Breach of Plea Agreement

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Majdi Odeh et al

Case No.: 15-3389; 15-3392

Officials: FLAUM and MANION, Circuit Judges, and ALONSO, District Judge.*

Focus: Breach of Plea Agreement

Respondent waived right to appeal but appeal anyway.

“Similarly, in this case, Odeh and Hussein entered into a plea agreement in which they waived their rights to appeal, except in the event that they were sentenced outside the advisory guidelines range, which they were not. While they claim the prosecution violated the plea agreement by not recommending an acceptance of responsibility reduction, or recommending that Odeh be sentenced at the low end of the advisory guidelines range, they agreed to allow the district court to resolve the question of whether a breach occurred by agreeing to the appeal waiver. However, as in Hicks and Hare, the defendants never presented that argument to the district court. And their waiver of appeal bars them from having this court consider the question on appeal. Hicks, 129 F.3d at 381; Hare, 269 F.3d at 862; see also United States v. Whitlow, 287 F.3d 638 (7th Cir. 2002) (holding that a waiver of appellate rights precluded a defendant from arguing on appeal that the prosecution violated the plea agreement, and explaining “[w]aiver of appeal means that the final decision [concerning whether there was a breach of the plea agreement] will be made by one Article III judge rather than three Article III judges …”)”

Appeal Dismissed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.