Opinion ID: 202099
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Incorporation of a Referenced Guideline

Text: Section 2S1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines, which applies to money laundering, directs the sentencing court to take as the base offense level for purposes of § 2S1.1 the full calculated offense level that applies to the offense which produced the laundered funds. See § 2S1.1(a) (Base Offense Level for money laundering is [t]he offense level for the underlying offense from which the laundered funds were derived). Here, this instruction meant that, before considering what money-laundering-related adjustments to apply to Cruzado's sentence, the court first had to calculate the sentence as it would have applied to the extortion counts standing alone, making reference to § 2C1.1. It was only then required to return to § 2S1.1 (and specifically to § 2S1.1(b)) to determine if further adjustments were necessary under that provision. In this case, having calculated the final offense level for the extortion offenses under § 2C1.1 and applied it as the base offense level for money laundering under § 2S1.1, the district court went on to find that a further two-level enhancement was warranted under § 2S1.1(b)(2)(B), because Cruzado was convicted of money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956. Cruzado contends that, having once turned from § 2S1.1 to § 2C1.1 under the direction of § 2S1.1(a), the district court -9- should not have turned back to a consideration of the special offense characteristics under § 2S1.1(b), but this is flatly incorrect. As is generally the case among the offense guidelines specified in Chapter Two of the Guidelines Manual, § 2S1.1 contemplates that the adjustments for special offense characteristics specified in its part (b) will be applied after the base offense level specified in its part (a) has been calculated, whether or not that base offense level is calculated by reference to another provision of the Guidelines.9 The district court rightly applied the special offense characteristic provisions of § 2S1.1(b) after finishing its § 2C1.1 calculations.