United States v. Bosgang

467 F. App'x 27
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMarch 15, 2012
Docket10-5212-cr
StatusUnpublished

This text of 467 F. App'x 27 (United States v. Bosgang) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second 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. Bosgang, 467 F. App'x 27 (2d Cir. 2012).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Appellant Alvin Bosgang appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Feuerstein, J.), entered December 21, 2010, upon his plea of guilty, convicting him of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341. Bosgang pled guilty to submitting a false claim form to David Berdon & Company that represented Bosgang owned stock in the KeySpan Corporation in order to receive a class action settlement from the KeySpan Corporation Securities Litigation. The district court sentenced Bos *29 gang to 30 days’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, a fíne of $250,000, and restitution of $1,395,694.78. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal, and we discuss these only where necessary to explain our decision.

Bosgang argues that the restitution order that also required restitution to be paid to three other class action claims administrators violated his Due Process rights, specifically his right to reasonable notice of the charges. While a court cannot convict and sentence a defendant for a crime never charged, the record in the present case is bereft of any indication the district court sentenced Bosgang based on anything other than the formal charge in the information. Bosgang agreed in his plea agreement to plead guilty to one count of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1341. The district court accepted Bosgang’s plea after he explained in open court, “in connection with the crime charged,” that he falsely represented to the class action claims administrator Berdon that he owned shares of KeySpan Corporation in order to receive part of a class action settlement.

Equally transparent throughout the record is the fact that the district court and all parties understood the district court would consider Bosgang’s history of using fraudulent class action claims forms to receive class action settlement funds. The district court committed no error in considering this history. Distinct from considerations of guilt are considerations of the sentence to be imposed, over which a sentencing court has wide discretion. Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241, 246, 69 S.Ct. 1079, 93 L.Ed. 1337 (1949). Considerations of the sentence to be imposed can include the defendant’s background, character, and conduct, 18 U.S.C. § 3661, as well as conduct clearly beyond the conduct forming the basis of the charged offense. See United States v. Yannotti, 541 F.3d 112, 129 (2d Cir.2008) (conduct jury found unproven); United States v. Quintero, 937 F.2d 95, 97 (2d Cir.1991) (activity charged in dismissed counts); United States v. Fernandez, 877 F.2d 1138, 1141— 42 (2d Cir.1989) (on full quantity seized from defendant not just quantity admitted in guilty plea); United States v. Guerrero, 863 F.2d 245, 247-50 (2d Cir.1988) (totality of the conduct relevant to the offense of conviction not just that which the defendant pled guilty to possessing).

Bosgang’s contention that the district court could not impose a sentence based on the three other fraudulent class action claims is entirely without merit. A district court can consider the full range of a defendant’s illegal conduct in imposing a sentence, and there is no requirement that a court cabin its sentence to that conduct to which the defendant pled. See Fernandez, 877 F.2d at 1141-42 (holding that a court can properly sentence a defendant based on the full range of the defendant’s conduct and not just on the conduct the defendant admitted committing); Guerrero, 863 F.2d at 250 (same). Likewise, Bosgang’s contention that the district court cannot order restitution to victims not included in the information is equally without merit. A court is authorized to order restitution to “persons other than the victim of the offense,” if the parties so agree in the plea agreement. 18 U.S.C. § 3663(a)(1); United States v. Firment, 296 F.3d 118, 122 (2d Cir.2002). We therefore reject Bosgang’s argument because his plea agreement expressly detailed that the restitution order would include restitution for Berdon and the other three claims administrators.

Bosgang argues that even if the district court could properly consider and order restitution based on the three other fraudulent class action claims, the district court was required to inform him of that in *30 order to fulfill its obligation to make certain inquiries under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11. He argues that because the information did not reference the other three class action claims administrators he did not know he could be sentenced to pay restitution to those claims administrators and so his plea was not knowing and voluntary. This argument fails for several reasons.

Rule 11 requires a sentencing court to inform the defendant and to determine that defendant understands any maximum possible penalty and any mandatory minimum penalty, the court’s authority to order restitution, and the advisory nature of the sentencing guidelines, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1), which the district court in this case clearly did. “[Tjhere is no requirement in Rule 11 itself that defendants be advised of their potential punishments pursuant to the Sentencing Guidelines rather than the criminal statute----” United States v. Andrades, 169 F.3d 131, 134 (2d Cir.1999). So long as the district court fulfills these duties, which it did in this case, Rule 11 does not mandate that the district court also inform the defendant that a sentence could be based on the defendant’s background and conduct that does not form the basis of the offense. See Fernandez, 877 F.2d at 1142-44 (holding the district court committed no error in failing to explain that the sentencing range would be based on the amount of drugs defendant was caught transporting and not on the lesser amount defendant pled guilty to possessing).

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Related

Williams v. New York
337 U.S. 241 (Supreme Court, 1949)
Joe Stevenson Saddler v. United States
531 F.2d 83 (Second Circuit, 1976)
John Stanley Wojtowicz v. United States
550 F.2d 786 (Second Circuit, 1977)
United States v. Luis Quintero
937 F.2d 95 (Second Circuit, 1991)
Harry Nicks v. United States
955 F.2d 161 (Second Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Daniel M. Firment
296 F.3d 118 (Second Circuit, 2002)
United States v. Yannotti
541 F.3d 112 (Second Circuit, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
467 F. App'x 27, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bosgang-ca2-2012.