not issue the

bench warrant.

The government is now requesting from this Court that it issue a bench warrant for Mr.

Bethea so that he can be arrested and presented on his narcotics conspiracy charge. The Court

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has authority to issue a second bench warrant based on Rule 9 of the Federal Rules of Criminal

Procedure. That rule, which is titled “Arrest Warrant or Summons on an Indictment or

Information,” states in part:

The court must issue a warrant – or at the government’s request, a summons – for
each defendant named in an indictment or named in an information if one or more
affidavits accompanying the information establish probable cause to believe that
an offense has been committed and that the defendant committed it. The court
may issue more than one warrant or summons for the same defendant.

Rule 9 (emphasis added). Because Mr. Bethea’s original bench warrant was erroneously marked

at executed,1 issuing a second bench warrant is appropriate under Rule 9's provision allowing for

the issuance of more than one warrant for the same defendant. The government has consulted

with the U.S. District Court’s Clerk’s Office the morning of this filing, and the clerk’s office

instructed that based on the facts surrounding Mr. Bethea’s bench warrant being erroneously

signed as executed, the government should request that a new bench warrant issue.

1
Rule 9 indicates that a warrant is executed as provided in Rule 4(c)(1), (2) and (3).
Rule 4(c)(3) indicates that a warrant is executed by arresting the defendant. Accordingly, the
warrant was never executed in this case because Mr. Bethea was never arrested.

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WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, the United States respectfully requests that this

Court issue a bench warrant for the arrest of Defendant Saquon Bethea.2

Respectfully submitted,

RONALD C. MACHEN JR.

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
D.C. Bar No. 447889

By: ________/s/________________
Courtney D. Spivey
Assistant United States Attorney
New York Bar
555 4th Street, NW, Room 4122
Washington, D.C. 20530
(202) 514-6997

2
A copy of the erroneously signed bench warrant and a new bench warrant, along with a
copy of this motion, will be hand delivered to the chambers of Acting Chief Judge Ricardo
Urbina on October 15, 2010. An electronic version of these bench warrants will not be included
as an attachment to this motion when it is filed on the electronic case filing system (ECF).