Opinion ID: 606347
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Apportionment and Calculation of Loss

Text: 38 The appellants argue that the district court erred by failing to apportion the loss calculations between pre- and post-Guideline dates. Although mail and wire fraud offenses that straddle the Sentencing Guidelines' effective date of November 1, 1987, are not deemed to be continuing offenses and must be sentenced separately, a district court confronted with a situation like that presented in the instant appeals can avoid the risk of double-counting losses by sentencing concurrently on the pre- and post-Guideline counts. See United States v. Niven, 952 F.2d 289, 293-94 & n. 2 (9th Cir.1991) (per curiam). Because the district court properly imposed concurrent sentences on the appellants' pre- and post-Guideline offenses, the sentences do not run afoul of Niven. 39 The appellants also contend that the district court erred by failing to explain how it arrived at a figure between $500,000 and $1,000,000 as the total loss suffered by American, particularly when the appellants' own figures represented a loss that was only 1% of the amount calculated by the government. It is the probable or intended loss resulting from a crime, however, not the actual loss suffered, that a district court must determine for sentencing purposes. United States v. Hernandez, 952 F.2d 1110, 1118 (9th Cir.1991) (citing United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, § 2F1.1 (Nov.1989) (U.S.S.G.)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 334, 121 L.Ed.2d 252 (1992); United States v. Davis, 922 F.2d 1385, 1391 (9th Cir.1991). A product's fair market value ordinarily constitutes an appropriate measure of loss. Hernandez, 952 F.2d at 1118. In ascertaining a product's fair market value, [t]he loss need not be determined with precision, and may be inferred from any reasonably reliable information available. Id. (quoting U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1, comment. (n. 3)). 40 The record shows that the district court accepted and incorporated the presentence investigative reports' (PSI) loss calculation exceeding $1.3 million in its findings on this point, and then discounted that figure to one falling between $500,000 and $1,000,000 to reflect the fact that the appellants did not profit from every ticket obtained. The district court's loss calculation was adequate under the circumstances. See generally United States v. Avila, 905 F.2d 295, 298-99 (9th Cir.1990) (district court's incorporation of PSI findings sufficient for purposes of review where adequately supported by record).