USA v. Webster, No. 23-11526 (11th Cir. 2025)
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Clevon Webster and his brother used stolen social security numbers to apply for government benefits from September 2014 until June 2015. The government had until June 3, 2020, to bring charges against Webster due to the five-year statute of limitations. However, the Southern District of Florida suspended grand jury sessions from March 2020 until November 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Unable to obtain an indictment, the government filed an information against Webster on May 26, 2020, but did not obtain a waiver of indictment from him. After grand juries resumed, a grand jury indicted Webster on January 21, 2021, for the same offenses.
Webster moved to dismiss the indictment as untimely, arguing that filing an information without a waiver of indictment did not toll the statute of limitations. The district court denied his motion, adopting the magistrate judge's report that concluded filing an information was sufficient to toll the statute of limitations and that the later indictment related back to the date of the timely filed information. Webster then pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, preserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to dismiss.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court's decision. The court held that filing an information without a waiver of indictment tolls the statute of limitations under 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a). The court reasoned that the statute's text, structure, and history support this interpretation and that the statute does not require a waiver of indictment to toll the limitations period. The court also held that the January 2021 indictment related back to the timely filed May 2020 information, making the indictment timely.
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