Opinion ID: 1461844
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: What Properties May Be Considered in the Benefit Calculation?

Text: Both parties agree that Eola Road must be included in the benefit calculus because the bribe for which Anderson was convicted involved Eola Road. It goes without saying that a sentencing court may consider benefits that flow directly from the counts of conviction. This is undisputed; it is the relevant conduct that has created the controversy. The district court found that the payments made to Meisch for his help with Grand Pointe Homes were acts of bribery that related to the bribe of Rieser. While Anderson insists that the payments were innocent, the record is replete with evidence that suggests otherwise. Anderson, Meisch and Zirk all testified that Anderson had paid Meisch money for his assistance with the Grand Pointe Homes project. Meisch would apply influence on behalf of Anderson, and Anderson's problems would conveniently disappear. The district court knew that Anderson was highly sophisticated; this was evident from his dealings with Rieser. It was thus reasonable for the district court to conclude that Anderson either had bribed Meisch or had given Meisch money so that he could bribe the appropriate officials (as had been done with Rieser). It is also clear that Grand Pointe Homes benefited from these bribes. Anderson turned to Meisch just as the project stalled in the City Council. Without Meisch's intervention, the project may never have been approved. With Meisch's help, it was not only approved, but approved with an even greater density than the original plan. Thus, the profits attributable to the project can be included in the benefit calculation. But even if the payments Anderson made to Meisch can be considered as relevant conduct, they cannot be connected to Misty Creek. Indeed, we could find only two pieces of evidence in the entire record that linked Misty Creek to these bribes: Misty Creek was mentioned at the first breakfast meeting between Meisch and Anderson in 2001, and Anderson admitted to the FBI that he had given Meisch a flatbed truck in the early 1990s for his assistance with Misty Creek. Neither of these facts was relied upon, or even mentioned, by the district court. There was no evidence to show that the Misty Creek project had encountered obstacles that would have required Meisch's assistance; thus, we have no way to know what Meisch could have done to assist the project. Misty Creek was basically completed by the time of the earliest alleged bribes; the construction of homes was already well underway at that point. Even the district court judge seemed to accept Anderson's arguments on this point. Sentencing H'rg Tr. 167. Misty Creek must be excluded.