Court Opinion

ID: 9876542
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-27 14:00:38.031512+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:46:11.962899
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 22-13624    Document: 31-1      Date Filed: 09/27/2023   Page: 1 of 10

                                                    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                    In the
                 United States Court of Appeals
                         For the Eleventh Circuit

                           ____________________

                                 No. 22-13624
                           Non-Argument Calendar
                           ____________________

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                       Plaintiﬀ-Appellee,
        versus
        GHASAN AWAD,

                                                    Defendant-Appellant.

                           ____________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                       for the Middle District of Florida
                   D.C. Docket No. 8:20-cr-00188-SDM-SPF-1
                           ____________________
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        2                     Opinion of the Court                22-13624

        Before ROSENBAUM, JILL PRYOR, and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges.
        PER CURIAM:
               Ghasan Awad appeals his twenty-seven-month sentence for
        convictions of conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud,
        and trafficking in food stamps. His primary argument is that the
        District Court erred in estimating the amount of loss resulting from
        his food stamp trafficking by considering the sales of comparator
        grocery stores. We hold that the District Court did not commit
        clear error in its calculation. The District Court’s approach was
        supported by reliable and specific evidence and the loss amount
        represented a reasonable estimate given the available information.
        Accordingly, we affirm.
                                         I.
               The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”),
        commonly called food stamps, is a federal program designed to
        provide food assistance for families in need. SNAP recipients may
        use their benefits for eligible items like food and household goods,
        but not for ineligible items like alcohol, tobacco, or cash. SNAP-
        authorized stores can lose their authorization for trading a recipi-
        ent’s benefits for cash, a practice known as “trafficking.”
               In 2014, the Food and Nutrition Service (“FNS”) perma-
        nently disqualified Awad from participating as a SNAP-authorized
        retailer because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) dis-
        covered trafficking at Awad’s store, Express Meat Market
        (“EMM”). Under USDA regulations and SNAP rules, EMM’s
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        22-13624                Opinion of the Court                            3

        SNAP authorization would terminate if Awad remained involved
        in the business in any capacity. To circumvent this, Awad con-
        spired with codefendants Ahmad Al Saleh and Bassam Al Saleh to
        deceive the USDA, FNS, and SNAP by fraudulently transferring
        ownership of EMM to Ahmad, renaming EMM as Express Family
        Meat Market (“EFMM”), and obtaining SNAP authorization. 1 In
        reality, Awad continued to manage EFMM.
               After the store’s transfer, EFMM’s monthly SNAP redemp-
        tions began far exceeding the average for similar stores. This
        prompted an investigation where an undercover agent went to
        EFMM to exchange SNAP benefits for cash three times. All the
        exchanges were similar: The agent entered EFMM and ap-
        proached Awad at the register. The agent placed a few small items
        on the counter and asked Awad if he could exchange her SNAP
        benefits for cash. Awad then executed a SNAP purchase far exceed-
        ing the value of the items and gave the agent cash. Awad profited

        1 To pull this oﬀ, Awad, Ahmad, and Bassam submitted falsiﬁed documents to

        the USDA, including a one-page “Bill of Sale” for EMM, signed by Awad and
        Ahmad, witnessed by Bassam, claiming a $35,000 sale price, a $5,000 down
        payment, and $2,000 monthly installment payments. They also submitted
        forged receipts purportedly showing Ahmad’s payments to Awad. Next, Ah-
        mad, assisted by Bassam, submitted FNS Form-252 to obtain SNAP authoriza-
        tion for EFMM, falsely declaring himself as the sole owner and denying any
        SNAP-related violations for anyone associated with EFMM. This form was ap-
        proved, and EFMM gained SNAP participation.
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        4                       Opinion of the Court                   22-13624

        from these transactions by executing a large enough purchase to
        keep some of the cash for himself.
                Awad was indicted and pleaded guilty to all counts. This
        included one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, in
        violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count 1); three counts of wire fraud,
        in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Counts 2–4); and three counts of
        trafficking in food stamps, in violation of 7 U.S.C. § 2024(b)(1)
        (Counts 5–7).
               Before sentencing, the District Court held a two-day eviden-
        tiary hearing to determine the amount of loss. Both parties sub-
        mitted memoranda on the loss calculation. The Government ar-
        gued that the loss should include all of EFMM’s SNAP sales from
        October 2015 to October 2019 because Awad was permanently dis-
        qualified as a SNAP retailer during that time. 2 Alternatively, the
        Government proposed using the difference between EFMM’s
        SNAP sales and the sales at comparator stores to estimate the loss.
        Awad responded that the proposed stores were not comparable,
        and the Government failed to meet its burden to provide reliable
        and specific evidence.
              The District Court opted to calculate the loss under the
        comparator-store method because it was the most achievable and
        accurate given the evidence available. From the comparators pro-
        posed by Awad and the Government, the District Court identified

