Opinion ID: 77852
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court Erred in Its Finding of the Number of Victims.

Text: The government argues that the district court misapplied the Guidelines when it calculated the number of victims. U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(2). For its finding of the number of victims, the district court adopted the number of individuals who had responded to a letter sent about restitution by the probation office, which was 158. Foley argued that the court should base its calculation on the number of victims who testified at trial. The government urged the court to use a number greater than 250, because Global had nearly 400 investors and the vast majority of them had been assigned to shared ATMs. We agree with the government that the district court erred. The district court erred when it adopted the number of responses received by the probation office as the number of victims for sentencing purposes. As explained earlier, the district court did not make an independent finding on the amount of loss, and the number of victims is defined in relation to the loss calculation. A victim is any person who sustained any part of the actual loss calculated under the Guidelines. U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n. 1. The district court accepted the 158 responses to the probation office letter as a benchmark for calculating the number of victims, but the number of people who responded to the letter from the probation office about restitution did not establish how many people sustained the loss attributable to Foley. The district court also recognized that there were individuals the probation office had not yet located. The district court must make independent findings to support its calculation of loss. See Hamaker, 455 F.3d at 1338. The district court did not attempt to connect the number of victims to the loss calculation that it made, and it did not establish[] the factual basis for its Guidelines calculations. Id. 3. The District Court Erred When It Declined to Make a Finding About the Obstruction of Justice Enhancement. The government argues that the district court erred when it declined to make a finding about the obstruction of justice enhancement. The district court purported to make a finding when it adopted the portion of the presentence investigation report in which the probation officer stated that he would defer to the district court on this issue. We again agree with the government that the district court erred. The district court abdicated its duty to rule on the obstruction of justice enhancement. The government sought the obstruction enhancement based at least in part on Foley's alleged perjury at trial and his attempt to conceal his assets from the FBI investigation. See U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1; United States v. Dunnigan, 507 U.S. 87, 94, 113 S.Ct. 1111, 1116, 122 L.Ed.2d 445 (1993). The presentence investigation report acknowledged that there was an unresolved question about the application of this enhancement, and the parties argued about it at the sentencing hearing. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure state that a sentencing court mustfor any disputed portion of the presentence report or other controverted matterrule on the dispute or determine that a ruling is unnecessary either because the matter will not affect sentencing, or because the court will not consider the matter in sentencing. Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(i)(3)(B). The record reflects that when it declined to apply the enhancement, the district court said it adopted a part of the presentence report, but that report deferred to the judgment of the district court. This abdication was error.