Opinion ID: 670485
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Telex J. LeBlanc

Text: 4 LeBlanc and two other individuals, Stephen Dickhaut and William Byrne, operated an illegal gambling business during the years 1986 through 1990. Essentially, LeBlanc was convicted of money laundering based upon his acceptance and negotiation of checks from gamblers who bet on various sporting events through the bookmaking business. LeBlanc was an agent for his two codefendants who owned the business, and LeBlanc had his own customers for whom he received commissions. 5 The gamblers' checks were usually made payable to fictitious payees and were in amounts less than $10,000. For instance, one gambler settled a gambling debt with LeBlanc and his codefendants by giving them four cashier's checks from the First National Bank of Boston, all dated November 26, 1990, and each in the amount of $8750. These cashier's checks were payable to a fictitious payee, J. Johnson. LeBlanc personally negotiated one of these cashier's checks at Baybank Boston on November 27, 1990. 6 On November 12, 1992, a federal grand jury returned a seventeen-count indictment against LeBlanc. Count One charged that between 1986 and 1990, LeBlanc and two other individuals conspired to violate money laundering and currency transaction laws in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 371. Counts Two through Four, and Counts Eight through Sixteen, charged LeBlanc and his codefendants with various substantive money laundering crimes including violations of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1956 and 1957, as well as 31 U.S.C. Sec. 5324. 7 On January 25, 1993, LeBlanc pled guilty to Counts One, Two, Nine, Eleven, Twelve, Fifteen and Sixteen of the indictment. LeBlanc's guilty pleas were entered pursuant to a plea agreement with the Government, in which LeBlanc agreed that he had in fact violated the money laundering statutes specified in the indictment. 8 The Probation Department then issued its PSR, which indicated that, based upon sentencing grouping rules, LeBlanc should be sentenced for money laundering, based upon his guilty plea to 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and (ii). 1 Therefore, the offense level, as set forth in U.S.S.G. Sec. 2S1.1, should have been 23. 2 The Government suggested that after a three level decrease in offense level for acceptance of responsibility and a three point decrease in offense level for LeBlanc's mitigating role, the final total offense level should be 17 with a guideline range of 24-30 months' incarceration. 9 On June 25, 1993, the district court held a final disposition hearing. At this hearing, the court found that the conduct attributable to LeBlanc was essentially that of a bookmaker, who took sporting bets from bettors. His status as a money launderer arose solely by virtue of the fact that bets were placed with him by check, and these checks were subsequently either negotiated by him or turned over to Dickhaut and Byrne to be negotiated by them. The court stated that LeBlanc's case involved behavior that fell outside of the heartland of a typical money laundering offense and, therefore, warranted a downward departure from the otherwise applicable Guideline range. The court then ruled that the Guideline section established for operating an illegal gambling business was more appropriate, and proceeded to sentence LeBlanc to 12 months' incarceration pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 2E3.1, which sets forth an offense level of 12 and a corresponding Guideline range of 10 to 16 month's incarceration for an individual with a Criminal History Category of I.