Opinion ID: 2775174
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: collective gains

Text: Whether “gross gains” under § 3571 means gross gains to the individual defendant or to the conspiracy as a whole is an issue of statutory interpretation that we review de novo. United States v. Marbella, 73 F.3d 1508, 1515 (9th Cir. 1996). The district court instructed the jury as follows: In determining the gross gain from the conspiracy, [the jury] should total the gross gains to the defendants and the other participants in the conspiracy from affected sales of (1) TFT-LCD panels that were manufactured abroad and sold in the United States or for delivery to the United States; or (2) TFT-LCD panels incorporated into finished products such as notebook computers 46 UNITED STATES V. HSIUNG and desktop computer monitors that were sold in the United States or for delivery to the United States. Gross gain is the additional revenue to the conspirators from the conspiracy. This instruction was proper because the statute unambiguously permits a “gross gains” calculation based on the gain attributable to the entire conspiracy. The statute does not require that the gain derive from the defendant’s “own individual conduct,” as AUO reads it. Indeed, AUO’s interpretation reads additional provisions into the statute. AUO relies on United States v. Pfaff, 619 F.3d 172, 175 (2d Cir. 2010) (per curiam), which held that the jury must find the gain or loss amount to impose a fine beyond the limits set by § 3571. Id. Pfaff is not instructive because it was not a conspiracy case; it did not address whether gross gains could include gains to all coconspirators. Id. at 173. Nor has AUO pointed to any case that supports its suggested interpretation, which is contrary to the plain text of the statute.11 AUO’s offense is the conspiracy to fix prices for TFTLCDs. The jury found $500 million in gross gains from that offense. The unambiguous language of the statute permitted the district court to impose the $500 million fine based on the gross gains to all the coconspirators. 11 AUO also points to the legislative history, a comment from the Sentencing Guidelines, and the rule of lenity. Because the text of the statute is unambiguous, we stop with the text and do not refer to extrinsic sources to divine its meaning. See O’Donnell, 608 F.3d at 555. UNITED STATES V. HSIUNG 47