Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-89-06161/USCOURTS-ca10-89-06161-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
United States of America
Appellee
Loren W. Wehrenberg
Appellant

Document Text:

.. .. 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

FILED 

Uoited States Court of Appeals #r enth C!rr-L1.i: 

MAR 19 1990 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

v. No. 89-6161 

LOREN W. WEHRENBERG, 

Defendant-Appellant. 

(D.C. No. CR-88-244-P) 

( W. D. Ok la. ) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before*TACHA and EBEL, Circuit Judges, and SAFFELS, District 

Judge. 

This appeal is from a sentence imposed by the district court 

pursuant to the Sentencing Guidelines. The district court 

determined that defendant played a leadership role in suborning 

the perjurious testimony of a witness and enhanced the defendant's 

offense level by two points under Guidelines§ 3B1.l(c), 

increasing the defendant's offense level from 10 to 12. Defendant 

appeals on the grounds that Guidelines§ 3Bl.l(c) 's enhancement 

for leadership roles in criminal activity should not be applied 

under the circumstances of this case where only two persons, the 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

** The Honorable Dale E. Saffels, District Judge, United States 

District Court for the District of Kansas, sitting by designation. 

Appellate Case: 89-6161 Document: 01019966386 Date Filed: 03/19/1990 Page: 1 
suborner and the perjurer, were involved in the offense. The 

defendant argues that his underlying crime, suborning perjury, is 

one that of necessity incorporates the defendant's leadership role 

in encouraging the witness to commit perjury. We agree but find 

that the district court's application of§ 3Bl.l(c) was harmless 

error and does not require us to remand for resentencing. 

The court sentenced the defendant to a term of incarceration 

of 11 months. This sentence also could have been imposed without 

§ 3Bl.l(c)'s two point increase in the defendant's offense level. 

The offense level for suborning perjury is 10, with a sentencing 

range of 6-12 months. The district court specifically noted at 

the sentencing hearing that even if he had chosen not to apply 

§ 3Bl.l(c), he would have imposed the same 11 month sentence. We 

hold that the district court's error in applying Guideline 

§ 3Bl.l(c) is harmless and resentencing is not required because 

the district court would have imposed the same sentence under a 

proper application of the Guidelines. See United States v. Colon, 

884 F.2d 1550, 1552 (2d Cir. 1989). 

Our holding that the district court should not have applied 

§ 3Bl.l(c) renders the defendant's other arguments concerning 

§ 3Bl.l(c) moot. AFFIRMED. 

-2-

ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Deanell Reece Tacha 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 89-6161 Document: 01019966386 Date Filed: 03/19/1990 Page: 2