Court Opinion

ID: 9950749
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-14 19:01:13.513326+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:36:37.876151
License: Public Domain

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
                               File Name: 24a0120n.06

                                          No. 23-3465
                                                                                      FILED
                          UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                            Mar 14, 2024
                               FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
                                                                            KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk
                                                          )
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                          )    ON APPEAL FROM THE
        Plaintiff-Appellee,                               )    UNITED STATES DISTRICT
                                                          )    COURT     FOR      THE
                v.                                        )    NORTHERN DISTRICT OF
                                                          )    OHIO
 DANIEL GWIN,                                             )
        Defendant-Appellant.                              )                           OPINION
                                                          )

Before: COLE, CLAY, and BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judges.

       BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judge. In 2022, Daniel Gwin pleaded guilty to nine felony counts

stemming from his role in a conspiracy at his workplace. Gwin was a manager at a family-owned

medical research center that we refer to as “Company 1.” Gwin, along with seven other Company

1 employees, fabricated the results of clinical trials for recently developed medications, which

pharmaceutical companies then presented to federal regulators in seeking approval to make these

new drugs available to the public.

       The district court sentenced Gwin to a below-guidelines sentence of 30-months’

imprisonment. Gwin claims that this sentence was both procedurally and substantively

unreasonable, arguing that the district court did not sufficiently explain why it sentenced him to

several more months than two of his coconspirators, and that it did not adequately weigh the

mitigating factors which, in his view, mandated a lesser sentence. Because the district court did

not abuse its discretion in sentencing Gwin, we affirm.
No. 23-3465, United States v. Gwin

                                     FACTUAL BACKGROUND

       In 2012, Daniel Gwin began a position as a study coordinator at Company 1. Company 1

was a research organization owned by Amie Demming and Debra Adamson—a mother and

daughter team—with offices in Ohio and Tennessee. The company employed multiple family

members, including William and Ashley Adamson, but Gwin was not related. Company 1

conducted FDA-required clinical trials of investigative drugs for pharmaceutical companies.

Clinical trials are necessary to ensure that a pharmaceutical company’s new drug is safe and

effective for human use. As a study coordinator in the Cleveland-area office, Gwin was responsible

for managing the trials for various of Company 1’s clients, and in doing so he supervised other

research employees.

       The conspiracy began in 2013, about six months after Gwin took the job. Demming was

the ringleader and developed the scheme when the company began to face financial troubles. Gwin

states that Demming harassed, bullied, and intimidated him, and that he feared losing his job if he

did not participate in the scheme.

       The scheme, roughly described, was as follows: Company 1 employees falsely inflated the

number of research participants in the clinical trials, then Company 1 billed its clients for the

nonexistent work. Gwin and his colleagues fabricated test subjects from whole cloth, registered

patients for studies without consent, falsified laboratory results, and collected payment for each

phony participant. At times, Gwin even substituted his own blood and medical information for that

of real study participants. As a study coordinator, Gwin signed informed consent forms for other

employees who fraudulently registered themselves in clinical trials. Company 1 sent these false

clinical results to its pharmaceutical clients, who then submitted the results to the FDA in seeking

approval that their drugs were safe and effective.

                                                -2-
No. 23-3465, United States v. Gwin

       Because Gwin’s claim rests on the alleged sentencing disparity with his coconspirators, we

describe not only his culpability, but also that of William and Ashley Adamson, whom Gwin points

to as the most relevant comparators. William and Ashley Adamson were Amie Demming’s brother

and sister-in-law, and they managed the Tennessee offices.

       The three employees were responsible for similar amounts of economic loss. During the

course of the conspiracy, eight pharmaceutical companies paid Company 1 a total of $6,552,903

for—unbeknownst to them—fraudulent clinical trials. Gwin was personally responsible for little

over $2.8 million of that amount, the third highest of the defendants. William Adamson caused

$2.72 million in loss and Ashley Adamson caused $2.94 million in loss.

       The three employees were also paid under a similar compensation structure. Company 1

paid Gwin and the Adamsons an annual salary and a year-end bonus. The bonus was based on the

company’s profits and the employee’s individual performance, which was tied to the number of

patients the employee enrolled in studies. Gwin had a starting salary of $43,500, and Ashley

Adamson, who began around the same time, had a starting salary $41,600. No party argued that

their salaries differed markedly in subsequent years. In their first years, Gwin and Ashley Adamson

received bonuses of $500 and $1,800, respectively, while the next year they received $1,500 and

$1,800, respectively.

