[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
NOV 18, 2008
No. 08-10177 THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 05-00009-CR-ORL-18-JGG
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ROWLAND WASHINGTON JADUSINGH,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(November 18, 2008)
Before BLACK, BARKETT and PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Rowland Washington Jadusingh appeals pro se the denial of his
post-conviction motion to recover money and real property that was forfeited as a
term of his plea of guilty to drug and firearm charges. Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(g).
Jadusingh argues that the district court did not have jurisdiction to order the
forfeiture and he was coerced to accept the forfeiture. We affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
Jadusingh was indicted in 2005 for conspiracy and possession with intent to
distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a), 846, and possession of a firearm in
furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Jadusingh agreed, in
exchange for his plea of guilt to the conspiracy and firearm charges, to forfeit
$38,019 seized from a residence in Hobe Sound, Florida; $6500 seized from a safe
deposit box; and real property in West Palm Beach, Florida. In the plea agreement,
Jadusingh admitted that the cash was “proceeds of drug trafficking”; he
“purchase[d] and maintain[ed]” the West Palm Beach property with “[p]roceeds
from narcotics trafficking and funds traceable to narcotics trafficking”; and he used
the real property to “store[] proceeds of narcotics trafficking and narcotics . . . .”
Jadusingh acknowledged that his plea of guilty was made freely and voluntarily,
“without threats, force, intimidation, or coercion of any kind.”
Jadusingh pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and firearm charges. 21 U.S.C. §
846; 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). During the plea colloquy, Jadusingh affirmed that he was
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knowingly and voluntarily pleading guilty and he understood the forfeiture
provisions of the plea agreement. Jadusingh did not object to the forfeiture when it
was mentioned at sentencing; when the district court entered final judgment in June
2005; when the district court entered a final order of forfeiture on the $38,019 and
real property in October 2005; or when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
administratively forfeited the $6500 in February 2006.
In December 2007, Jadusingh moved to recover the cash and property he
had forfeited. Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(g). Jadusingh explained that he did not attempt
to recover the property earlier because his case agent threatened to indict
Jadusingh’s mother. Jadusingh alleged that the cash was derived from insurance
payments and proceeds from his parents’ business and the district court did not
have jurisdiction to seize the property because Jadusingh is a Seminole Indian, he
was not on tribal land at the time the seizure occurred, and he was not charged
under the Major Crimes Act of 1885. The district court denied the motion and
ruled that Jadusingh agreed to forfeit the property in his plea agreement and at
sentencing.
II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
We review de novo “questions of law dealing with a district court’s denial of
a motion for return of seized property . . . .” United States v. Howell, 425 F.3d
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971, 973 (11th Cir. 2005) (citing United States v. Castro, 883 F.2d 1018, 1019
(11th Cir. 1989)). We review the denial of a motion under Rule 41(g) for abuse of
discretion. United States v. Machado, 465 F.3d 1301, 1307 (11th Cir. 2006) (citing
Howell, 425 F.3d at 974).
III. DISCUSSION
Jadusingh challenges the ruling of the district court on two grounds. First,
Jadusingh contends that the district court did not have jurisdiction to order the
forfeiture because he is a Seminole Indian and the Major Crimes Act limits the
authority of the district court to the prosecution of offenses committed by an Indian
on a reservation. Second, Jadusingh argues that he agreed to forfeit the money and
property under threat that the government would indict his mother and under
pressure from his defense attorney, who faced unrelated federal charges.
Jadusingh’s arguments fail. Jadusingh argues that the district court lacked
jurisdiction under the Major Crimes Act, but Jadusingh admits that his conspiracy
and firearm crimes did not occur on Indian land. See 18 U.S.C. § 1153; Keeble v.
United States, 412 U.S. 205, 93 S. Ct. 1993 (1973). Although Jadusingh argues
that he was coerced to forfeit his money and property, the record establishes that he
knowingly and voluntarily agreed to the forfeiture as a term of his plea agreement
with the government. Jadusingh admitted that the money and property were
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proceeds of drug crimes and the real estate was used to store narcotics and drug
money. See Machado, 465 F.3d at 1307. The district court did not abuse its
discretion by denying Jadusingh’s motion to return property.
IV. CONCLUSION
The denial of Jadusingh’s motion is AFFIRMED.
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