Opinion ID: 4421126
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Enhancement For Sophisticated Means

Text: The district court enhanced Exavier’s sentence two levels under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(10)(C) because defendant used sophisticated means in perpetrating the fraudulent scheme. “A district court’s finding that sophisticated means were used is a finding of fact reviewed for clear error.” United States v. Barrington, 648 F.3d 1178, 1199 (11th Cir. 2011). The Guidelines provide for a two-level enhancement if the offense involved “sophisticated means and the defendant intentionally engaged in or caused the conduct constituting sophisticated means.” U.S.S.G. § 2Bl.1(b)(10)(C). 35 Case: 16-17006 Date Filed: 07/30/2019 Page: 36 of 40 “Sophisticated means” refers to “especially complex or especially intricate offense conduct pertaining to the execution or concealment of an offense,” and ordinarily includes “[c]onduct such as hiding assets or transactions, or both, through the use of fictitious entities, corporate shells, or offshore financial accounts.” Id., § 2B1.1 cmt. n.9(B). For the enhancement to apply, each of defendant’s individual actions need not be sophisticated. See Barrington, 648 F.3d at 1199; United States v. Ghertler, 605 F.3d 1256, 1267 (11th Cir. 2010). Instead, “the proper focus is on the offense conduct as a whole.” United States v. Bane, 720 F.3d 818, 826 (11th Cir. 2013); see Ghertler, 605 F.3d at 1267. The enhancement is proper where the fraudulent scheme “involve[s] repetitive and coordinated activities by numerous individuals who used sophisticated technology to perpetrate and attempt to conceal the scheme.” Barrington, 648 F.3d at 1199. Exavier argues that the district court erred in applying the enhancement for sophisticated means because he did not personally fill out any tax returns or otherwise perform any sophisticated acts. Even if we assume that Exavier did not engage in acts that by themselves were sophisticated, because he intentionally engaged in and facilitated an overall scheme that was sophisticated, the district court did not err in applying the enhancement. See U.S.S.G. § 2Bl.l(b)(10)(C) (enhancement applies if offense involved “sophisticated means and the defendant intentionally engaged in or caused the conduct constituting sophisticated means”). 36 Case: 16-17006 Date Filed: 07/30/2019 Page: 37 of 40 Exavier created multiple companies to implement the scheme and the EFINs of these companies were used on hundreds of fraudulent tax returns. The scheme involved the collection of the personal identifying information, including social security numbers, of hundreds of deceased individuals. Exavier was the contact with SBTPG, an unwitting participant in helping direct refund checks of deceased individuals to his company accounts. In addition to his tax preparation businesses, Exavier operated a check cashing business which enabled him to cash refund checks payable to deceased individuals. The success of the scheme required the repeated coordination of multiple companies and individuals. Based on the trial record, the district court did not clearly err in applying the sophisticated means enhancement. See Bane, 720 F.3d at 826 (enhancement warranted because offense involved multiple corporations, an “intricate daily paper trail to mask the fraud,” “repetitive coordinated conduct,” and steps to conceal offense).