Opinion ID: 670609
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: failure to group count one with counts two through four

Text: 13 Under Sec. 3D1.2(d), the district court must group all offenses that are covered by Sec. 2F1.1. 3 The district court calculated defendant's sentence for the offenses charged in Counts One through Three under Sec. 2F1.1, which applies to crimes involving fraud and specifically to violations of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1028. Accordingly, Sec. 3D1.2(d) required the district court to group Count One with Counts Two and Three. 4 14 The government responds that Sec. 3D1.2(d) is inapplicable since this is not a case in which 'the offense level is determined largely on the basis of the total amount of harm or loss, the quantity of a substance involved, or some other measure of aggregate harm.'  Appellee's Brief at 32 (quoting Sec. 3D1.2(d)). This argument is contrary to the clear language of Sec. 3D1.2(d) in two respects. 15 First, the language cited by the government comes from the first clause of Sec. 3D1.2(d) which states a general principle. The remainder of the subsection implements this principle by listing the particular guidelines that cover the offenses that are to be grouped, and by providing that offenses covered by unlisted guidelines are to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. If the offenses at issue are covered by one of the listed guidelines we do not analyze the facts of the particular case. Here, the offenses in Counts One through Three are covered by Sec. 2F1.1; Congress has determined that such offenses are categorically groupable under Sec. 3D1.2(d). 16 Second, even under the case-by-case approach Sec. 3D1.2(d) mandates that the counts be grouped. The government omits an important sentence from the first clause of Sec. 3D1.2(d), which provides in full: 17 When the offense level is determined largely on the basis of the total amount of harm or loss, the quantity of a substance involved, or some other measure of aggregate harm, or if the offense behavior is ongoing or continuous in nature and the offense guideline is written to cover such behavior. 18 U.S.S.G. Sec. 3D1.2(d) (emphasis added). This last sentence indicates that Sec. 3D1.2(d) requires grouping when (1) the offense behavior is continuous in nature and (2) the offense guideline is written to cover such behavior. Because Buenrostro-Torres's offense behavior involved forging identification documents over a period of time, it was continuous. And the applicable version of Sec. 2F1.1 was clearly written to cover his offense behavior, as indicated by the commentary notes which not only referenced 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1028, but also referenced the enhanced penalties of Sec. 1028 for possession of document production equipment or more than five false documents. 5 Accordingly, the district court should have grouped all of the counts together. 19 REVERSED AND REMANDED.