Opinion ID: 151938
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Gerhard's Challenges to the District Court's Guidelines Calculations as to Counts 2 and 3 Are, at Most, Harmless Error

Text: Gerhard raises four additional objections to the district court's guidelines calculations as to Counts 2 and 3. We bypass the merits of these arguments because neither of these counts had any impact on Gerhard's guidelines range. See United States v. Rivera, 448 F.3d 82, 86 n. 1 (1st Cir.2006); United States v. Caldwell, 358 F.3d 138, 143 (1st Cir.2004). The district court grouped Counts 1, 2B, and 3 together. The total offense level for that group, 25, was derived entirely from Count 1, the most serious offense. See U.S.S.G. § 3D1.3(a). Count 2A was grouped separately and assigned a total offense level of 10. Because Count 2A's offense level was more than nine levels less serious than the group with the highest offense level, the district court disregarded it when calculating Gerhard's guidelines range. See U.S.S.G. § 3D1.4(c). In short, only Counts 1 and 4 impacted Gerhard's guidelines range. [17] Any guidelines error as to Counts 2 and 3 was harmless. E.g., Rivera, 448 F.3d at 86 n. 1.