Opinion ID: 476321
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Restitution Order Imposed Against Barnette

Text: 65 Appellant Barnette attacks portions of his sentence that require that he pay seven million dollars restitution to the United States. The district court imposed restitution on five different counts to run concurrently. On Count 1 (conspiracy) and on Count 15 (bribery of Sentner), Barnette was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of five years and ordered to pay restitution. On Count 7 (false statements), Count 8 (false statements) and Count 25 (RICO), Barnette was placed on probation for five years on condition that he pay restitution to the government in the amount of seven million dollars. 66 Barnette contends that the district court's order of restitution on Counts 1 and 15 is void because the court lacked the authority to order restitution on those counts. According to Barnette, the only source of the district court's power to order restitution in this case is 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3651 (1982 & Supp. III 1986). Section 3651 provides that the court may suspend the imposition or execution of sentence and place the defendant on probation. While on probation, the defendant [m]ay be required to make restitution or reparation to aggrieved parties for actual damages or loss caused by the offense for which conviction was had. Because the order of restitution on Count 1 and 15 was not coupled with a probationary sentence, Barnette concludes that the restitution order is invalid. 67 The Victim and Witness Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. Secs. 3579-3580 (1982 & Supp. III 1986), however, provides in pertinent part that a district court, when sentencing a defendant convicted of an offense under this title ... may order, in addition to or in lieu of any other penalty authorized by law, that the defendant make restitution to any victim of the offense. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3579(a)(1) (1982) (emphasis added). Effective with respect to offenses occurring after January 1, 1983, the Victim and Witness Protection Act empowers a court, for the first time, to order payment of restitution independently of a sentence of probation. S.Rep. No. 97-532, 97th Cong., 2d Sess. 30, reprinted in 1982 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News, 2515, 2536. 68 While section 3579 cannot save the restitution order imposed as part of the sentence on Count 15, the restitution ordered on Count 1 is authorized. The bribery charged in Count 15, according to the indictment, occurred from October 31, 1979 to February 22, 1980, well before the effective date of the Victim and Witness Protection Act. The conspiracy in Count 1, however, is alleged to have begun in July, 1976 and to have continued to the filing of the indictment. The indictment was filed on August 30, 1983, several months after the Act's January 1, 1983 effective date. 69 Barnette argues against the apparent applicability of the Victim and Witness Protection Act, stressing that the conspiracy's last overt act allegedly occurred in March, 1982. There is no requirement, however, that an indictment enumerate every overt act performed in furtherance of a conspiracy. 70 The duration and termination of a conspiracy is determined by the particular facts of each case. United States v. Varella, 692 F.2d 1352, 1362 (11th Cir.1982) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 838, 104 S.Ct. 127, 78 L.Ed.2d 124 (1983). The evidence showed that many acts were performed and statements made in furtherance of the conspiracy after January 1, 1983 which demonstrated the conspiracy's continuing nature. For example, in February, 1983, Allied submitted its corporate tax return for its fiscal year ending May 31, 1982, which served to perpetrate the fraud on the IRS. Barnette filed his individual income tax return for 1982 in October, 1983. In March, 1983 Leo Barnette made a false statement concerning Allied's foreign bank accounts and in October, 1983, gave the Federal Bureau of Investigation disguised exemplars of his handwriting. In addition, many of Barnette's shell corporations were still in existence or operating at the time of the indictment. The evidence demonstrated that the conspirators continued to defend and promote their fraudulent scheme after January 1, 1983, see id. Therefore, the restitution order imposed as part of the sentence on Count 1 is authorized. 71 Barnette also argues that the restitution ordered on Counts 1, 7, 8 and 25 is invalid because the amount of restitution ordered in no way represents actual damages [suffered by the government as a result of] the specific crimes charged in those counts. We disagree. 72 The amount of restitution under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3579(b)(1) (1982) or 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3651 (1982 & Supp. III 1986) may not exceed the actual losses flowing from the offense for which the defendant has been convicted. See United States v. Johnson, 700 F.2d 699, 701 (11th Cir.1983) (per curiam). A sentencing court may not impose fees and charges at will on a defendant, Fiore v. United States, 696 F.2d 205, 209 (2d Cir.1982); the amount of actual losses must be established in some manner. Cf. Johnson, 700 F.2d at 701-702 (remand for resentencing where reviewing court could not ascertain what district court relied on in arriving at restitutionary figure). The amount may be established by proof at trial, see United States v. Stoehr, 196 F.2d 276, 284 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 344 U.S. 826, 73 S.Ct. 28, 97 L.Ed. 643 (1952); by some other judicial determination, United States v. Boswell, 565 F.2d 1338, 1342-43 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 819, 99 S.Ct. 81, 58 L.Ed.2d 110 (1978); or by admission, United States v. Grugette, 678 F.2d 600, 604 (5th Cir.1982). 73 In this case, the evidence introduced at trial established that the conspiracy netted approximately fifteen million dollars in excess profits from the German laundry contract alone. Even Barnette conceded that he realized nearly seven million dollars in excess profits from 1979 to 1981. The proof at trial clearly established a basis for the restitution order. The restitution order imposed as part of the sentence on Count 15 is vacated. The restitution orders imposed on all other counts are affirmed.