Opinion ID: 2793624
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: In General.—In a case in which

Text: undelivered United States mail was taken, or the taking of such item was an object of the offense, or in a case in which the stolen property received, transported, transferred, transmitted, or possessed was undelivered United States mail, “victim” means (I) any victim as defined in Application Note 1; or (II) any person who was the intended recipient, or addressee, of the undelivered United States mail. .... (iii) Definition.—“Undelivered United States mail” means mail that has not actually been received by the addressee or the addressee’s agent (e.g., mail taken from the addressee’s mail box). U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n.4(C). Pursuant to the definition set out in Application Note 4(C), the PSR concluded Gonzalez Becerra’s offense level should be increased by four levels because his offense involved the undelivered mail of slightly less than 250 individuals. Id. § 2B1.1(b)(2)(B). 8 UNITED STATES V. GONZALEZ BECERRA In his sentencing memorandum, Gonzalez Becerra mounted a narrow, fact-based challenge to the applicability of § 2B1.1(b)(2)(B). Gonzalez Becerra recognized the commentary to § 2B1.1(b)(2)(B) set out two relevant definitions of the term “victim” and asserted neither definition applied. He asserted the definition set out in Application Note 1 did not apply because both parties agreed his criminal conduct did not give rise to any actual loss. He asserted the definition set out in Application Note 4(C) did not apply because it has never been established that the mail items in question were in fact items that were undelivered. It is quite plausible that much if not all of the mail in question could have been removed from the trash—after the mail had been delivered to its intended recipient— which would also render this enhancement inapplicable. Given the failure of proof on this issue, this enhancement should not be applied. The entirely fact-based nature of Gonzalez Becerra’s challenge to the applicability of the definition of “victim” set out in Application Note 4(C) is confirmed by the transcript of the sentencing hearing. The district court began the hearing by setting out the limited parameters of Gonzalez Becerra’s challenge: “The defense also challenges the conclusion of the probation officer and the government that there were more than 50 victims of the offense. He admits that victim in this context includes any person who was the intended recipient or addressee of the undelivered mail.” The district court then rejected Gonzalez Becerra’s fact-based challenge to the applicability of Application Note 4(C), finding as follows: UNITED STATES V. GONZALEZ BECERRA 9 He admitted in the plea agreement that he possessed mail that he knew had been stolen from the U.S. mail or a mail receptacle. He also admitted the mail included blank checks, bills, credit cards, and multiple personal checks made out to persons or entities. The authorities found undelivered mail belonging to nearly 250 people. The items included 43 credit cards. One could argue that people sometimes receive credit cards they don’t actually want and are uninformed enough about identity theft to just throw them away. However, a number of victims made statements establishing that the items at issue had been stolen, not that they had thrown them away. In any event, there were also 140 personal checks in the names of 32 individual account holders and blank checks in the names of 15 individual account holders. People do not throw such things away. The district court offered the parties a chance to make any “legal objections” before formal imposition of sentence. Gonzalez Becerra’s counsel indicated he had none.