Opinion ID: 2994102
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kathleen Kroledge

Text: The district court based its finding of obstruction against Kathleen Kroledge on her testimony that Tony and Ethel Kroledge were not involved in the conspiracy. The court found that she obstructed justice both by her trial testimony and by pretrial statements that she made to investigators. In her opening statement, Kathleen Kroledge confessed lying to investigators when she and Charles misrepresented their living expenses to State Farm. She now claims that her earlier false statements were immaterial and the finding that she perjured herself at trial was inaccurate. Kathleen Kroledge testified at trial that she told State Farm’s claim adjuster that she was staying with Tony and Ethel, rather than at an apartment as she had claimed. She also testified that she was often away from Tony and Ethel’s house, so Tony might not have been aware that she and Charles were living there. State Farm’s claim adjuster Bob Bradley testified that Kathleen never informed him that Charles and Kathleen’s family were residing with Tony and Ethel after the fire. In addition, Tony Kroledge testified that he told FBI investigators that he knew Charles and Kathleen Kroledge were living with his family while they rebuilt their house. Kathleen Kroledge’s testimony contradicts statements that she made to State Farm and to the FBI prior to trial and contradicts itself in several places. Given the testimony of the government’s witnesses at trial, we find that the trial court had sufficient evidence to conclude that the statements by Kathleen about Tony’s knowledge of her family’s presence in their home, as well as many other contradictory statements, constituted an attempt to obstruct justice, and we will not second guess the district court on such questions of credibility. Kathleen’s statements were material, as they would tend to influence the decisionmaking body to which they were addressed. See United States v. Wells, 519 U.S. 482, 483 (1997). Therefore, we find that the district court’s finding was accurate on the ground of her perjurious testimony and that its enhancement must be upheld without regard to the materiality of her earlier false statements.