Opinion ID: 3055099
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fawcett’s Plea Agreement and Sentence

Text: A one-count information charged Scott Fawcett with aiding and abetting loan and credit application fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1014 and 2. In 2009, Fawcett pled guilty and entered into a plea agreement with the government 2 Case: 11-14051 Date Filed: 06/24/2013 Page: 3 of 19 wherein he agreed “to cooperate fully with the United States in the investigation and prosecution of other persons, and to testify . . . fully and truthfully” in any subsequent federal court or grand jury proceeding. If Fawcett’s cooperation was completed subsequent to sentencing, the government agreed to consider whether the cooperation warranted “the filing of a motion for a reduction of sentence within one year of the imposition of sentence pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b).” The government promised to “make known to the Court and other relevant authorities the nature and extent of defendant’s cooperation and any other mitigating circumstances indicative of the defendant’s rehabilitative intent.” But Fawcett’s plea agreement acknowledged that “the determination as to whether ‘substantial assistance’ has been provided or what type of motion related thereto will be filed, if any, rests solely with the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.” Fawcett agreed that he would “not challenge that determination, whether by appeal, collateral attack, or otherwise.”1 At sentencing, Fawcett’s total offense level of 22 and a criminal history category of I yielded a guidelines range of 41 to 51 months’ imprisonment. The district court sentenced Fawcett to 41 months’ imprisonment and entered a 1 About three months later, the government discovered that it had recited the wrong elements of the offense in the plea agreement. Fawcett agreed to an addendum to the plea agreement reciting the correct elements of the offense. Neither the addendum nor the elements of Fawcett’s offense of conviction are at issue in this appeal. 3 Case: 11-14051 Date Filed: 06/24/2013 Page: 4 of 19 judgment on the same day. 2