Opinion ID: 670485
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Richard E. Weinstein

Text: 10 Weinstein operated an illegal gambling business from 1986 to 1991. In January 1988, Weinstein began accepting large sports bets from a gambler named Elliot Mael. In order to gamble through Weinstein, Mael would call Weinstein's beeper and leave a code number representing Mael. Weinstein would then call Mael and accept his wagers. Mael would settle with Weinstein on a weekly basis, and usually exchanged cash. 11 In October 1988, Mael owed Weinstein approximately $200,000 in gambling debts. To satisfy part of this debt, Mael paid Weinstein $75,000 in cashier's checks. Pursuant to Weinstein's instructions, Mael made nine cashier's checks payable to Brockton Financial Services rather than to Weinstein. The nine cashier's checks were issued by the Bank of New England, and were all dated October 14, 1988. Weinstein then gave these cashier's checks to another bookmaker, James Katz, who cashed them at Brockton Financial Services. The checks were structured so as to avoid currency reporting requirements applicable to cash transactions exceeding $10,000--eight checks were for $9,000 and one check was for $3,000. 12 On November 12, 1992, a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment against Weinstein. Count One charged that between 1986 and 1991, Weinstein and others conspired to violate money laundering and currency transaction laws in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 371. Counts Two, Three and Four charged Weinstein with various substantive money laundering crimes, including violations of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1956 and 1957, as well as 31 U.S.C. Sec. 5324. On March 4, 1993, Weinstein pled guilty to Counts One through Four of the indictment. Weinstein's guilty pleas were entered pursuant to a plea agreement with the Government in which Weinstein agreed that he had in fact violated the money laundering statutes specified in the indictment. 13 The Probation Department then issued its PSR, which indicated that, based upon sentencing grouping rules, Weinstein should be sentenced for money laundering, based upon his guilty plea to 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and (ii). 3 Therefore, the base offense level, as set forth in U.S.S.G. Sec. 2S1.1(a)(2), should have been 20. The Government suggested that after a three level reduction for acceptance of responsibility, as well as an additional two level reduction for his mitigating role in the overall conspiracy, the applicable offense level was 15, corresponding to a sentencing range of 21-27 months. 14 On August 5, 1993, the district court sentenced Weinstein. The court departed from the applicable money laundering Guideline range because the court found that Weinstein's behavior essentially constituted bookmaking, and therefore fell outside of the heartland of a typical money laundering offense. The court instead adopted a reduced sentencing range based on Sec. 2E3.1, which is applicable for operating an illegal gambling business, and which sets forth an offense level of 12 and a corresponding Guideline range of 12 to 18 months' incarceration for an individual with a Criminal History Category of II. The court then sentenced Weinstein to 12 months' incarceration.