Opinion ID: 162640
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Amount of Loss from Fraud.

Text: 177 The district court increased Attaluri's offense level under U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1(b)(1)(H), because the loss to the victim — the United States — resulting from Attaluri's fraud exceeded $120,000. (Amendment 617 to the Sentencing Guidelines, effective November 1, 2001, repealed § 2F1.1 and moved its substance to § 2B1.1) At sentencing Attaluri contended that the loss was not more than $40,000. If his argument had been adopted, Attaluri's offense level would have been 23 instead of 24. 178 The loss to the United States was the amount paid by the United States to Allied for disposal of waste that was unlawfully injected into disposal wells. The presentence report calculated that loss at $132,325.91 by using the figure of $199,825.91 for the total amount paid to Allied and then giving an offset of $67,500 for an estimated 150,000 gallons of wastewater disposed of lawfully from one of the government sites. Attaluri did not contest the $199,825.91 figure for the total amount paid Allied. But he did challenge the PSR's conclusions regarding the amount of wastewater disposed of properly. 179 We review the sentencing court's factual findings for clear error. United States v. Vaziri, 164 F.3d 556, 568 (10th Cir. 1999). The application note to § 2F1.1 stated, For the purposes of subsection (b)(1), the loss need not be determined with precision. The court need only make a reasonable estimate of the loss, given the available information. U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1, comment (n.9). 180 On appeal Attaluri directs our attention to a trial exhibit which, he contends, shows that significantly more than 150,000 gallons of wastewater were disposed of properly. Yet he did not reference that exhibit in his objection to the PSR. The sole basis of his objection to the PSR was a document showing how many gallons of wastewater were delivered by Allied to Waste Water Treatment, Inc., during the second half of 1995. The document failed, however, to indicate the source of the wastewater — whether a government facility or otherwise. The PSR response to Attaluri's objection was: The defendant stated that the government's loss calculation was closer to $120,000 but did not detail how that number was calculated. The probation office is unaware of any other adjustments that would apply.... The sentencing court could properly agree. We refuse to reverse that determination on the basis of a trial exhibit not brought to the attention of the court at sentencing, so we need not determine whether the exhibit might have influenced the court if it had been properly presented. 181