In the

United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit

No. 01-2778

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

BERNARD S. BOHANON,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

No. 00 CR 747--Charles R. Norgle, Sr., Judge.

Argued April 4, 2002--Decided May 16, 2002

 Before RIPPLE, KANNE, and EVANS, Circuit

Judges.

 EVANS, Circuit Judge. Fair warning: This

is an X-rated decision. The many letters

Bernard Bohanon wrote are extremely vile.

But because he contends that the sentence

he received for sending them (he was

convicted of mailing threatening

communications, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

sec. 876) was too long, we must recount

what he wrote to demonstrate why his 48-

month sentence to a federal prison will

not be disturbed on his appeal.

 Bohanon met up with the victims of his

letter-writing frenzy, Joe and Mary

Walker,/1 in 1991 when he contracted to

landscape the lawn of their home south of

Chicago. During work on the project, the

Walkers learned that Bohanon was having

financial difficulties, so they hired him

to do odd jobs, such as cutting the grass

and washing their car.

 The Walkers are naturalized citizens of

the United States, having emigrated from

Jamaica in the 1960’s. Joe Walker worked

for United Parcel Service and Mary worked

for several years at a university. Since

1992, Sharon Connor, their niece who was

a nursing student, lived with them.

 Thinking Bohanon to be down on his luck,

the Walkers befriended him, taking him to
church functions and introducing him to

their friends. They also shared dinners

with him and took him to restaurants.

Bohanon visited them frequently when he

was living in Gary, Indiana. He spent the

winter months in Texas, where he said he

was working as a roofer.

 In 1996 Bohanon asked the Walkers to

store his car in their garage while he

was in Texas. They agreed. Then, while

Bohanon was in Texas, the Walkers started

to receive Bohanon’s mail at their home.

When Bohanon returned to the Chicago area

in the spring of 1997, the Walkers asked

him to remove his car and stop having his

mail sent to their home. At the same

time, Bohanon began to show a romantic

interest in Ms. Connor. Ms. Walker

disapproved and told Bohanon so. She also

told him not to come to the house while

her husband was at work. Bohanon returned

to Texas. But the Walkers’ trouble with

him was just beginning.

 They and their niece started to receive

letters, the tone of which,

unfortunately, cannot be conveyed without

direct quotations. So we quote a few of

the letters (all part of the public

record in the district court),

misspellings and all:

 From a letter addressed to Mr. Walker

sent from Dallas, Texas, postmarked

November 8, 1998:

I’d cut you and make your fat ass squeel

like a big slimey pig. It’s going to

sound like a car burning rubber off the

line. You are a bunch of bastards from

hell whom all need to burn at the stake

like witches of the old days. Someone

ought to gut your niece and slash her

throat, burn her nappy hair, cut her

titties off, and shoot cement up her dry

ass cock until she can’t even squirt piss

out of that nasty bloody same hole again.

She will then have to wear a piss bag on

the outside and be an embarrassment to

all the human race. She should get her

foot caught between the doors and the bus

should drag that ugly, nasty, madoosa

maggott in the street until the only

thing left is a leg and a bag of piss. .

. . Nobody can help or save you, it is

extermination time.

 From a letter addressed to Mr. Walker

sent from Dallas, Texas, postmarked
January 29, 1999:

If I or any of my family members whom

want you dead ever encounter you, you

will die or receive the worst beating any

man could ever imagine. You fucked with

the wrong person. I have people who have

seen you coming in and out of UPS and had

serious guns ready to blow your head

completely off your body before you got

into your automobile. I of course know

your every move so what do you think I’m

going to do for the witchery you were

putting in food I was eating at you

wicked house. . . . I have some serious

lunatics whom want to take your niece

while she is on the bus stop and riddle

her with bulletts. They’ve ridden right

by her and looked her in the face and she

didn’t even know who they were. These

people have killed before and have no

problem with killing again. They are

vicious killers.

 From a letter addressed to Mr. Walker

sent from Dallas, Texas, postmarked

February 27, 1999:

Yo mama is the deadest piece of third

world dog sewage nigger in the grave of

Foney ass Jamaica. Worms crawl all over

her rotten carcus and she loves it. . .

