Opinion ID: 553180
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Proper Grouping of Counts Two, Three and Four

Text: 16 Finally, Stephenson contends that the district court erred by failing to group counts two and three--the bribery count and the extortion count--on the basis of Sec. 3D1.2(a). Section 3D1.2(a) provides that counts may be grouped [w]hen [the] counts involve the same victim and the same act or transaction. U.S.S.G. Sec. 3D1.2(a). The government concedes that the district court misread Sec. 3D1.2 by inferring that Sec. 3D1.2(d)'s prohibition against grouping bribery and extortion counts precluded grouping of those counts under Sec. 3D1.2(a) as well. It is understandable that the district court, faced with the arduous task of determining whether to apply the October 1988 or the November 1989 Guidelines, did not focus on how the counts should be grouped. 17 Although the government concedes that the district court erred by failing to group counts two and three, it argues that such a failure was harmless error. See United States v. Sacco, 899 F.2d 149, 151 (2d Cir.1990) (per curiam ). According to the government, the judge erred by grouping counts two and four and, as a result, arrived at the same combined adjusted offense level that would have been obtained if all of the offenses had been grouped correctly. However, we find that it was not improper to group counts two and four under Sec. 3D1.2. If count three had been grouped with counts two and four as permitted, the combined adjusted offense level would have resulted in a lower figure than the district court calculated. We therefore reject the government's argument that the court's failure to group counts two and three was harmless error. Accordingly, we must vacate the sentence and remand this case to the district court for further proceedings.