        2 On January 6, 2015, the USDA affirmed the permanent disqualification of

        Awad.
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        22-13624                  Opinion of the Court                                5

        three stores similar in size to EFMM that operated during most of
        the relevant period—Kings Meat Market, Coquina Market, and Ra-
        jax Food Mart. However, Kings was excluded as an outlier because
        it accepted about $500,000 in SNAP purchases during the relevant
        period, compared to nearly $1,500,000 each for Coquina and Ra-
        jax. 3 The District Court then averaged the SNAP purchases from
        Coquina and Rajax, resulting in $1,468,405.16, and deducted this
        amount from EFMM’s SNAP sales during the same period, which
        were $2,122,907.44. Therefore, the District Court concluded in its
        order a loss estimate of $654,502.28.
                Following this order, the probation officer issued a revised
        PSI, which calculated the base offense level as seven. A fourteen-
        level enhancement was applied under U.S. Sent’g Guidelines Man-
        ual (“U.S.S.G.”) § 2B1.1(b)(1)(I) (U.S. Sent’g Comm’n 2018) be-
        cause the offense involved a loss ranging from $550,000 to
        $1,500,000. A two-level increase was also applied under U.S.S.G.
        § 2B1.1(b)(9)(C) because the offense violated a prior administrative
        order—Awad was permanently disqualified from participating in
        SNAP but continued under a different store name. Finally, a three-
        level reduction was given under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a) and (b) for ac-
        ceptance of responsibility, resulting in an offense level of twenty.
        Awad had no prior criminal convictions, so he was placed in crim-
        inal history category I.

        3 Even if the calculation included Kings as a comparator, the resulting loss es-

        timate would have warranted the same fourteen offense-level increase under
        U.S. Sent’g Guidelines Manual § 2B1.1(b)(1) (U.S. Sent’g Comm’n 2021).
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        6                      Opinion of the Court                 22-13624

               Ultimately, this yielded a guideline imprisonment range of
        thirty-three to forty-one months. In Awad’s Sentencing Memoran-
        dum, he objected to the loss calculation as reflected in his Loss Cal-
        culation Memorandum. At sentencing, the District Court adopted
        the guideline range recommended in the PSI but gave Awad a
        downward variance under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). This resulted in a
        sentence of twenty-seven months of imprisonment and three years
        of supervised release.
                                         II.
               Awad argues that the District Court committed clear error
        in estimating the loss amount of $654,502.28 because it lacked reli-
        able and specific evidence to support it. He contends that the Dis-
        trict Court should have based its estimate on EFMM’s financial rec-
        ords and cites our unpublished opinion in United States v. Lulseged,
        688 F. App’x 719, 724 (11th Cir. 2017) (per curiam) (unpublished)
        as support.
                Awad claims that the comparator-store method is unreliable
        because it ignores several variables impacting a grocery store’s
        sales, like operating hours, stock availability and variety, delivery
        options, and customer loyalty. He also insists that the Government
        failed to meet its burden of proof because its investigation did not
        recover financial records, which Awad believes could have pro-
        vided a more accurate loss determination. Awad also says that the
        Government’s undercover investigation only established a loss of
        $524.25, which should be the basis for his sentencing guidelines.
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        22-13624               Opinion of the Court                        7

