Opinion ID: 779290
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: 6, otherwise.

Text: 99 (b) Specific Offense Characteristics 100 . . . . 101 (2) If the base offense level is determined under subsection (a)(2), and the underlying offense is — 102 (A) punishable by death or imprisonment for a term of fifteen years or more, increase by 9 levels 103 . . . . 104 Section 2J1.6 was also amended in 1998 by Amendment 579. In particular, Application Note 3 was added, which provides: 105 3. In the case of a failure to appear for service of sentence, any term of imprisonment imposed on the failure to appear count is to be imposed consecutively to any term of imprisonment imposed for the underlying offense. See § 5G1.3(a). The guideline range for the failure to appear count is to be determined independently and the grouping rules of §§ 3D1.1-3D1.5 do not apply. 106 However, in the case of a conviction on both the underlying offense and the failure to appear, other than a case of failure to appear for service of sentence, the failure to appear is treated under § 3C1.1 (Obstructing or Impeding the Administration of Justice) as an obstruction of the underlying offense, and the failure to appear count and the count or counts for the underlying offense are grouped together under § 3D1.2(c). (Note that 18 U.S.C. § 3146(b)(2) does not require a sentence of imprisonment on a failure to appear count, although if a sentence of imprisonment on the failure to appear count is imposed, the statute requires that the sentence be imposed to run consecutively to any other sentence of imprisonment. Therefore, unlike a count in which the statute mandates both a minimum and a consecutive sentence of imprisonment, the grouping rules of §§ 3D1.1-3D1.5 apply. See § 3D1.1(b), comment. (n.1), and § 3D1.2, comment. (n.1).) The combined sentence will then be constructed to provide a total punishment that satisfies the requirements both of § 5G1.2 (Sentencing on Multiple Counts of Conviction) and 18 U.S.C. § 3146(b)(2). For example, if the combined applicable guideline range for both counts is 30-37 months and the court determines that a total punishment of 36 months is appropriate, a sentence of 30 months for the underlying offense plus a consecutive six months' sentence for the failure to appear count would satisfy these requirements. (Note that the combination of this instruction and increasing the offense level for the obstructive, failure to appear conduct has the effect of ensuring an incremental, consecutive punishment for the failure to appear count, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 3146(b)(2).) 107 (emphasis added). 108 The third relevant guideline provision is U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2, which states that all counts involving substantially the same harm shall be grouped together in a single group. Section 3D1.2(c) defines substantially the same harm to include when one of the counts embodies conduct that is treated as a specific offense characteristic in, or other adjustment to, the guideline applicable to another of the counts. Clearly, this is true with a failure to appear and the underlying offense, as the failure to appear is a specific offense characteristic of the drug offense. 109 As to case law on the issue of grouping, we first note that prior panels of this court have found that grouping a failure to appear with the underlying offense is proper. As one panel stated, prior to the 1998 amendments: 110 The probation office outlined the proper method for determining a defendant's sentence when he is both convicted of failure to appear and found to have obstructed justice by failing to appear during the prosecution of the underlying offense. Under this method, both counts are grouped together under U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2. See United States v. Beckner, 983 F.2d 1380, 1384 (6th Cir. 1993) (if an obstruction [of justice] offense has been used to adjust the sentence for a related offense, then in sentencing for the obstruction offense the court is required to group that offense with the related offense even when the two were separately charged and separately tried and are being separately sentenced.) The enhanced offense level for the underlying offense is compared to the offense level under § 2J1.6... and the higher offense level only is used to impose a single sentence. 111 United States v. Flores, No. 93-3771, 1994 WL 163766 (6th Cir. May 2, 1994) (unpublished). See also United States v. Stokes, No. 96-6440, 1998 WL 13409 (6th Cir. Jan. 7, 1998) (per curiam) (unpublished) (noting that under commentary to § 2J1.6 precludes grouping a failure to appear count on a failure to appear for service of sentence, as opposed to a failure to appear for sentencing). 112 We further note that the grouping issue is the subject of a circuit split, which this circuit has not clearly addressed in a published opinion. Several of our sister circuits have similarly concluded that grouping the failure to appear offense with the underlying offense for sentencing is appropriate based on the guidelines and the commentary. See United States v. Gigley, 213 F.3d 503 (10th Cir.2000); United States v. Kirkham, 195 F.3d 126, 130-32 (2d Cir.1999); United States v. Jernigan, 60 F.3d 562, 564 (9th Cir.1995); United States v. Pardo, 25 F.3d 1187, 1193-94 (3d Cir.1994); United States v. Agoro, 996 F.2d 1288, 1291 (1st Cir.1993); United States v. Lechuga, 975 F.2d 397, 401 (7th Cir.1992). See also United States v. Magluta, 203 F.3d 1304, 1305 (11th Cir.2000) (remanding the case to the district court for it to apply § 2J1.6 as amended in 1998), vacating in part 198 F.3d 1265 (11th Cir.1999). 113 The Eighth and Fifth Circuits, on the other hand, have found that the sentencing guidelines in conflict with the statutory language of § 3146(b)(2) regarding the imposition of a consecutive sentence and have therefore refused to group the failure to appear offense with the underlying offense for sentencing. United States v. Crow Dog, 149 F.3d 847, 849 (8th Cir.1998); United States v. Packer, 70 F.3d 357, 360 (5th Cir.1995). These circuits rely on the Supreme Court holding that a guideline or guideline commentary is not authoritative if it violates a federal statute. See Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36, 38, 113 S.Ct. 1913, 123 L.Ed.2d 598 (1993). 114 We believe that the majority of the circuits have the better view — the sentencing guidelines, U.S.S.G. §§ 3D.1, 2J1.6, and 3D1.2, clearly call for grouping a failure to appear with the underlying offense and do not violate the consecutive sentence requirement under 18 U.S.C. § 3146(b)(2). As the district court explained: 115 The statute governing failure to appear simply states that if a term of imprisonment is imposed for failure to appear, it must run consecutive to the underlying offense. See 18 U.S.C. § 3146(b)(2). The creative approach taken by the Sentencing Guidelines, which enhances the underlying offense [for obstruction of justice] and then designates a portion of the total punishment as the consecutive sentence for the failure to appear offense, does not offend the plain language of the statute. The court still technically issues a separate, consecutive sentence for the failure to appear offense. In fact, Amendment 579, added in 1998, attempted to clarify the guidelines regarding grouping of the failure to appear offense.... 116 Additionally, we note that grouping does not amount to double counting. Although in calculating the base offense level for the drug offense, two points were added for obstruction of justice based on the failure to appear, the failure to appear conviction was separately calculated. Because under the grouping rules the highest offense level is used, the offense level for the failure to appear conviction, which in this case was 15, was not used in determining Green's ultimate sentencing range. Rather, only the offense level for the drug conviction, which takes into consideration the failure to appear by imposing the two-point enhancement, was used. See Offense Level Computations, attached as Appendix A. Overall, Green's sentencing range was correctly calculated under the guidelines.