USCA1 Opinion
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
No. 96-1592
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Appellee,
v.
ROBERT MCMINN,
Defendant, Appellant.
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APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
[Hon. Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr., U.S. District Judge]
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Before
Torruella, Chief Judge,
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Cyr* and Boudin, Circuit Judges.
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Matthew J. Lahey, with whom McLaughlin, Hemeon & Lahey, P.A. was
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on brief for appellant.
Jean B. Weld, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Paul M.
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Gagnon, United States Attorney, was on brief for appellee.
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January 13, 1997
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*Cyr, J., was not present at oral argument.
CYR, Circuit Judge. Appellant Robert McMinn mounts
CYR, Circuit Judge.
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four challenges to the sentence imposed following his conviction
on several felony counts relating to his acquisition, interstate
transportation, and sale of stolen audio and video components.
See 18 U.S.C. 371, 2314 & 2315. As the sentence enhancement
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imposed pursuant to U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(b)(4)(B) for engaging "in
the business of receiving and selling stolen property" ("ITB"
enhancement) constituted error, we vacate the district court
judgment and remand for resentencing.
I
I
DISCUSSION
DISCUSSION
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A. Upward Departure (U.S.S.G. 4A1.3)
A. Upward Departure (U.S.S.G. 4A1.3)
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The district court granted the government's motion for
an upward departure under U.S.S.G. 4A1.3 (1995), from a Total
Offense Level ("TOL") of 18 and a Criminal History Category
("CHC") of III, to TOL 20 and CHC VI, on the ground that CHC III
would have underrepresented the seriousness of McMinn's prior
criminal conduct and the likelihood of recidivism. McMinn
contends that the three affidavits relied upon by the district
court for its departure-related findings were not reliable.1
First, the district court did not place principal
reliance on the challenged affidavits for its factual findings
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1We review factual findings for clear error, see United
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States v. Shrader, 56 F.3d 288, 292 (1st Cir. 1995), mindful that
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the sentencing court is vested with "wide discretion" to deter-
mine whether sentencing information is reliable. Id. at 294.
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2
relating to the seriousness of McMinn's prior criminal conduct.2
Moreover, though McMinn claims that the affidavits were uncorrob-
orated, and the affiants untrustworthy, he chose not to cross-
examine one of the affiants at sentencing. In addition, he had
cross-examined the other two affiants at the earlier trial on
drug-conspiracy charges before the same judge. See supra note 1.
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Finally, the district court was presented with unchallenged
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police reports, describing various burglaries and corroborating
other information in the affidavits. See United States v.
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Shrader, 56 F.3d 288, 294 (1st Cir. 1995). There was no clear
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error.
B. Obstruction of Justice Enhancement (U.S.S.G. 3C1.1)
B. Obstruction of Justice Enhancement (U.S.S.G. 3C1.1)
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Second, McMinn challenges a two-level enhancement for
obstruction of justice, see U.S.S.G. 3C1.1, based on threaten-
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ing letters he sent in February, April and October of 1995 to
Steven Serfass, a prospective government witness. McMinn argues
that Serfass was not connected with the investigation, prosecu-
tion, or sentencing of the "instant" offenses involving inter-
state transportation, receipt, and sale of stolen audio and video
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2Rather, the upward departure decision was based upon the
following considerations as well:
(1) five felony drug convictions entered June 13, 1989, and
six convictions based on criminal conduct occurring between 1990
and 1994, which were not taken into account in calculating the
CHC;
(2) an uncharged burglary;
(3) an uncharged conspiracy to distribute large quantities
of marijuana between 1987 and 1995; and, finally,
(4) the fact that McMinn was on bail when he committed the
stolen-property offense, and had also violated parole and commit-
ted various other infractions, including drug use, while incar-
cerated.
3
components, since Serfass neither testified, nor were the threat-
ening letters admitted, at the trial on these charges. Instead,
Serfass testified at an earlier trial on drug charges which were
severed from the stolen-property charges on June 20, 1995. As
the enhancement for obstruction of justice under U.S.S.G. 3C1.1
applies only to obstructing an "investigation, prosecution, or
sentencing of the instant offense," McMinn claims that the
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district court erred as a matter of law in concluding that
conduct unconnected with the stolen-property charges could
support the enhancement. We find no error.
At the time McMinn mailed the threatening letters,
Serfass remained a prospective government witness in relation to
the "instant offense"; i.e., the stolen-property charges. It was
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not until January 1996, immediately prior to the trial on the
stolen-property charges, that it became clear that Serfass would
not testify. Thus, there was no error in the district court's
determination that McMinn attempted to obstruct the prosecution
of the stolen-property charges by mailing the threatening let-
ters. C. ITB Enhancement (U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(b)(4)(B)(1995))
C. ITB Enhancement (U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(b)(4)(B)(1995))
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Third, McMinn contends that the district court erred in
imposing a four-level ITB enhancement under U.S.S.G.
2B1.1(b)(4)(B) (1995). Relying primarily on United States v.
