United States of America v. LOUIS DOWDELL, III, AKA Blackey

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
LOUIS DOWDELL, III, AKA Blackey,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 14-50046
D.C. No. 2:11-cr-00050-GAF-17
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Gary A. Feess, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted October 20, 2015
Pasadena, California
Before: RAWLINSON and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges and BOULWARE,** District
Judge.
Louis Dowdell, III appeals the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty
plea to a charge of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”)
FILED
NOV 06 2015
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The Honorable Richard F. Boulware, District Judge for the U.S.
District Court for the District of Nevada, sitting by designation.

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conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d). We have jurisdiction under 28
U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Dowdell’s motion
to withdraw his guilty plea.1 The district court adequately informed Dowdell of the
elements of the RICO conspiracy offense. Dowdell was properly instructed that he
was pleading guilty to a RICO conspiracy with an enhanced sentence due to the
predicate crime of conspiracy to commit murder with malice aforethought. The
government was not required to prove an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy
to commit murder. Salinas v. United States, 522 U.S. 52, 63 (1997); see also
United States v. Frega, 179 F.3d 793, 810 n.21 (9th Cir. 1999). Moreover, there
was a sufficient factual basis to support the plea. United States v. Alber, 56 F.3d
1106, 1110 (9th Cir. 1995). Dowdell admitted that he was a respected older
member of the gang who was contacted when other members planned activities in
his neighborhood, and that he spoke with a co-defendant and agreed that the gang
should kill a former member.
AFFIRMED.
1 Because Dowdell’s arguments concern whether he knowingly and
voluntarily entered into his plea agreement, we reach the merits of the appeal
despite the waiver of appeal rights contained in the agreement. United States v.
Michlin, 34 F.3d 896, 898 (9th Cir. 1994).
2

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