. This dead bitches skin has peeled off

and her hair is so dry it feels like

cardboard, I mean this bitch is dead.

Your wife is next and when she hits the

grave she will look like a big tub of

nasty ancient. While doing the autopsy

before her funeral, they are going to cut

her rectum out and those sick doctors are

going to fuck her with a big greasy

louiville slugger until the bottom fall

out of that rotten dead body. They will

be vendictive and fuck her in the ears

and eye sockets[,] piss on her dead

carcus then take that wet greasy bat and

beat her whole body until it sweals and

swealters up like a balloon. . . . They

will then urine on it, ten or fifteen

different people and then prepare that

black pile of shit for the wake. A word

from you mother: Son I feel like a dried

up bitch, I’m wrapped in worms like a

dead mummy, it’s mommy.

 From a letter addressed to "Black Goat

Gobblins of the Third World" sent from

Dallas, Texas, postmarked July 15, 1999:

There is no escape your third world
vomit, the time is coming for your

reaping of the sowing of your evil dog

teeth deeds. Hell is but a breath away. .

. . I’m not through with you, I’m going

to continue to attack you until you fall

like a bag of garbage tossed into a

dumpster.

 From a letter addressed to "Black Nasty

Ashey Bog of Vomit You Faggott Walker"

sent from Gary, Indiana, postmarked March

11, 2000:

I see Fat Joe Walker lying in a casket

and someone has pissed on him. I see a

mat truck sitting on top of [Mrs.

Walker’s] car and her head has been

ripped from that old ugly gorilla body. I

see Sharon and she has been shot in the

face and they shitted on her dead carcus.

. . . Some vicious thugs are going to

beat and rob [Mrs. Walker] before she has

a bad car accident and dies from the head

decapitation.

 From a letter addressed to "Sick Black

Nappy Necked Nigger" sent from Gary,

Indiana, postmarked May 3, 2000:

You Nasty third world vomit. . . . Your

worthless scum life is ending. You are on

your way to the grave. Your casket will

made from some old wood off of a vacant

run down building.

 Finally, from a letter addressed to

"Black Scumk trash Maggott Attn: [Mr.

Walker]" sent from Gary, Indiana,

postmarked June 1, 2000:

You filthy fag sick garbage puke slime

vomit mutt sooner mother fucker. . . . I

wishes a vicious death upon your scum of

the earth head. You watch your back you

faggott bastard less you receive five

bulletts in your spine. Your big black

ugly maggott witch wife should be hung or

burned at the stake like witches used to

you Fat Fuck Motherfucker. If I weren’t a

child of God I’d catch you coming out of

UPS and blow your head to dust particles.

Nevertheless your wife is in store for a

very dramatic/harmful incident. Before it

is over that big black scorcerer will pay

a debt to society like no other black

bitch like her on earth.

 The vileness was not confined to the

letters themselves. The envelopes often

contained obscenities. Some had notes
written on them. For example, an envelope

was addressed to "Sharon, the ugly

madoosa, Inc." On another envelope was

the note, "I crave your insests."

Envelopes addressed to Mr. Walker

referred to his late mother in derogatory

and obscene terms: "To my son, I have

tapeworm in my rotten body. I feel like

worm food & victim of sexual abuse."

 One letter made direct reference to a

violent incident from Bohanon’s past, an

incident he had discussed with Mr.

Walker:

I’ve been through this before you see

with another person, whom tried doing the

same thing and he got shot very bad until

he almost bled to death. I witnessed him

lying in pool of blood and screaming for

his life while the guy that shot him with

the most powerful hand gun in the world

sped away laughing.

 Bohanon also sent letters to at least

two of the Walkers’ neighbors. In a

couple of these letters he accused the

Walkers of child molestation. He also

wrote to Mr. Walker’s employer. This

letter purported to be a resignation

letter from Walker himself in which he

acknowledged stealing company property.

Fortunately, Mr. Walker’s employer found

the letter suspect and did not act on it.

 Nevertheless, it caused embarrassment.