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Braslawsky, 913 F.2d 466, 468 (7th Cir. 1990), he argues that an
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ITB enhancement is impermissible unless the defendant was in the
business of receiving and selling property stolen by others
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(i.e., in the business of "fencing" stolen property). The
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4
district court ruling that McMinn's criminal conduct came within
the ITB enhancement guideline is reviewed de novo. See United
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States v. St. Cyr, 977 F.2d 698, 701 (1st Cir. 1992).
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The four-level ITB enhancement guideline, by its
express terms, applies only if "the offense involved receiving
stolen property, and the defendant was a person in the business
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of receiving and selling stolen property." U.S.S.G.
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2B1.1(b)(4)(B) (emphasis added). Thus, on its face at least, the
ITB guideline does not apply to a defendant who makes a business
of stealing property; that is, a professional "thief," as distin-
guished from a professional fence. See Braslawsky, 913 F.2d at
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468 (holding that, by its terms, the ITB enhancement does not
apply to a professional thief).
Under the common-law tradition, stealing property from
another normally does not equate with "receiving" property from
its rightful owner. See Milanovich v. United States, 365 U.S.
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551, 558 (1961) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting) ("a thief cannot be
charged with committing two offenses that is, stealing and
receiving the goods he has stolen[,] . . . for the
commonsensical, if not obvious, reason that a man who takes
property does not at the same time give himself the property he
has taken.") (citations omitted); Baugh v. United States, 540
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F.2d 1245, 1246 (4th Cir. 1976) ("logic . . . instructs us that
there is an inherent inconsistency in treating a taking as a
receipt"); see also United States v. Trzcinski, 553 F.2d 851, 853
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(3d Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 919 (1977). Therefore,
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5
statutes which criminalize "receiving" are generally not thought
to target the thief himself, but the wrongdoer who knowingly
acquires the loot from or through the thief. See, e.g.,
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Milanovich, 365 U.S. at 729-730; Heflin v. United States, 358
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U.S. 415, 419-20 (1959); United States v. Washington, 861 F.2d
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350, 352 (2d Cir. 1988). Thus, a fair reading of the plain
language employed in section 2B1.1(b)(4)(B) strongly suggests
that a defendant engaged in selling only the property he is
responsible for stealing has not "received" it in the sense
contemplated by the Sentencing Commission.
Should there be any doubt about the plain language, the
parallel development of the sentencing guideline governing thefts
of property, see U.S.S.G. 2B1.1, and the guideline on receiving
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stolen property, see id. 2B1.2, together with the evolution of
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the language employed in the ITB enhancement guideline itself,
see id. 2B1.1(b)(4)(B), tend to confirm that the Commission
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envisioned that "theft" alone not constitute a "receiving" of
stolen property for these purposes. Under the original Sentenc-
ing Guidelines, U.S.S.G. 2B1.1 (1987) governed "Larceny,
Embezzlement and Other Forms of Theft," whereas U.S.S.G. 2B1.2
(1987) governed "Receiving Stolen Property." The offense of
receiving stolen property was subject to an ITB enhancement, see
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U.S.S.G. 2B1.2(b)(2)(A) (1987) ("If the offense [i.e. receiving
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stolen property] was committed by a person in the business of
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selling stolen property, increase by 4 levels.") (emphasis
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added), which clearly applied to the professional fence and not
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to a defendant who simply sold property he pilfered. See id.
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2B1.2, comment (backg'd) (1987) ("Persons who receive stolen
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property for resale receive a sentence enhancement . . . .")
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(emphasis added);3 Braslawsky, 913 F.2d at 468. The guideline
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governing theft crimes included no corresponding ITB enhancement.
See U.S.S.G. 2B1.1 (1987).
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The disjunctive treatment required under these two
guideline sections clearly implied that the Commission did not
intend that the ITB enhancement apply to defendants responsible
only for the theft of the ill-gotten property and not its "re-
sale." See supra note 3. At the time the Sentencing Guidelines
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were promulgated, the Commission consistently demonstrated its
intention that like enhancements be applicable to both "theft"
and "receipt" offenses by including a parallel enhancement
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3The Commission's choice of the word "resale" vividly
suggests a prior sale (by the thief to the fence) conspicuously
lacking between the rightful owner and the thief. Thus, the
commentary provides authoritative definition to the scope of the
original ITB enhancement. See Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S.
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36, 38 (1993) (" . . . commentary in the Guidelines Manual that
interprets or explains a guideline is authoritative unless it
violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsis-
tent with, or a plainly erroneous reading of, that guideline.").
The background commentary to U.S.S.G. 2B1.2 was deleted at the
time U.S.S.G. 2B1.2 was consolidated into U.S.S.G. 2B1.1.
See U.S.S.G. 2B1.1, as amended by amendment 481 (effective Nov.
