Opinion ID: 614400
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Challenge to Sentencing Guidelines Calculation

Text: Roberts submits that his sentence is unreasonable because it is infected by procedural error in the calculation of his Sentencing Guidelines range. See United States v. Cavera, 550 F.3d 180, 189-90 (2d Cir.2008) ( en banc ). Specifically, he faults the district court for applying a two-point enhancement to his offense level for abuse of a position of trust. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3. The argument fails on the merits. An abuse of trust enhancement is warranted if the defendant abused a position of public or private trust ... in a manner that significantly facilitated the commission or concealment of the offense. Id.; see United States v. Friedberg, 558 F.3d 131, 133 (2d Cir.2009). We have held that the professional or managerial discretion required to establish a position of trust, U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3 cmt. n. 1, must be entrusted to the defendant by the victim of the offense, United States v. Broderson, 67 F.3d 452, 455-56 (2d Cir.1995); see also United States v. Barrett, 178 F.3d 643, 647 (2d Cir.1999) (noting that victim's perspective is utilized in applying abuse of trust enhancement). Victim status depends upon the circumstances of the case. United States v. Cusack, 229 F.3d 344, 349 (2d Cir.2000). Thus, crimes may have more than one victim, and a § 3B1.3 enhancement may apply whether the person whose trust a defendant abused was the primary or a secondary victim of the crime. Id.; see United States v. Barrett, 178 F.3d at 647. On appeal, Roberts asserts that to the extent he abused a position of private trust conferred on him by his employer, American Airlines, to commit the crimes of conviction, no § 3B1.3 enhancement was warranted because American Airlines was not a victim of those crimes. Rather, the only victim was the United States. At the outset, we note that Roberts did not make this argument in the district court. There, he argued only that the government failed to establish that he used his crew chief position at American Airlines to facilitate the commission or concealment of his crimes. In these circumstances, we review his victim challenge only for plain error, which requires `(1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affects substantial rights.' United States v. Paul, 634 F.3d 668, 674 (2d Cir.2011) (internal brackets omitted) (quoting Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997)). If those conditions are satisfied, we may then exercise our discretion to notice a forfeited error if it seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. (internal brackets and quotation marks omitted). We identify no such plain error in the district court's identification of American Airlines as one victim of Roberts's drug trafficking. American Airlines entrusted Roberts with discretion to assign crews to load and unload its airplanes. Roberts abused that trust by exercising his discretion in such a way as to facilitate a drug smuggling operation. He assigned co-conspirators to offload airplanes used to bring drugs into the United States, while at the same time diverting crews unconnected to the conspiracy to other aircraft, thereby ensuring that they did not discover the secreted contraband. As a consequence, Roberts's abuse of his position of trust exposed his employer to harm, for example, public criticism for its employee's criminal conduct, with possible adverse consequences to the airline's business operations. This, by itself, permitted the district court to identify American Airlines as a victim of Roberts's crimes. See United States v. Cusack, 229 F.3d at 349 (holding party a victim where defendant's abuse of trust cast party in extremely unfavorable light (internal quotation marks omitted)); see also CNN, 2 Former Airline Workers at JFK Indicted on Drug Smuggling Charges (Oct. 14, 2010), http:// articles.cnn.com/2010-10-14/justice/new. york.airport.cocaine_1_baggage-handlers-airline-employees-airline-workers?_s=PM: CRIME (describing indictment of Bourne and co-conspirator); U.S. DEA, Former American Airlines Employee Sentenced to 240 Months in Prison for Smuggling Drugs into the United States (Mar. 15, 2010), http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/ newsrel/2010/nyc031510.html. That conclusion is reinforced by the fact that Roberts's abuse of trust further exposed his employer to criminal scrutiny and the possibility of fines or forfeiture. See 19 U.S.C. § 1584(a)(2) (imposing on master or owner of vessel $1,000 per ounce fine for cocaine found on board and not appearing in manifest); 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(4) (subjecting to forfeiture [a]ll conveyances, including aircraft used in the unlawful transport of controlled substances). In these circumstances, Roberts cannot identify error, much less plain error, in the application of a § 3B1.3 enhancement to his Guidelines calculation based on his abuse of the position of trust he held at American Airlines. [6] Accordingly, we identify no procedural error in his sentence.