Opinion ID: 1422861
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Any mistake in the calculation of loss militates in Erpenbeck's favor

Text: We also note that Judge Beckwith underestimated the amount of loss under the Guidelines methodology. The district court reduced the amount of actual loss caused by Erpenbeck by giving him credit for money paid to construction lenders out of the Mitchell settlement, but the Guidelines do not provide for a reduction in actual loss caused by a defendant based on the contribution of a third party. Application Note 2(E)(ii) to U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1) provides that [i]n a case involving collateral pledged or otherwise provided by the defendant, [the amount of loss shall be reduced by] the amount the victim has recovered at the time of sentencing from disposition of the collateral, or if the collateral has not been disposed of by that time, the fair market value of the collateral at the time of sentencing. This language authorizes only collateral to be used to reduce loss, and the money that the construction lenders received as part of the Mitchell settlement was not from collateral provided by Erpenbeck. See United States v. Castellano, 349 F.3d 483, 484 (7th Cir.2003) (holding that a third-party source of recovery cannot be used to reduce the amount of actual loss inflicted by a defendant under the Guidelines simply because this alternative source of recovery became available). Erpenbeck's loss-related arguments are therefore without merit, and he should consider himself fortunate that the district court miscalculated the amount of loss in his favor. Because any infirmity in the court's loss calculation weighs in favor of Erpenbeck, and because the government has agreed to waive its loss-related arguments if we find that Erpenbeck's arguments are without merit, we will not disturb the district court's calculation of actual loss. See United States v. Gray, 521 F.3d 514, 543 (6th Cir.2008) (affirming a district court's calculation of loss under the Guidelines, even in the face of an error, because there [was] strong evidence that the loss caused by the defendant was actually greater than the loss calculated by the district court, so that any error militated in favor of the defendant).