Opinion ID: 2972914
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Sentence under Booker

Text: In accordance with the Sentencing Guidelines, the district court sentenced Jamieson to 240 months of incarceration. In addition to receiving a prison sentence, Jamieson was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $92,120,491. The defendant now appeals both his sentence of incarceration and the order of restitution. Regarding the length of incarceration, Jamieson alleges that the trial court improperly applied several enhancements under the Sentencing Guidelines. Jamieson’s base offense level was increased by 18 points due to the court’s finding that he caused a loss of approximately $92 million. The trial court further increased his base offense level by two points due to the high number of victims, four points because the victims were especially vulnerable, four points because Jamieson played a leadership roll in the conspiracy, and two points for obstruction of justice. Jamieson now appeals all the enhancements. Over a year after Jamieson was sentenced, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005), which held that sentence enhancements based on “judge- found facts” were unconstitutional. The opinion also rendered the Sentencing Guidelines advisory rather than mandatory. In light of Booker, we conclude that Jamieson was sentenced in violation of the Sixth Amendment and vacate his sentence, remanding his case to the district court for resentencing in a manner consistent with Booker. As the Booker court explained, however, the district court must take the recommended guidelines into account when re-sentencing Jamieson. See United States v. Hazelwood, 398 F.3d 792, 800-01 (6th Cir. 2005). Thus, it is proper for us to take this opportunity briefly to address the interpretation of the guidelines as applicable to the issues raised by the defendant. See United States v. Barnett, 398 F.3d 516, 529 (6th Cir. 2005). The district court applied an 18-level increase to Jamieson’s base offense level as a result of the amount of loss caused by Jamieson’s crime pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1(b)(1)(S).9 The presentence report found that Jamieson caused approximately $92,120,491.00 worth of loss through his conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The defendant argues that the government never made a calculation of “losses” and, thus, that there is insufficient evidence to support the district court’s finding. The government’s witness admitted that he had never calculated actual losses, but explained that he calculated all payments Liberte Capital made, other than to investors, which came from investor funds. Jamieson asserts that this amount is not the equivalent of losses because the government’s calculations did not include an account of the funds that were eventually returned to investors. 9 U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1 has since been removed from the Guidelines, but Jamieson’s sentence is based on the November 1, 1998 version of the Guidelines. (JA 5781) Nos. 02-3403; 03-4578 United States v. Jamieson Page 17 The funds returned to investors, however, are relevant for a calculation of actual losses, not intended losses. U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1 applies to loss that is either actual or intended. See United States v. Wade, 266 F.3d 574, 586 (6th Cir. 2001). Thus, the fact that the government’s calculations do not represent a formal loss calculation does not preclude the district court’s finding of $92 million in intended loss. Jamieson also argues that, in his forfeiture hearing, the jury rendered a special verdict finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that only $28 million was traceable to Jamieson’s money laundering crimes. The forfeiture hearing, however, related only to the money-laundering charges, and not the charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Thus, while the district court may choose to take the forfeiture verdict into account as evidence of loss from the conspiracy charge, it is not required to do so. Jamieson next challenges the district court’s applications of enhancements for the number of victims involved, the vulnerable nature of the victims, and the defendant’s leadership role in the conspiracy. Jamieson’s objections to each of these enhancements, however, rest on the district court’s findings of fact, not the court’s interpretation of the guidelines or other issues of law. Thus, the proper course for us to follow regarding these enhancements is to “allow the parties to argue for the exercise of the district court’s discretion as authorized by Booker.” United States v. Hines, 398 F.3d 713, 722 (6th Cir. 2005). Jamieson raises an issue of law with his challenge to the district court’s two-point enhancement for obstruction of justice pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1. He alleges that the district court improperly based the enhancement on conduct that is outside the temporal scope of § 3C1.1. The district court applied the § 3C1.1 enhancement after crediting the government’s evidence that Jamieson shredded all the insurance policies in Liberte Capital’s files after he learned that another viatical broker was being investigated. As Jamieson argues, the enhancement should not be applied unless the obstructive behavior occurred either during or shortly preceding the investigation. An enhancement is warranted under § 3C1.1 when the defendant willfully obstructs “the administration of justice during the course of the investigation, prosecution, or sentencing of the instant offense of conviction.” U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 (emphasis added). The Application Notes for § 3C1.1, which give guidance on how to apply the enhancement, give as an example of obstructing justice, “shredding a document or destroying ledgers upon learning that an official investigation has commenced or is about to commence.” Application Note 4(d) (emphasis added). Jamieson’s destruction of the documents in this case occurred sometime in 1998 or early 1999, but the government’s evidence does not establish a firm date. A federal agent informed Jamieson that he was under investigation in May of 1999. Based on the language of the guidelines, it is not enough for the district court to find that Jamieson destroyed the documents in anticipation of a possible future investigation; Jamieson must have known about his imminent investigation. The government’s evidence does not establish a date of the destruction with any specificity, and the government does not allege that Jamieson knew about the investigation into Liberte Capital until May 1999 or that the investigation was ongoing at the time the documents were destroyed. Because the evidence does not indicate that Jamieson knew about his imminent investigation when he destroyed the documents, the destruction cannot be considered an obstruction of justice for the purposes of § 3C1.1. Finally, Jamieson argues that the district court erred in ordering him to pay restitution in the amount of $92,120,491.00 pursuant to the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3663A. Jamieson’s crime of conspiracy to commit mail fraud falls under the Act, and thus the district court is required to order restitution. The “loss caused by the conduct underlying the offense of conviction establishes the outer limits of a restitution order.” Hughey v. United States, 495 U.S. 411, 420 (1990). Section 3663A(a)(2) specifically provides that Jamieson can only be ordered to pay restitution to victims “directly harmed by [his] criminal conduct in the course of the . . . conspiracy.” Nos. 02-3403; 03-4578 United States v. Jamieson Page 18 In addition to arguing that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of $92 million in losses, Jamieson alleges that the amount is not properly tied to Jamieson’s actions in furtherance of the conspiracy. This claim is without merit because, as discussed above, the government presented evidence indicating that Jamieson was associated with every aspect of the conspiracy and that substantially all of the investors were subjected to Jamieson’s fraudulent misrepresentations. Because the Sixth Circuit has recently concluded “that Booker does not apply to restitution,” this portion of Jamieson’s sentence is affirmed. United States v. Sosebee, 419 F.3d 451, 461 (6th Cir. 2005).