Opinion ID: 631
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: At the sentencing hearing, the government bore the burden of proving the loss amount by a preponderance of the evidence. The government presented testimony of Special Agent Mitch Grueninger, the OLMS case agent who interviewed Decker. Grueninger testified that he confronted Decker with evidence of unauthorized use of the Union credit card during a two- to three-hour meeting, and that Decker admitted incurring 227 unauthorized charges for personal use, but specifically challenged two other charges. Sent’g Tr. at 6-9. Grueninger also testified that Decker had no documentation to support the suspect charges. Id. at 10. Decker admitted in his testimony that he signed a written statement, under penalty of perjury, acknowledging that the 227 charges were both unauthorized and for personal use. Id. at 49. He confirmed that he contested only two of the 229 suspect charges, id. at 53, and testified that he admitted to OLMS agents that he destroyed receipts for personal purchases to conceal his embezzlement. Id. at 57. This evidence was sufficient to satisfy the government’s burden.