Opinion ID: 779372
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Hobbs Act Object Offenses

Text: 34 The district court does not appear to have considered whether the acts of extortion alleged in connection with the Hobbs Act conspiracy were relevant conduct for the purpose of determining Tocco's Count 1 RICO conspiracy base offense level. Instead, the court only addressed the acts of extortion in connection with determining Tocco's Count 6 Hobbs Act conspiracy offense level. We conclude that the district court erred by failing to address whether each act of extortion was relevant conduct for the purpose of calculating Tocco's Count 1 RICO conspiracy base offense level. 35 The government contends that nine acts of extortion—and various specific offense characteristics—should be included as relevant conduct for the purpose of calculating Tocco's Count 1 RICO base offense level. In its resentencing memorandum, the district court did not address the acts of extortion at all in its discussion of the relevant conduct for the Count 1 RICO base offense level. Having concluded that the Count 1 RICO conspiracy and the Hobbs Act conspiracy were independent of one another, the court perhaps believed it unnecessary to explain why each act of extortion was also independent of the Count 1 RICO conspiracy. However, inasmuch as we conclude above that the Hobbs Act conspiracy and the Count 1 RICO conspiracy are not independent, it is necessary for the district court to address whether each act of extortion is relevant conduct for the purpose of calculating Tocco's Count 1 RICO conspiracy base offense level. 36 We instruct the district court on remand to evaluate each of the nine acts of extortion that the government alleges constitute relevant conduct for Tocco's Count 1 RICO conspiracy base offense level pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3. We note that in accordance with our discussion, infra, the district court must find that Tocco is accountable for at least one of the alleged acts of extortion. For that extortion act and any other extortion act the court finds Tocco accountable for, then, the court must also determine whether Tocco is accountable for any specific offense characteristics pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3.