The letters to the neighbors caused the

Walkers "immeasurable grief." Mrs. Walker

testified at sentencing that their house

was in a predominately white

neighborhood; they and one other black

couple were the "only blacks in the

neighborhood." The neighbors, who showed

her the letter, said "Someone is out to

get you." Mrs. Walker testified that she

looked at the letter and started crying

"because it was so embarrassing, the

things that was said in the letter, you

know, to them, about raping their kids on

the block, taking them in the basement."

 Even worse than the embarrassment and

grief, however, the letters also caused

fear. Also at Bohanon’s sentencing, Mr.

Walker testified that he feared for his

life and the lives of his family. He was

afraid that Bohanon would send a letter

bomb. One time when Mr. Walker called

home from work and did not get an answer,

he left work immediately to go home to
check on things. When he arrived, his

garage door was open and he said he

"almost died," thinking that Bohanon had

gotten "someone to kill" his family. As a

result of the letters, the Walkers

altered their lifestyle. They installed

an alarm in their home. They bought their

niece a car so that she would not have to

ride the bus when she traveled to and

from the nursing school. Mr. Walker

started parking his car in a different

place at work. When they returned home

after being out, the Walkers drove by the

house before parking, checking to see

that nothing was amiss. In short, they

were on edge, constantly looking over

their shoulders.

 When the Walkers first complained to the

police about the letters, they were told,

we’re shocked to note, that nothing could

be done. They were advised to throw the

letters away. Later, when they complained

to the U.S. Postal Service, they were

again simply advised to throw the letters

away. The Walkers took this advice, and

consequently there is no entirely

accurate count of how many letters were

sent. Estimates range from at least 100

to more than 300. Mrs. Walker stated that

the letters were "just pouring in.

Sometimes six letters for a day."

 Bohanon eventually was charged with

multiple counts of mailing threatening

communications. At that time, he was

incarcerated in the Will County,

Illinois, jail, awaiting extradition to

Texas for violating conditions of

probation, which he was serving for a

theft conviction. When he was interviewed

by FBI agents, he admitted writing and

mailing the letters. He claimed that the

Walkers practiced voodoo and witchcraft

and sought to control him by placing

chicken blood and other things in his

food. Eventually, he entered a plea of

guilty to one count of mailing

threatening communications and was

sentenced to 48 months imprisonment.

 The sentence was arrived at through a

number of adjustments to the base offense

level and a modest upward departure.

Pursuant to sec.2A6.1(a)(1) of the United

States Sentencing Guidelines, his base

offense level was 12. Under U.S.S.G.

sec.2A6.1, the base offense level was

enhanced by 6 levels because there was

conduct evidencing an intent to carry out
the threats in the letters. Two more

levels were added because the offense

involved more than two threats, resulting

in an adjusted offense level of 20. The

government sought, but was denied, an

enhancement based on the contention that

the conduct constituted a hate crime.

Then Bohanon was granted a 3-level

decrease for acceptance of responsibility

as a reward for his guilty plea, bringing

his total offense level to 17. He had

five prior convictions, which resulted in

the assignment of four criminal history

points. Then because he committed the

present offense while he was on probation

for three 1999 theft convictions, he

received two additional criminal history

points, placing him in criminal history

category III. The sentencing range after

all this gymnastics was only 30 to 37

months.

 Both sides moved for departures. Bohanon

contended he was entitled to a downward

departure pursuant to U.S.S.G. sec.5K2.13

for "Diminished Capacity." His request

was denied. The government sought an

upward departure on three bases. The

first was Application Note 2 to U.S.S.G.

sec.2A6.1, which provides that "[i]f the

conduct involved substantially more than

two threatening communications to the

same victim or a prolonged period of

harassing communications to the same

victim, an upward departure may be

warranted." The second was U.S.S.G.

sec.5K2.3, which provides that "[i]f a

victim or victims suffered psychological

injury much more serious than that

normally resulting from commission of the

offense, the court may increase the

sentence above the authorized guideline

range." Third, the government argued that

an upward departure was appropriate under

U.S.S.G. sec.5K2.8, which provides that

"[i]f the defendant’s conduct was

unusually heinous, cruel, brutal, or

degrading to the victim, the court may

increase the sentence above the guideline

range to reflect the nature of the

conduct."

