Opinion ID: 691028
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Disparity in Sentences

Text: 40 All three Defendants complain that the district court erred when it imposed stiffer sentences upon them than upon their co-defendant, Roy Thornton, who pled guilty early in the trial. The Defendants correctly point out that similar offenders engaged in similar conduct should ordinarily be sentenced equivalently. United States v. Goddard, 929 F.2d 546, 550 (10th Cir.1991). However, disparate sentences are allowed where the disparity is explicable by the facts on the record. United States v. Garza, 1 F.3d 1098, 1101 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 617, 126 L.Ed.2d 581 (1993). We review the district court's decision to impose a disparate sentence under an abuse of discretion standard. Goddard, 929 F.2d at 550. 41 For his membership in the conspiracy, Thornton was sentenced under U.S.S.G. Sec. 2X1.1(a), which provides that the offense level for the crime of conspiracy is taken from the base offense level and adjustments of the substantive offense, in this case found in U.S.S.G. Sec. 2F1.1. The adjustment to the base offense level for fraud in Sec. 2F1.1 is based upon the amounts of losses attributable to the defendant. In the case of jointly undertaken criminal activity, a defendant is accountable for the actions of conspirators when: 1) the actions are in furtherance of the jointly undertaken criminal activity; and 2) the criminal conduct was reasonably foreseeable. U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3, Application Note 2. 42 Because a count may be worded broadly and include the conduct of many participants over a period of time, the scope of the criminal activity jointly undertaken by the defendant (the jointly undertaken criminal activity) is not necessarily the same as the scope of the entire conspiracy, and hence relevant conduct is not necessarily the same for every participant. ... The conduct of others that was not in furtherance of the criminal activity jointly undertaken by the defendant, or was not reasonably foreseeable in connection with that activity, is not relevant conduct under this provision. 43 Id. 44 The conspiracy alleged in the indictment, and for which the jury convicted the Defendants, was to defraud the JRE clients through the European Loan Program. Thirty-three clients were identified as JRE fraud victims. Massey and the Wilkinses had a role in the defrauding of all 33 of these clients, and the district court sentenced them based on these clients' losses. On the other hand, Thornton was only involved with the conspiracy as an employee or principal of the Aslanien and International Mortgage Exchange lending operations in Atlanta. The district court held Thornton responsible for the losses of the eight JRE clients whose fees were paid to these operations, resulting in a lower offense level than Massey and the Wilkinses. 45 This allocation of responsibility is based on real, rational differences between the defendants, and we do not conclude that the district court abused its discretion. 10