Opinion ID: 575826
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Campbell Affidavit

Text: 10 Wilfred was convicted of mail fraud based on false documentation relating to the PELL Grant and Student Guaranteed Loan programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Wilfred's sentencing memorandum informed the district court of certain organizational changes Wilfred allegedly implemented after its indictment, in order to prevent recurring fraud. The government's sentencing memorandum alleged continuing post-indictment misconduct by Wilfred. One of the government's supporting affidavits was provided by LaRoss C. Campbell, an auditor with the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Education (OIG) who had headed an OIG investigation conducted at Wilfred's New York City offices between August 7 and September 20, 1990. With Wilfred's full knowledge and cooperation, the OIG inspection team, headed by Campbell, reviewed the records of codefendants Wilfred Academy and American Business Institute, Wilfred's wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Campbell affidavit attests that the OIG inspection disclosed a significant number of Title IV student loan violations, many of which occurred after 1989. 11 The Campbell affidavit was filed with the court on January 7, 1991, the day before the sentencing hearing. At sentencing, the court inquired whether Wilfred had seen the Campbell affidavit. Wilfred's counsel stated that he had received a copy on the previous evening. Wilfred's counsel proceeded to respond to the affidavit, challenging its significance and urging the court to disregard it because [i]t's got nothing to do with this case. Although Wilfred expressed strong displeasure at the government's eleventh hour submission of the Campbell affidavit, it did not request a continuance. 12 (i) Due Process Claim 13 Wilfred contends for the first time on appeal that any reliance on the Campbell affidavit violated due process because Wilfred was not given an adequate opportunity to respond to the statement. We review only for plain error. United States v. Morales-Diaz, 925 F.2d 535, 539 (1st Cir.1991) (claim not raised below is subject to plain error review). The due process claim is meritless. 14 The district court enjoys wide discretion as to the information it will receive and rely on at sentencing. Geer, 923 F.2d at 897; United States v. Pellerito, 918 F.2d 999, 1002 (1st Cir.1990). Nevertheless, a criminal defendant enjoys a due process right not to be sentenced on false information, Townsend v. Burke, 334 U.S. 736, 741, 68 S.Ct. 1252, 1255, 92 L.Ed. 1690 (1948), and due process therefore requires that the defendant be given an adequate opportunity to refute information relied on at sentencing. United States v. Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d 43, 47 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 862, 110 S.Ct. 177, 107 L.Ed.2d 133 (1989); United States v. Fogel, 829 F.2d 77, 90 (D.C.Cir.1987); United States v. Romano, 825 F.2d 725, 728 (2d Cir.1987); United States v. Compton, 704 F.2d 739, 742 (5th Cir.1983). 15 There is nothing in the record to suggest that the district court relied on the Campbell affidavit. See United States v. Brown, 715 F.2d 387, 389 (8th Cir.1983) (no due process right to rebut evidence not relied on by sentencing court). Moreover, even if we were to assume that the affidavit affected Wilfred's sentence in some way, Wilfred was provided an adequate opportunity to respond. 16 Wilfred was on notice that the district court, in imposing sentence, was required to consider any remedial measures implemented by Wilfred. See 18 U.S.C. § 3622(a)(9). The government's sentencing memorandum alerted Wilfred that the government was going to counter Wilfred's alleged remedial measures with evidence of ongoing fraudulent practices at Wilfred's New York school. See Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d at 47 (due process requires an opportunity to rebut sentencing information; defendant has no due process right to be informed in advance of the identity of witnesses or of the expected substance of their testimony at sentencing hearing). Wilfred was provided with a copy of the Campbell affidavit the evening before the sentencing hearing. Although eleventh hour submissions of sentencing information inevitably raise fairness concerns, 8 in the present circumstances there was no deprivation of due process. The Campbell affidavit attested to an investigation conducted on Wilfred's premises, with Wilfred's full knowledge and cooperation, and involving its own files. Significantly, even now Wilfred does not challenge the accuracy of the information set forth in the Campbell affidavit. Furthermore, even if Wilfred had been surprised by the information in the Campbell affidavit, it was incumbent upon Wilfred to request a continuance. See Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d at 47 (claim of surprise is severely undermined, if not entirely undone, by failure to ask for continuance); see also United States v. Osorio, 929 F.2d 753, 758 (1st Cir.1991) (where defendant is surprised at trial by the government's delayed disclosure of evidence, failure to ask for continuance is generally considered an indication that defense counsel was himself satisfied he had sufficient opportunity to use the evidence advantageously); United States v. Giltner, 889 F.2d 1004, 1008 (11th Cir.1989) (emphasizing, among other factors, defendant's failure to request continuance of sentencing hearing); United States v. Alexander, 860 F.2d 508, 512 (2d Cir.1988) (same); Fogel, 829 F.2d at 91 (same). Having refrained, for whatever reason, from requesting a continuance, Wilfred cannot complain of the inadequacy of the opportunity it was afforded to respond to the affidavit. Wilfred not only made full use of its opportunity to respond, but these many months later it has yet to provide this court with reason to believe that the Campbell affidavit contained inaccurate information. Thus, there is no legitimate basis for concern that Wilfred was sentenced on false information. 9 See Giltner, 889 F.2d at 1008 (the sole interest being protected at sentencing is the right not to be sentenced on the basis of inaccurate or unreliable information.). Wilfred's due process rights were not violated. 10 17 ii. Rule 32(c)(3)(D) 18 Finally, Wilfred claims that the district court failed to make a finding concerning its allegation that the Campbell affidavit was inaccurate. Although we have extended the protections of rule 32(c)(3)(D) to evidence not included in the PSR, United States v. Hanono-Surujun, 914 F.2d 15, 19 (1st Cir.1990); see also United States v. Manotas-Mejia, 824 F.2d 360, 368-69 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 957, 108 S.Ct. 354, 98 L.Ed.2d 379 (1987), (applying rule 32(c)(3)(D) to disputed material in government's sentencing memorandum); but see United States v. Rico, 895 F.2d 602 (9th Cir.1990) (restricting rule 32(c)(3)(D) to PSR material), our review of the sentencing hearing transcript shows that Wilfred never called the accuracy of the Campbell affidavit into question at sentencing. Wilfred's counsel did state that Mr. Campbell's affidavit talks about a review of 69 student files. He reviewed hundreds of files, if your Honor please. But the Campbell affidavit does not suggest that only 69 files were reviewed. Thus, the quoted statement by Wilfred's counsel did not allege falsity, but merely suggested to the court that the findings discussed in the Campbell affidavit may not have been as significant as the court might otherwise suppose. While this constituted permissible argument, it in no manner triggered the need for a factual finding by the court under rule 32(c)(3)(D). 19 Affirmed.