Opinion ID: 4534671
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Beneficiaries as “victims”

Text: Okwilagwe objected to his two-level enhancement under Section 2B1.1(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Guidelines for an offense involving 10 or more victims. The preserved objection means we review the district court’s interpretation of the Guidelines de novo and its factual findings for clear error. See United States v. Eustice, 952 F.3d 686, 690 (5th Cir. 2020). Okwilagwe argues that the only “victims” were Medicare and Medicaid, so there were not 10 or more victims for purposes of Section 2B1.1(b)(2)(A)(i), and the district court thus erred in applying this enhancement. We have 9 Case: 19-10400 Document: 00515416830 Page: 10 Date Filed: 05/14/2020 No. 19-10400 already held that “Medicare beneficiaries for whom the conspirators falsely claimed benefits were ‘victims’ under the Guidelines” because “[a]pplication Note 4(E) of U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 defines ‘victim’ in a way that encompasses the Medicare beneficiaries because it includes ‘any individual whose means of identification was used unlawfully or without authority.’” Barson, 845 F.3d at 167. As Okwilagwe discusses, the court has not been unanimous in its conclusion. See Barson, 845 F.3d at 168–69 (Jones, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (disagreeing with majority as to meaning of “victim”); United States v. Ainabe, 938 F.3d 685, 694–95 (5th Cir. 2019) (Dennis, J., concurring) (disagreeing with Barson as to meaning of “victim”). We note Okwilagwe’s objection and the disagreement in our precedents, but we are bound by Barson. The district court did not err in imposing this two-level enhancement.