Opinion ID: 77852
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Restitution for Acquitted Conduct

Text: The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3663A,-3664, governs the restitution order. Under the Restitution Act, restitution for mail or wire fraud is not limited to the specific act of fraud underlying the mailing or use of the wires for which the defendant is convicted, but is available for any victim of the entire scheme or artifice to defraud furthered by the mailing or use of the wires. Hasson, 333 F.3d at 1275 n. 13; see also United States v. Dickerson, 370 F.3d 1330, 1338-41 (11th Cir.2004). The Restitution Act defines victim as any person directly harmed by the defendant's conduct in the course of the scheme, conspiracy, or pattern. 18 U.S.C. § 3663A(a)(2). Foley's reliance on our decision in United States v. McArthur, 108 F.3d 1350 (11th Cir.1997), to support his argument that restitution may not be ordered for acquitted conduct, is misplaced. In McArthur, we interpreted an earlier provision of the Victim and Witness Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3663-3664, which allowed a court to order restitution to any victim of such offense for which the defendant was convicted. McArthur, 108 F.3d at 1357 & n. 18 (discussing 18 U.S.C. § 3663(a)(1)(A) (1988)). Both the Protection Act, which was amended in 1990, Pub.L. 101-647, § 2509, 104 Stat. 4789, 4863 (1990), and the Restitution Act, which was enacted in 1996, now define the term victim more broadly: [T]he term victim means a person directly and proximately harmed as a result of the commission of an offense for which restitution may be ordered including, in the case of an offense that involves as an element a scheme, conspiracy, or pattern of criminal activity, any person directly harmed by the defendant's criminal conduct in the course of the scheme, conspiracy, or pattern. 18 U.S.C. § 3663A(a)(2). The Restitution Act provides relief for victims of a scheme or conspiracy so long as the defendant was convicted of an offense that involves as an element a scheme, conspiracy, or pattern of criminal activity. Id.; see also United States v. Washington, 434 F.3d 1265, 1269 (11th Cir.2006); Hasson, 333 F.3d at 1275 n. 13. Foley was convicted of mail fraud, one of the elements of which is intentional participation in a scheme to defraud a person of money or property. United States v. Sharpe, 438 F.3d 1257, 1263 (11th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The district court was correct to award restitution for any victim of the scheme furthered by Foley's offense of mail fraud.