       The three employees’ pleas, however, looked different. The Adamsons pleaded guilty to

one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. The district court sentenced William

to 22 months’ imprisonment and Ashley to 27 months.

       Gwin pleaded guilty to nine counts—one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and

wire fraud, seven counts of mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

At sentencing, the court granted Gwin a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility.

                                                -3-
No. 23-3465, United States v. Gwin

That, combined with Gwin’s lack of criminal history, resulted in a range of 33 to 41 months under

the Sentencing Guidelines. After weighing the aggravating and mitigating factors, the district court

varied downward, giving Gwin a below-guidelines sentence of 30-months in prison followed by

three years of supervised release, a mandatory $900 special assessment, and $2,841,792 in

restitution.

                                           ANALYSIS

        On appeal, Gwin argues that his sentence was both procedurally and substantively

unreasonable. We review both his procedural and substantive reasonableness claims for an abuse

of discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007).1 We address each challenge in turn.

I.      Procedural Reasonableness
        In reviewing whether a sentence was procedurally unreasonable, we look to see whether

the district court “(1) properly calculated the applicable advisory Guidelines range; (2) considered

the other § 3553(a) factors as well as the parties’ arguments for a sentence outside the Guidelines

range; and (3) adequately articulated its reasoning for imposing the particular sentence chosen,

including any . . . decision to deviate from the advisory Guidelines range” or rejection of the

parties’ arguments that it should deviate. United States v. Bolds, 511 F.3d 568, 581 (2007).

        Gwin urges us to reverse on the third requirement, arguing that the district court did not

adequately articulate why he received a longer sentence than either William or Ashley Adamson.

He emphasizes that he received the second highest sentence in the conspiracy—just behind

        1
         The government urges us to review the procedural reasonableness claim for plain error
rather than for an abuse of discretion because it says that Gwin did not adequately preserve his
objection at the sentencing hearing. We need not decide the preservation question because Gwin’s
challenge fails even when we review for an abuse of discretion, as we do when an objection is
adequately preserved.

                                                -4-
No. 23-3465, United States v. Gwin

Demming, the leader—even though his calculated loss was less than Ashley Adamson’s

(27 months), and he did not substantially benefit from the conspiracy because he was not a family

member, like William Adamson (22 months). He characterizes the district court’s analysis as

disregarding his culpability relative to his coconspirators. But that’s not accurate.

       The district court carefully considered the comparative sentences of the coconspirators in

sentencing Gwin. Before it made its decision, the district court discussed the other defendants and

specifically asked whether Ashley and William Adamson were relevant comparators in terms of

culpability. In response, the government compared these three coconspirators with respect to the

amount of loss they caused, their financial gains, and their levels of participation in the conduct

comprising the conspiracy.

       After the parties concluded their arguments and the district court turned to its sentencing

analysis, the court twice mentioned its desire to avoid unwanted sentencing disparities. It first said

that it “need[ed] to determine the need for the sentence imposed, keeping in mind all of the factors,

including the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities among defendants with similar

records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.” Sent’g Tr., R. 341, PageID 2361. It also

noted that the circumstances of Gwin’s case were particularly “alarming” given Gwin’s “training

and . . . that he was entrusted to train others.” Id. at PageID 2362. The district court then went on

to say, yet again, that it had to reach a decision that “not only avoid[ed] unwarranted sentencing

disparities among the group of national defendants with similar records who have been found

guilty of similar conduct” but also “to some degree” the “other codefendants in this case.” Id. at

PageID 2363. The court explained that each codefendant’s sentence was based on “their own

unique backgrounds and characteristics and their own unique involvement in the crime or crimes

that were committed.” Id.

                                                 -5-
No. 23-3465, United States v. Gwin

        The district court sentenced Gwin to three more months than Ashley Adamson and eight

more months than William Adamson. While the district court did not explicitly address the several-

month difference, it did not have to. See United States v. Duane, 533 F.3d 441, 451–52 (6th Cir.

