Opinion ID: 9003
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: government's cross-appeal--sentencing

Text: 25 All three defendants were sentenced according to an adjusted offense level of 18 and a criminal history category of I, which specifies an applicable guideline range of 27 to 33 months. Defendant Moeller was sentenced to 27 months, the minimum within the applicable range, and was fined $56,000. Defendant McRae likewise received the minimum sentence of 27 months and was fined $15,000. Defendant Quicksall's sentence was reduced by the district court's finding of duress pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5K2.12. Quicksall was sentenced to 12 months in prison and a fine of $8,000. 26 The district court calculated the offense level by assigning a base offense level of 8, a level falling between the two potentially applicable published guidelines, U.S.S.G. § 2C1.1 covering bribery and U.S.S.G. § 2C1.2 covering gratuities. The district court then adjusted the base offense level upward by 2 levels because the offense involved more than one transaction (U.S.S.G. § 2C1.1(b)(2)(A) or § 2C1.2(b)(2)(A)), and upward 8 levels based on the involvement in the offense of a high-level official (U.S.S.G. § 2C1.1(b)(2)(B) or § 2C1.2(b)(2)(B)). 27 Defendants Moeller and McRae moved for and were granted a stay of punishment pending appeal. Defendant Quicksall surrendered to prison authorities in December 1993, and completed his 12 month sentence in 1994. 28 On cross-appeal, the government contests the district court's application of the 1993 sentencing guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.11. Specifically, the government challenges the district court's: (1) creation of a compromise offense level between the two potentially applicable published guidelines; (2) refusal to adjust Moeller's and McRae's offense level based on their role in the offense; and (3) departure downward for Quicksall on the basis of duress.
29 At sentencing, the parties argued extensively about whether U.S.S.G. § 2C1.1 or U.S.S.G. § 2C1.2 was the guideline applicable to the conduct proven. Section 2C1.1 covers the offering, giving, soliciting or receiving of a bribe, and carries a base offense level of 10. Section 2C1.2 covers the offering, giving, soliciting or receiving of a gratuity, and carries a base offense level of 7. The statutory index to the sentencing guidelines provides that both provisions are potentially applicable to convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B). 30 After struggling with the issue at length, the district court compromised by settling upon a base offense level of 8, reasoning that the offense conduct was somewhat more culpable than a mere gratuity, but somewhat less culpable than bribery. Anticipating difficulty with its selection of a base offense level not specified in a published guideline, the district stated in the alternative that it would have departed downward in this case because (1) the defendants inherited a system of corruption that was not of their own devising; (2) the amount of money involved was, relatively speaking, not large; (3) the money collected was not intended for an unlawful purpose; and (4) the personal benefit to the individual defendants was indirect and insignificant. 31 The government contends that the district court was without authority to create a compromise base offense level. We agree. Title 18 U.S.C. § 3553 provides that the district court must impose a sentence within the range established by the Sentencing Commission for the applicable category of offense, unless the court expressly finds aggravating or mitigating factors that are not adequately taken into consideration by the guidelines. When the statutory index lists more than one potentially applicable guideline, the district court is charged with choosing from among the guidelines specified the one that is most appropriate based on the nature of the offense conduct. U.S.S.G. § 1B1.2, comment. n. 1; U.S.S.G. App. A--Statutory Index at 373; see United States v. Beard, 913 F.2d 193, 197 (5th Cir.1990). 32 While we are sympathetic to the district court's dilemma, we cannot sanction the creation of a compromise guideline provision merely because the case presents a difficult factual choice about which guideline should be applied. To do so would seriously erode the determinative nature and purpose of the sentencing guidelines. See generally, U.S.S.G. Pt. A (policy statement on basic approach of guidelines). That premise is particularly true when, as here, the offense conduct is clearly contemplated by both potentially applicable guidelines. 33 Defendants offer no authority or argument in support of the district court's creation of the compromise base offense level. Instead, the defendants argue that the resulting sentence can be justified, either because the district court settled on U.S.S.G. § 2C1.1 (level 10) and departed downward for the articulated reasons, or because the district court settled on U.S.S.G. § 2C1.2 (level 7) and departed upward for reasons not articulated. The government makes an argument premised on the alternative holding as well, asserting that the mitigating factors articulated by the district court were improper, or in the alternative, that the district court's fact findings on those issues were clearly erroneous. 34 We will not consider the district court's alternative holding. The district court's selection of an erroneous base offense level resulted in application of an erroneous guideline range. That error cannot be cured by crafting an alternative holding which posits the operation of a departure on a correctly calculated guideline range. Nor is it clear from the transcript exactly which guideline provision the district court preferred. The court's statement that it would have departed downward, and its articulation of mitigating factors support the proposition that it favored § 2C1.1, the bribery provision. On the other hand, other statements by the district court, and its selection of a base offense level closer to 7, the level provided by § 2C1.2, strongly support the view that the court was leaning more towards the gratuity guideline. Nor will we accept the government's invitation to hold that 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B) bribery convictions must be sentenced using U.S.S.G. § 2C1.1. We do not read United States v. Santopietro, 996 F.2d 17, 20-21 (2d Cir.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 921, 127 L.Ed.2d 215 (1994) or United States v. Mariano, 983 F.2d 1150, 1158-60 (1st Cir.1993) as establishing any such per se rule, and we decline to establish that rule in our own Circuit. The applicable guideline in any given case is a fact-intensive determination to be made by the district court. 