 In regard to the government’s motion for

an upward departure, District Judge

Norgle said:

I find that there is a basis under

Guideline 2A6.1 to take this case to the

maximum. And also looking at it from the

government’s perspective under 5K2.8 and
5K2.3, there is enough granting that

upward departure to take the case to the

maximum, which would be 60 months

imprisonment.

After stating that Bohanon was a

"troubled man" and recommending that his

placement be in an institution that would

provide mental health care and treatment,

Judge Norgle also found that the conduct

could not be excused. He said, however,

that even though he had rejected the

request for a downward departure based on

diminished mental capacity, he did not

intend to impose the maximum sentence.

Taking all the factors into

consideration, he settled on an upward

departure of 11 months, imposing a

sentence of 48 months.

 Bohanon has appealed both the

enhancement based on U.S.S.G.

sec.2A6.1(b)(1)--that his conduct

evidenced an intent to carry out the

threats--and the upward departure, based

on U.S.S.G. sec.sec.2A6.1, 5K2.3, and

5K2.8. His contentions are that the judge

made findings which contradict the

imposition of the enhancement, failed to

explain clearly his reasons for the

upward departure, and failed to link the

extent of the departure to the structure

of the guidelines. In short, his is the

by-now familiar complaint that the

district judge was not sufficiently

explicit. Ironically, that complaint

often arises in cases in which the basis

for the enhancement or the departure is

virtually self-evident so as to seem to

require little explanation. Here, for

instance, the judge said, "[N]o

reasonable person could look at these

letters and say that these were not

serious threats to these individuals or

to the public." When challenged, the

court said more than once words like the

following:

 Do you want me to read the--all of these

letters that are contained in the

government’s submission word-by-word?

 Because that’s--if that is what you

would be asking me to do, then I would

hand them over to you and let you read

them into the record.

Or:

 And you are not asking to read the
entirety of all these letters into the

record--

 . . . .

 --from which any reasonable person

could--

. . . .

 --infer that there are threats there,

and that there is an inference of an

intent to carry them out, and, based upon

what is said in the record and the

background of the defendant, that there

is the potential for him to carry them

out.

Judge Norgle obviously, and

understandably, found the letters

disturbing: he said he had "labored

through these terrible letters that Mr.

Bohanon wrote."

 In addition to finding the letters selfevidently sufficient to support the

sentence imposed, however, the judge did

not neglect making explicit findings to

support the sentence.

 In order to impose the 6-level

adjustment in the offense level under

U.S.S.G. sec.2A6.1(b)(1), which governs

threatening communications, there must be

evidence of Bohanon’s intent to carry out

the threats he made in the letters. The

comment to the guideline instructs the

district court to consider both conduct

which occurred prior to the offense if it

is "substantially and directly connected

to the offense" as well as conduct

occurring during the offense. United

States v. Sullivan, 75 F.3d 297 (7th Cir.

1996). Our review of the court’s factual

determinations is limited; we will

reverse only when the determination is

"so inconsistent with the evidence" as to

constitute clear error. Sullivan, at 302-

03; United States v. Siegler, 272 F.3d

975 (7th Cir. 2001). Furthermore, in

certain cases, the threats themselves can

provide the basis for a conclusion that

the defendant intended to carry out his

threats. United States v. Thomas, 155

F.3d 833 (7th Cir. 1998).

 Here, the judge stated that the letters

themselves supported an inference that

Bohanon intended to carry out his

threats. Several went far beyond rambling
ruminations on Bohanon’s hatred for the

Walkers. For instance, in the January 29,

1999, letter, Bohanon references the

location where, and manner in which, he

intended to harm the Walkers and their

niece. The level of detail in this

letter-- referencing, for example, a

place where the niece routinely stood--

provides an indication that Bohanon had

moved beyond mere "talk . . . to talk

which evidences an intent to act." United

States v. Sullivan, 75 F.3d 297, 302 (7th

Cir. 1996). This alone provided a solid

basis for the 6-level adjustment under

U.S.S.G. sec.2A6.1(b)(1).