2008). And the three coconspirators, even if comparable, were not entirely similarly situated. The

Adamsons pleaded to only one count, compared to Gwin’s nine. See United States v. Conatser,

514 F.3d 508, 522 (6th Cir. 2008) (“Disparities between the sentences of coconspirators can exist

for valid reasons, such as . . . the offenses of conviction.”). The district court also considered

aggravating factors unique to Gwin. As the court mentioned, Gwin was one of the few employees

that interfaced with clients, and, on one occasion, he even handed fabricated evidence to a client

asking questions about his clinical trial. He also had a trusted role in the field and abused that trust.

        Gwin, however, argues that the district court’s decision was procedurally deficient for not

accounting for the several-month difference. The best case he cites is United States v. Wallace, in

which we reversed a sentence that was twice as long as that of a coconspirator who played a bigger

role in the conspiracy. 597 F.3d 794, 803–804 (6th Cir. 2010). There, the government’s arguments

explaining the disparity “were never adopted or even acknowledged by the district judge.” Id. at

802. We stressed that “no part of the sentencing transcript” showed that the lower court “ever

considered” the disparity. Id. That is not the case here, as Gwin even admits that the district court

addressed the issue—he just disagrees with its resolution. Further, the defendant in Wallace was

sentenced to twice as much time as her co-conspirator. Id. The alleged disparity between the

Adamsons’ sentences and Gwin’s sentence—eight and three months respectively—is nowhere

near as stark. We thus conclude that there was no procedural unreasonableness in Gwin’s

sentencing.

                                                  -6-
No. 23-3465, United States v. Gwin

II.    Substantive Reasonableness
       Next, we decide whether Gwin’s sentence was substantively unreasonable. In answering

that question, we turn to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and determine whether the district court considered

the relevant sentencing factors. United States v. Robinson, 778 F.3d 515, 519 (6th Cir. 2015). “A

sentence is substantively reasonable if it is proportionate to the seriousness of the circumstances

of the offense and offender, and sufficient but not greater than necessary, to comply with the

purposes of § 3553(a).” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Conversely, we will find a sentence

substantively unreasonable if the defendant shows that the district court selected a sentence

“arbitrarily,” based the sentence on “impermissible factors,” failed to consider relevant sentencing

factors, or gave “an unreasonable amount of weight” to any pertinent factor. Conatser, 514 F.3d

at 520. We presume that a below-guidelines sentence, as we have here, is reasonable. United States

v. Harris, 636 F. App’x 922, 929 (6th Cir. 2016); United States v. Greco, 734 F.3d 441, 450 (6th

Cir. 2013) (stating that defendants seeking to overturn a below-guidelines sentence “bear a heavy

burden.”).

       As the sentencing transcript reveals, the district court carefully weighed the § 3553(a)

factors. In explaining the sentence, the district court stressed mitigating factors such as Gwin’s two

children, lack of priors, difficult childhood, accusations of workplace harassment, and fear of

losing his job. It also pointed to aggravating factors, such as Gwin’s years-long participation in the

scheme, harm to pharmaceutical clients, experience and training in clinical research, dishonest

interactions with patients and clients, and falsification of records using his own medical data. The

court, evidently finding the mitigating factors compelling, varied down one level.

       Gwin challenges how the district court weighed the § 3553(a) factors, contending that the

district court put too much emphasis on Gwin’s conduct relative to others in the conspiracy and

                                                 -7-
No. 23-3465, United States v. Gwin

not enough emphasis on his lack of criminal history, the pressure he was under to join the

conspiracy, and his low likelihood of recidivism. Because the court mentioned neither deterrence

nor public protection, Gwin argues that the court undervalued those considerations.

       These arguments show, at most, that the factors could have been weighed differently, not

that the district court abused its discretion in weighing them here. See Conatser, 514 F.3d at 520–

23. The district court’s failure to recite concepts like recidivism and deterrence does not undermine

its conclusion. The district court need not discuss each factor individually or address every

argument relating to those factors. United States v. Gale, 468 F.3d 929, 940 (6th Cir. 2006). Rather,

the district court’s detailed explanation assures us that it carefully considered all the relevant

information presented by the parties in light of the § 3553(a) factors, including mitigation

evidence. Therefore, Gwin’s challenge to the substantive reasonableness of his sentence fails.

                                             CONCLUSION

       Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Gwin, we affirm its

judgment.

                                                -8-