2015 Decisions

Opinions of the United

States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit

4-15-2015

USA v. Travis Russ

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Recommended Citation

"USA v. Travis Russ" (2015). 2015 Decisions. Paper 381.

http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2015/381
NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

________________

No. 14-2056

________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

TRAVIS J. RUSS, 

 Appellant

________________

On Appeal from the District Court

for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

(D.C. Criminal No. 1-12-cr-00325-001) 

District Judge: Honorable William W. Caldwell

________________

Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)

January 13, 2015

Before: MCKEE, Chief Judge, HARDIMAN, and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges

(Filed: April 15, 2015)

________________

OPINION*

________________

SCIRICA, Circuit Judge

 

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not 

constitute binding precedent.
2

From 2008 until his arrest in October 2012, Travis Russ and nine confederates 

broke into cars from Florida to Pennsylvania and stole purses, wallets, checkbooks, and 

identification information. They then forged and cashed the checks from the outermost 

lane, or “felony lane,” of drive-through banks. A grand jury charged the ten “Felony Lane 

Gang” coconspirators, all of whom have since pled guilty and been sentenced, with 

conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud; bank fraud; wire fraud; and aggravated 

identify theft. Russ pled guilty to the conspiracy charge (18 U.S.C. § 1349), and the 

government agreed to dismiss the three other counts of indictment. The District Court 

sentenced Russ to 188 months’ imprisonment. Russ appeals his sentence and challenges 

the enhancements for number of victims and amount of loss. We will affirm.1

First: Homeland Security Agent Paul Dormer investigated 90 Felony Lane Gang 

transactions involving Russ between August and October of 2012 and found 147 victims, 

from financial institutions to vehicle owners and identification holders. For the full 

duration of the conspiracy,2 he concluded, victims would have numbered in the 

thousands. Given the number of victims identified for this three-month period, the 

duration of the scheme, and Russ’s own testimony that there were “two [or] three 

hundred” victims, the court did not clearly err in applying a six-level enhancement for 

 

1 The District Court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction 

under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). We review the interpretation of the 

Sentencing Guidelines de novo and factual findings for clear error. E.g., United States v. 

Fumo, 655 F.3d 288, 309 (3d Cir. 2011). 

2 Whether Russ began participating in the conspiracy in 2008, as he contends, or a 

few years earlier, as codefendant Sylvester Joseph testified, the court properly concluded 

there was enough information to find Russ was actively involved in the conspiracy long 

enough to justify the conservatively-estimated enhancement. 
3

250 or more victims, see U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(2)(C). 

Second: Russ’s argument that his sixteen-level enhancement for amount of loss 

exceeding $1 million was improperly calculated is without merit. To ascertain loss, the 

court “need only make a reasonable estimate,” U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b) app. n.3(C), which, 

on “deeper analysis” of the defendant’s “subjective intention,” may be determined to 

equal the total possible loss, see United States v. Geevers, 226 F.3d 186, 192 (3d Cir. 

2000). Here, Russ stated he and his codefendants would split the money evenly,3and that 

around $200,000 was his take alone. Codefendant Sylvester Joseph testified Russ told 

him he made roughly $1 million. And because the group was not always successful, the 

intended loss amount is greater still. Finally, Agent Dormer found the group earned, on 

average, $40,000 to $50,000 per trip, and concluded that, given the length of the 

conspiracy, the total loss amount “well exceeds a million dollars.” The court specifically 

credited Agent Dormer’s testimony and found that $1 million was “a conservative 

estimate.” We find no error in the court’s analysis.

Because the District Court committed no factfinding error for the purposes of the 

sentencing enhancements, we will affirm the judgment of conviction and sentence. 

 

3 There were nine other codefendants, but the number of participants involved in any 

particular Felony Lane Gang trip varied. The amount earned was split evenly among 

those participating in a given trip. Russ testified about a specific trip in June 2011 

involving eight people. He said the money was divided evenly and that he personally 

obtained $44,000 in cash.