35 The sentencing guidelines charge the district court with the burden of selecting the guideline provision most applicable to the offense of conviction. We decline to substitute our own more detached assessment of the extensive evidence presented by both parties for the judgment of the district court, particularly where to do so would require that we engage in conjecture about the basis of the district court's alternative holding. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (requiring that the district court articulate reasons for departing from the applicable guideline range). Remand for resentencing is appropriate. On remand, the district court must select the appropriate guideline from among the potentially applicable published guidelines. Once an applicable guideline range is established, aggravating or mitigating factors can be considered by the district court and the basis for any departure, whether upward or downward, can be articulated in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 3553. 36
37 The PSR recommended a 4 level adjustment based on defendant Moeller's leadership role and a 3 level adjustment based on defendant McRae's supervisory role in the offense. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a) & (b). The district court denied that adjustment, essentially relying upon the same factors articulated in support of the district court's assignment of a compromise base offense level: (1) that the defendants had inherited a system of corruption; (2) that the system of corruption was not of their own devising; (3) that the relatively small amount of money involved was not intended for an unlawful purpose; and (4) that the personal benefit to the defendants was indirect and insignificant. 38 We review the district court's finding concerning Moeller's and McRae's role in the offense for clear error. United States v. Buchanan, 70 F.3d 818, 829 (5th Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 1340, 134 L.Ed.2d 532 (1996). Defendant Moeller occupied a high-ranking position within TDA, and was the political candidate for much of the fundraising involved in the offense. McRae was his assistant, and worked closely with Moeller in a variety of capacities. Nonetheless, the record as a whole does not support the conclusion that Moeller and McRae either initiated the bribery scheme or participated in a more culpable manner than other co-conspirators, with the possible exception of Quicksall. The defendants' inheritance of a historically corrupt and deep-rooted system is not immaterial. The continuance of the exact same conduct after Moeller announced he would not run for office indicates that the scheme alleged was not dependent upon the managerial or leadership roles of these defendants, and depended instead largely upon the energy and creativity of Boyd and Koontz. See United States v. Gadison, 8 F.3d 186, 196 (5th Cir.1993) (listing a defendant's involvement in the planning and organization of the offense as a relevant factor in determining a defendant's role in the offense). We affirm the district court's refusal to grant an upward adjustment based on Moeller's and McRae's role in the offense.
39 Based on an adjusted offense level of 18 and a criminal history category of I (and leaving aside the error already discussed), Quicksall would have been subject to a sentence of between 27 and 33 months. The district court sentenced Quicksall to 12 months only, departing downward based on its finding that Quicksall committed the offense under duress. See § 5K2.12 (the court may decrease the sentence below the applicable guideline range if the defendant commits an offense because of serious coercion, blackmail or duress). 40 The district court considered Quicksall's age (60), his lack of an advanced education (some college), and his length of government service in concluding that Quicksall was economically and psychologically pressured by fear of career loss into following the orders he was given. This is not the type of duress contemplated by § 5K2.12 of the sentencing guidelines. The Commission considered the relevance of economic hardship and determined that personal financial difficulties and economic pressures upon a trade or business do not warrant a decrease in sentence. § 5K2.12. Nor is the departure justified by the district court's additional observations concerning Quicksall's personal characteristics. One of the primary goals of the Sentencing Guidelines is to impose a sentence based on the crime, not the offender. United States v. Vela, 927 F.2d 197, 199 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 875, 112 S.Ct. 214, 116 L.Ed.2d 172 (1991); see, e.g., U.S.S.G. § 5H1.1 (age not ordinarily relevant when determining whether sentence should be outside applicable range). The record does not support a downward departure on the basis of duress. On remand, Quicksall should be resentenced without resort to § 5K2.12. 41 There is ample support in the record, however, for the district court's additional observations that Quicksall, for a variety of reasons, was plainly among the least culpable of those involved in the conspiracy. That fact would support a 4 level downward departure on the basis that Quicksall was a minimal participant. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(a) & comment. 1; Gadison, 8 F.3d at 197. Quicksall clearly had an inadequate understanding of the contracts-for-politics scheme, as compared to his superiors at TDA and TFIS and political consultants Boyd and Koontz. As recognized by the district court, Quicksall's inability to grasp the finer points of the conspiracy was probably the reason he was selected for the role he played. A defendant's lack of understanding or knowledge about the scope and structure of the criminal enterprise is indicative of a minor or minimal role in the offense. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 comment. 1; United States v. LaValley, 999 F.2d 663, 665 (2d Cir.1993). Quicksall filed timely objections to the PSR's failure to adjust the base offense level on the basis that he played a minimal role in the offense. 42 Quicksall must be resentenced without any departure for duress. Quicksall may, however, be entitled to either an adjustment of his offense level, or a departure from the applicable guideline range for other reasons, once the correct base offense level is determined. The district court is encouraged to reconsider the applicability of U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 and U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, and to make express findings of fact on those issues when resentencing Quicksall.