 In addition to the letters themselves,

the judge noted that Bohanon had a prior

conviction for unlawful carrying of a

weapon, and thus another basis for

concluding that he might just resort to

the use of dangerous weapons. The

adjustment is also supported by facts in

the record which the judge did not

explicitly mention: that during the time

the threats were being made, Bohanon

requested information about a 50-caliber

semiautomatic pistol, and that in 1988 he

had been present during the shooting of a

friend. Upon this record, we conclude

that applying the enhancement to

Bohanon’s offense level was not clearly

erroneous.

 We turn next to Bohanon’s challenge to

the upward departure, a decision we

review only for an abuse of discretion.

United States v. Jones, 278 F.3d 711 (7th

Cir. 2002).

 Looking at any of the three provisions

on which the departure was based, we find

that there was no abuse of discretion.

First, there were at least 100 (and

possibly as many as 300) letters sent. It

is undeniably self-evident that 100 is

"substantially more than two threatening

communications to the same victim," as

required by the application note to

U.S.S.G. sec.2A6.1.

 Second, a departure under U.S.S.G.

sec.5K2.3 requires that the victims

suffered psychological injury "much more

serious" than normal from the commission

of the offense. The Walkers testified as

to their fear, humiliation, and

embarrassment. They changed their

behavior, becoming much more cautious

than they had been. An inference that
they suffered psychological injury is

clearly inferable from the record.

 Finally, U.S.S.G. sec.5K2.8 authorizes

an upward departure if the defendant’s

conduct was "unusually . . . degrading to

the victim." Over and over, Judge Norgle

noted that the letters were "terrible."

The judge explicitly accepted the factual

findings of the presentence report which

described the embarrassment the Walkers

felt. Both Walkers testified to their

humiliation. The humiliation was

increased because of the messages on the

outside of the envelopes and the letters

sent to the neighbors. Bohanon argues

that this guideline should be limited to

instances in which there was actual

physical or sexual assault on the

victims. The guideline itself, however,

contemplates humiliation as a basis for

the departure, saying that examples of

"extreme conduct include torture of a

victim, gratuitous infliction of injury,

or prolonging of pain or humiliation."

 In short, Judge Norgle found that the

letters themselves support the inferences

required for the departure. In addition,

he explicitly accepted the findings set

out in the presentence report, a practice

we have upheld. See United States v.

Parolin, 239 F.3d 922 (7th Cir. 2001).

There is no clear error in departing from

the guidelines.

 Next, Bohanon argues that the departure

was not properly linked to the structure

of the guidelines, an argument we also

reject. The departure was sufficiently

based in the structure of the guidelines.

But that aside, our examination of this

record leads us to think that Bohanon

should be happy that the judge was not

more literal or mathematical in anchoring

the departure to the guidelines. Had he

been more literal, the departure would

almost certainly have been greater.

 U.S.S.G. sec.2A6.1, which provides the

base offense level in this case, requires

that the offense level be increased by 2

levels if there were more than two

threats. Then the application notes state

that departure is warranted if the

conduct involved "substantially more than

two threatening communications."

Bohanon’s situation would be worse if the

judge had concluded that if two threats

means a 2-level increase, then 100

threats means a 100-fold increase. That
example shows why literal application and

mathematical precision should not be the

goal of guideline sentencing. While

district judges are required to tie

departures to the structure of the

guidelines, they are not required to be

mathematicians. Despite the absurdities

sometimes involved in guideline

sentencing, we have not yet deceived

ourselves into thinking that mathematical

precision is possible. We have said that

the "degree of departure is entirely one

of reasonableness . . . ." United States

v. Peterson, 256 F.3d 612, 615 (7th Cir.

2001). Or, looking again at the fact that

the guidelines call for a 2-level

increase for more than two threats, we

see that the increase, for instance, from

level 12 to level 14 for someone in

criminal history category III is from 15-

21 months to 21-27 months--or about 6

months. Departing upward 11 months for

the number of threats involved here is

well below the range. As an aside, it is

interesting to note that the upward

departure roughly approximates an

additional day for each letter--were we

to credit the estimate that there were,

in fact, over 300 letters, a conclusion

which is not unreasonable. The judgment

of the district court is AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTE

/1 These are not their real names. We have changed

them (and the name of the niece, who we will soon

get to) to spare the victims further embarrassment.