United States v. Andrea Anderson

558 F. App'x 454
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMarch 17, 2014
Docket12-41297
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 558 F. App'x 454 (United States v. Andrea Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Andrea Anderson, 558 F. App'x 454 (5th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Andrea C. Anderson and Norman Stau-byn Anderson were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and eleven counts of wire fraud. A federal jury convicted the Andersons on all counts and the district judge sentenced them to 57 months of imprisonment. The Andersons now appeal their conviction and sentence. We will affirm.

I

A

On September 8, 2010, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Andrea C. Anderson and Norman Staubyn Anderson on twelve counts. Count One charged the Andersons with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. Count Two through Twelve charged the Andersons with wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1843. 1 The Andersons pled not guilty to these counts.

The Andersons were tried before a jury. When the Government finished its ease-in-chief, the Andersons moved for judgment of acquittal in accordance with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29, 2 but that motion was denied. The Andersons presented no witnesses, and the Government presented no rebuttal case. The jury returned verdicts of guilty as to both the Andersons for all twelve counts.

The Andersons were sentenced on November 15, 2012. The district court sentenced each Anderson to 57 months of imprisonment followed by 3 years on supervised release with respect to Counts One through Twelve, to be served concurrently. While the fines were waived, the district court made a special assessment of $1,200 for each Anderson, ordered restitution in the amount of $915,687.63 be paid jointly and severally, and imposed special conditions on supervised release.

B

Between 2005 and 2009, the Andersons ran a Ponzi scheme that defrauded several victims of their money. As the evidence at trial adduced, the Andersons claimed to potential victims that they were successful investors and wanted to help their families and friends find success in investing. The Andersons would usually tell their victims that Andrea Anderson had a sister, often named Lenore Lawrence, who worked at Goldman Sachs. They also claimed that they had an investment account at Goldman Sachs with a huge sum of money. They claimed that Lenore would be the one purchasing the stocks for which the victims were paying. For example, one victim was informed that he was buying *457 stocks of Rosetta Stone, while another was informed that he was buying the initial public stock offering of VISA. Victims sent their money to the Andersons’ personal bank accounts in a variety of ways, including wire transfers, cashier’s checks, personal checks, and cash. The Andersons sent the victims emails confirming that the payments had been made, and sometimes even asked for more money so that the Andersons could finish the purported transaction. The Andersons did own a few investing accounts at TD Ameritrade. Some victims did receive some money back from their investment. But usually this was money taken from one victim and given to another; for example, as Special Agent Scott Nicoll of the U.S. Secret Service testified, “[t]he same day, in fact that funds came in from one investor, the money went right back out to another investor.” At other times, instead of sending the principal and interest back to the victim as promised, the Andersons would claim that they had reinvested the money because “[n]ow is not the time not to invest.”

Victims also got emails that were supposedly from Lenore Lawrence that claimed that the victims’ instructions (to sell off stocks and return their money) were being followed. But no one ever met Lawrence or spoke to her on the phone. Some victims demanded their money back repeatedly to no avail. Andrea Anderson responded to some victims by forwarding emails that were supposedly from Goldman Sachs employees, but the evidence showed that these emails were forgeries. For instance, Andrea Anderson met with Goldman Sachs employees acting as though she wanted to open an account, and they would email her to follow up on their initial meeting. Anderson would proceed to modify these emails and forward them to the victims.

The evidence showed that Goldman Sachs did not employ a “Lenore Lawrence” and that the Andersons did not own an investment account at Goldman Sachs. The evidence also showed that though the Andersons did invest some of the money, they had never made handsome returns on their investments and mostly had losses. The evidence also demonstrated that the Andersons had no other source of income, and that they used the victims’ money for personal expenses. Ultimately, 11 victims lost a grand total of $915,687.63.

C

After a Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) was made available as to both the Andersons, they filed joint objections contending that the loss amount and the number of victims had been wrongly calculated.

First, the PSRs calculated the loss amount as $1,009,712.72. This led to a 16-level increase under U.S.S.G. § 2Bl.l(b)(l)(I), which applies if the loss is more than $1,000,000. 3 The Andersons contended that the loss amount was less than $1,000,000, and the Government conceded this point. The Andersons argued that only a 14-level increase should have applied under § 2Bl.l(b)(l)(H), which applies if the loss is more than $400,000. 4

Second, the PSRs calculated the number of victims as 11. This led to a 2-level increase under § 2Bl.l(b)(2)(A)(i), which applies if the offense involves 10 or more victims. 5 The Andersons contended that only 9 victims were involved. The *458 Andersons argued that no increase should have been applied.

Revised PSRs issued which took into account these objections. The loss amount was now changed to $915,687.68, leading to a 14-level enhancement under § 2Bl.l(b)(l)(H). But the amount of victims was still calculated to be 11, and the 2-level increase under § 2B1.1 (b) (2) (A) (i) still applied.

At the sentencing hearing, the Andersons indicated they were satisfied with the resolution of the objection as to the loss amount. 6 However, they renewed their objection as to the amount of victims and the application of § 2Bl.l(b)(2)(A)(i). The district court overruled that objection. The district court proceeded to adopt the revised PSRs. The total offense level for each defendant was 28, and both defendants had a criminal history level of I, which yielded a Guidelines range of 46 to 57 months. The Andersons urged a sentence on the lower end, but denied the allegations and did not express remorse. The district court sentenced the Andersons to 57 months of imprisonment followed by 3 years on supervised release with respect to Counts One through Twelve, to be served concurrently, as well as ordering restitution and special assessments.

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Bluebook (online)
558 F. App'x 454, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-andrea-anderson-ca5-2014.