               The Government maintains that the District Court did not
        commit clear error because its estimate under the comparator-
        store method was reasonable based on the available evidence. The
        Government also says that this estimate was generous to Awad be-
        cause the District Court could have included every dollar of SNAP
        sales made during the relevant period, and the comparator stores
        used were flagged for suspicious SNAP transactions. Finally, the
        Government argues that Awad’s failure to maintain financial rec-
        ords made other loss-estimate methods unworkable and that Awad
        should not benefit from his failure.
               Awad replies that there is no evidence of his failure to main-
        tain records; only that records were not found in EFMM. He says
        that the Government’s inadequate investigation is responsible for
        the lack of evidence, and this should not be used against him. Fi-
        nally, Awad challenges the reliability of the comparator-store
        method here because the District Court used only two comparator
        stores and they differed from EFMM in terms of hours and clien-
        tele.
                                        III.
               We review a district court’s loss calculation for clear error.
        United States v. Cavallo, 790 F.3d 1202, 1232 (11th Cir. 2015). “We
        will overturn a court’s loss calculation under the clear-error stand-
        ard where ‘we are left with a definite and firm conviction that a
        mistake has been committed.’” United States v. Campbell,
        765 F.3d 1291, 1302 (11th Cir. 2014) (quoting United States v. Craw-
        ford, 407 F.3d 1174, 1177 (11th Cir. 2005)). “The sentencing judge
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        8                      Opinion of the Court                 22-13624

        is in a unique position to assess the evidence and estimate the loss
        based upon that evidence. For this reason, the court’s loss deter-
        mination is entitled to appropriate deference.” Id. at 1301 (quoting
        U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n.3(C)).
               For fraud-related offenses, the Sentencing Guidelines in-
        crease a defendant’s offense level based on the extent of the loss
        resulting from the fraud. See U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1). In cases in-
        volving government benefits, the loss is determined as “not less
        than the value of the benefits obtained by unintended recipients or
        diverted to unintended uses.” United States v. Maxwell, 579 F.3d
        1282, 1306 (11th Cir. 2009) (quoting U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt.
        n.3(F)(ii)). A defendant faces a fourteen-level enhancement if his
        offense results in a loss exceeding $550,000 but less than or equal to
        $1,500,000. See U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1)(H)–(I).
               The government bears the burden of proving the losses at-
        tributed to the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence.
        Cavallo, 790 F.3d at 1232. The Sentencing Guidelines do not re-
        quire exactness but only that the sentencing court “make a reason-
        able estimate of the loss, given the available information.” Id. (al-
        teration in original) (quoting United States v. Barrington, 648 F.3d
        1178, 1197 (11th Cir. 2011)). The method for estimating loss in a
        particular case is highly fact-dependent, granting district courts
        considerable discretion in their approach. See Campbell, 765 F.3d at
        1301. That said, the district court must support its chosen method
        with reliable and specific evidence. Id.
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        22-13624               Opinion of the Court                        9

               This Court has not directly addressed the use of comparator
        stores to calculate loss from the trafficking of food stamps. In an
        unpublished opinion, we affirmed a district court’s use of a “ven-
        dor-based” method in a food-stamp-trafficking case. See Lulseged,
        688 F. App’x at 724–25 (11th Cir. 2017) (unpublished). But the
        Eighth Circuit has upheld a loss calculation that used comparator
        stores. See United States v. Aden, 830 F.3d 812, 816 (8th Cir. 2016).
        And the Sixth Circuit has also done so, albeit in an unpublished
        opinion. United States v. Sufi, 455 F. App’x 672, 676 (6th Cir. 2012)
        (unpublished).
               The District Court’s calculation of the loss amount under
        the comparator-store method did not constitute clear error. The
        District Court’s task was not to pinpoint the exact amount of loss
        but to arrive at a reasonable estimate given the information availa-
        ble. See Cavallo, 790 F.3d at 1232. The District Court considered
        several methods suggested by the parties to estimate the loss before
        determining that the comparator-store method was the “most
        achievable” and likely to yield the most accurate estimate based on
        the evidence available. After carefully reviewing the record, we are
        not left with a “definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been
        committed.” See Campbell, 765 F.3d at 1302.
              Furthermore, the District Court’s loss calculation was sup-
        ported by “reliable and specific evidence.” It resulted from a two-
        day evidentiary hearing and the consideration of memoranda from
        both parties. When performing this calculation, the District Court
        only used comparator stores that closely mirrored EFMM in terms
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        10                    Opinion of the Court                22-13624

        of size, geographic area, SNAP participation during the relevant pe-
        riod, and SNAP purchase volumes. Accordingly, the District
        Court’s loss calculation was supported by reliable and specific evi-
        dence, and its estimate was reasonable given the available infor-
        mation.
              AFFIRMED.