Opinion ID: 578658
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: District Court Determination of Dollar Figure

Text: 38 If the dollar figure associated with defendant's conduct is greater than $2,000, the defendant's base offense level is increased accordingly. U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1 (1990). The district court determined the dollar figure associated with defendant's conduct to be $8,634.53, of which $6,537.16 was attributed to his account at Norwest Bank. This figure includes the total value of the checks written on defendant's account at Norwest Bank. While some of these checks were returned NSF, $6,045.24 of the checks were covered by Brigid Randall. Defendant alleges that the amount covered by Brigid Randall should be deducted from the district court's determination of the dollar figure associated with his conduct because Norwest Bank did not lose that money. 39 We disagree. The dollar figure associated with defendant's conduct does not hinge upon actual loss. United States v. Johnson, 908 F.2d 396, 398 (8th Cir.1990) (Johnson ). In Johnson, this court determined that the defendant's offense level was to be determined by the total amount of the two bank loans, and was not decreased by the amounts the banks were able to recover by repossessing the defendant's automobile and from one of the bank's insurance companies. Id. The dollar figure associated with defendant's conduct should not turn on the fact that Brigid Randall, who worked for Norwest Bank, covered some of his checks. Rather, the focus for sentencing purposes should be on the amount of the possible loss which [the defendant] attempted to inflict on the banks. Id. See U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1, note 7 (1990). We therefore affirm the district court's determination of the dollar figure associated with defendant's conduct and used to increase his base offense level.