Opinion ID: 2754485
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Intended Loss Enhancement

Text: Montgomery argues that the district court erred by finding that he intended to obtain more than $2.5 million from his scheme to defraud and thus assessing 18 levels under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1)(J). We review a district court’s loss calculation under the Sentencing Guidelines for clear error. United States v. Mickens, 453 F.3d 668, 670 (6th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). The Guidelines define loss as “the greater of actual loss or intended loss.” U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 app. n.3(A). Intended loss has long been defined as “the loss the defendant subjectively intended to inflict on the victim, e.g., the amount the defendant intended not to repay.” United States v. Moored, 38 F.3d 1419, 1427 (6th Cir. 1994). Intended loss also includes “pecuniary harm that would have been impossible or unlikely to occur (e.g., as in a government sting operation, or an insurance fraud in which the claim exceeded the insured value).” U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 app. n.3(A)(ii). Montgomery first contends that his sentence is procedurally unreasonable because the district court’s intended-loss finding “merely adopted” the findings of the PSR. See, e.g., United States v. Ross, 502 F.3d 521, 531 (6th Cir. 2007) (stating that when a defendant disputes PSR findings, the sentencing court may not summarily adopt the PSR’s factual findings or simply declare the facts supported by a preponderance of the evidence). Montgomery’s assertion, however, is not supported by the record, which demonstrates that the district court explicitly relied on the trial evidence in its intended loss finding: THE COURT: Okay. The defendant submitted a Request for Reconsideration of his denial of $861,000.05 — $861,512. That was proven outright at trial by the United States, along with a claim of demand for $2,584,536 that you allege was three times your earlier claim. . . . The probation officer’s report is based upon facts and evidence at trial that I recall. - 11 - Case No. 13-2596 United States v. Montgomery (Sentencing Hr’g Tr. at 10) (emphasis added). Thus, there is no error because the district court did not merely rely on the PSR — it instead expressly recalled trial evidence in finding that Montgomery had demanded $2,584,536.00. Additionally, the district court was well aware that when Montgomery’s last claim was denied, he subsequently filed a civil suit against the Coast Guard in which he again claimed $2,584,536.00 based on the Coast Guard’s denial of his NPFC claim. This lawsuit alone provides sufficient basis for the loss finding, and certainly supports the district court’s finding that Montgomery intended losses of that amount. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(2) (requiring “all acts and omissions” that are “part of the same course of conduct or common scheme or plan” to be included in Guidelines calculations).