United States v. John Ellis Cupit, IV

169 F.3d 536, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 2889, 1999 WL 93082
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 25, 1999
Docket98-2945
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 169 F.3d 536 (United States v. John Ellis Cupit, IV) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. John Ellis Cupit, IV, 169 F.3d 536, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 2889, 1999 WL 93082 (8th Cir. 1999).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Defendant appellant John Ellis Cupit IV appeals his sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of making a false statement in connection with a loan application, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014. We reject and dismiss the appeal on the sentence of imprisonment, and affirm the order of restitution and the term of supervised release.

The Government indicted Cupit for his willful submission of false documents in support of a, $150,000 loan application to the Capital Bank of Sikeston, a federally insured financial institution. Cupit pleaded guilty to the charges under a plea agreement. Among other conditions of the plea agreement, the Government agreed to remain silent as to the exact sentence to be imposed by the district court, and both the Government and Cupit agreed to waive any right to appeal.

Prior to the sentence, Cupit objected to the sentence calculations made by the probation officer in the presentence report. As a result of the dispute between the Government and Cupit on the amount of the loss sustained by the victims, the district court held an evidentiary hearing to examine the guideline sentence and the amount of restitution to be imposed. Rejecting Cupit’s objections to the presentence report, the district judge determined the total offense level to be 15, a criminal history category of I, and a guideline sentencing range of 18-24 months. The district court then sentenced Cupit to serve twenty-one months of incarceration concurrently on both counts, followed by supervised release of five years, also to run concurrently on both counts, and required Cupit to make restitution to the victims in the total amount of $150,000. 1

Cupit brings this appeal from the sentence asserting the following:

1. The broad waiver of appeal in this case does not preclude Cupit from appealing his sentence because he did not enter into the agreement knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily. In essence, Cupit contends that a defendant cannot make a voluntary plea agreement prior to knowing what sentence will be imposed.

2. The broad waiver of appeal violates Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.

3. Cupit’s execution of the waiver of the right to appeal did not foreclose his appeal of the amount of restitution imposed by the district court where, as here, the plea agreement did not specifically refer to restitution, only to the “conviction or sentence.”

4. The five-year term of supervised release violated the plea agreement of the parties, which called for a three-year term of supervised release.

We refuse to consider the merits of Cupit’s appeal on issues one and two; after reviewing the merits on three and four, we affirm the district court’s ruling on those issues. This court first turns to the appeala-bility of the sentence itself. Cupit asserts that the district court violated Fed.R.Crim.P. Rule 11 and that Cupit’s waiver was not voluntary under the circumstances of this case, because Cupit did not know the proposed sentence at the time of the plea agreement. Cupit’s arguments must fail. Similar issues were determined in United States v. Michelsen, 141 F.3d 867 (8th Cir.1998), and that case requires rejection of Cupit’s appeal of his twenty-one-month sentence on these grounds. See Michelsen, 141 F.3d at 871-73.

*539 We next turn to Cupit’s claim seeking review of the amount of restitution awarded by the district court. In United States v. Greger, 98 F.3d 1080 (8th Cir.1996), this court disallowed an appeal from the award of restitution in which the court stated, “[s]o long as the sentence is not in conflict with the negotiated agreement, a knowing and voluntary waiver of the right to appeal ... will be enforced.” Greger, 98 F.3d at 1081 (citation omitted). The waiver instrument in Greger excluded an appeal of all issues but jurisdiction. Id. In contrast, the waiver of appeal here recites:

The defendant has been fully apprised of his right to appeal by his attorney and fully understands that he has a right to appeal his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3742. Both the defendant and the Government hereby mutually agree to waive all rights to appeal whatever sentence is imposed, including any issues that relate to the establishment of the Guideline range. The District Court’s decision as to these issues shall not be subject to appeal. However, the parties do specifically reserve the right to appeal from an upward or downward departure from the Guideline range that is established at sentencing.

Plea Agreement and Stipulation of Facts Relative to Sentencing at 7; App. at 17. We recognize that the above statement constitutes a broad waiver of the parties’ rights to appeal. But that language and the record as a whole do not clearly demonstrate whether the parties ever agreed that the district court’s award of restitution should not be subject to appellate review. We do not resolve the waiver of restitution issue in this case, but instead turn to the merits.

We review the district court’s factual finding of loss relating to restitution under a clearly erroneous standard, see United States v. Morris, 18 F.3d 562, 570 (8th Cir.1994), and a challenge to the district court’s application or construction of the Guidelines de novo. See United States v. Wells, 127 F.3d 739, 744 (8th Cir.1997). In cases like this one involving a fraudulent loan application, § 2Fl.l.of the Guidelines governs the determination of loss for sentencing purposes. See id. at 748 (citing U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1, comment, n. 7(b)); see also Morris, 18 F.3d at 570. Application Note 7(b) to § 2F1.1 defines loss as the greater of, the actual loss resulting from the fraudulent conduct or the amount of loss the defendant intended to inflict. See U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1, comment, (n. 7(b)). The restitution here represents a documented actual loss to a bank and thereafter to the victims in the total sum of $150,000. The record indicates that the victims, as guarantors of corporate loans, were each required to pay the lending bank $75,000. The record, therefore, supports the district court’s finding of loss.

Cupit asserts, however, that he has legitimate claims against the corporation. 2 And further, that he is entitled to offset those claims, as to at least one of the victims, a part owner of the corporation in question, against the amount awarded by the district court in restitution.

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Bluebook (online)
169 F.3d 536, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 2889, 1999 WL 93082, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-john-ellis-cupit-iv-ca8-1999.