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1, 1993). But though there is no longer any commentary on the
ITB enhancement, see United States v. Richardson, 14 F.3d 666,
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674 (1st Cir. 1994), neither is there any reason to believe that
consolidation of the two original guideline sections, and the
consequent deletion of the background commentary, was meant to
alter the scope of the ITB enhancement. Rather, along with the
consolidation and deletion of 24 other guideline sections, the
Commission consolidated 2B1.2 with 2B1.1 because the offenses
were closely related and the Commission wanted to simplify the
Guidelines Manual. See U.S.S.G. App. C, amend. 481 (1995).
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provision in each guideline. See id. 2B1.1(b)(2); 2B1.2(b)(3)
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(1987) (parallel enhancements relating to stealing and receiving
(stolen) firearm, destructive device or controlled substance);
id. 2B1.1(b)(4); 2B1.2(b)(2)(B) (1987) (parallel enhancements
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for more than minimal planning relating to stealing and receiving
(stolen) property); id. 2B1.1(b)(6); 2B1.2(b)(4) (1987)
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(parallel enhancements for engaging in organized criminal activi-
ty relating to stealing and receiving (stolen) property); see
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also U.S.S.G. App. C, amend. 117 (effective Nov. 1, 1989) (adding
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ITB enhancement to U.S.S.G. 2B6.1 trafficking in motor
vehicles with altered or obliterated identification numbers
"to resolve an inconsistency between . . . section [2B6.1] and
2B1.2").
The subsequent evolution of the ITB enhancement guide-
line likewise substantiates that it was meant to cover the
professional fence, not the thief. As the Commission broadened
the scope of U.S.S.G. 2B1.2 ("Receiving Stolen Property"), the
language in the ITB enhancement itself was amended to retain its
narrow focus upon defendants who "fence" stolen goods. The
"Receiving Stolen Property" guideline was amended in 1989 to
cover "Transporting, Transferring, Transmitting, or Possessing
Stolen Property." U.S.S.G. 2B1.2, as amended by amend. 102
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(effective Nov. 1, 1989). Under the same amendment, the ITB
enhancement guideline was changed to read, "[i]f the offense was
committed by a person in the business of receiving and selling
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stolen property, increase by 4 levels." Id. 2B1.2(b)(3)(A)
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(1989) (emphasis added to amendatory language). Thus, it is
apparent from the context that the words "receiving and" were
included so as to restrict application of the ITB enhancement to
defendants who receive and sell stolen property (i.e. profession-
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al fences) and to exclude from its reach others, including the
thief, who transport, transfer, transmit, or possess, and then
sell, stolen property.
In 1993, the separate guideline provisions governing
theft offenses and the receiving of stolen property were consoli-
dated. See U.S.S.G. 2B1.1 as amended by amend. 481 (effective
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Nov. 1, 1993). The same 1993 amendment introduced the language
currently found in the ITB enhancement guideline, prescribing a
four-level enhancement "[i]f the offense involved receiving
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stolen property, and the defendant was a person in the business
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of receiving and selling stolen property." Id. 2B1.1(b)(5)(A)
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(1993) (emphasis added to amendatory language).
The historical context in which the 1993 amendment was
adopted thus demonstrates that the reconstructed ITB enhancement
was designed to apply only to defendants who "received" stolen
property and whose offense of conviction would come within the
scope of former U.S.S.G. 2B1.2 ("Receiving Stolen Property"),
as opposed to defendants who pilfered the property and whose
offense of conviction therefore came within the scope of the
original version of U.S.S.G. 2B1.1. It seems reasonably clear,
therefore, viewed in an historical perspective, that the words
9
"receiving and" were added to preserve the limited reach of the
ITB enhancement.
On the other hand, the interpretation propounded by the
government presumes that the Commission twice amended the ITB
enhancement so as to make it applicable only to defendants who
"receive" stolen property, yet intended the term "receiving" to
mean merely "taking possession of," thereby encompassing simple
theft. Though as a literal matter, without regard to its histor-
ical context, the term "receiving" does not necessarily exclude
"theft," we conclude that the references to defendants who
"receive and sell" stolen property were not meant to apply to a
defendant who simply sells only property he has stolen.
Our construction is guided by conventional interpretive
principles. See United States v. DeLuca, 17 F.3d 6, 10 (1st Cir.
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1994) (applying customary rules of statutory interpretation to
sentencing guidelines). It avoids interpreting the words "re-
ceiving and" out of the ITB enhancement guideline as surplusage.
See United States v. Campos-Serrano, 404 U.S. 293, 301 n.14
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(1971) ("A statute ought, upon the whole, to be so construed
that, if it can be prevented, no clause, sentence, or word shall
be superfluous, void, or insignificant."). Whereas, were we to
adopt the government's view that the language in the current
ITB enhancement ("in the business of receiving and selling stolen
property") reaches both the thief and the professional fence
then the language of the original ITB enhancement ("in the
10
business . . . of selling stolen property") need never have been
amended in 1989.
Our interpretation comports with basic guideline
sentencing policy as well. See 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(1),(2)
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(A),(B),(C)&(5). The services of a professional fence undoubted-
ly facilitate the ready, advantageous disposition of property
stolen by the less well-situated thief, thereby providing a
significant inducement to commit theft offenses. See United
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States v. Sutton, 77 F.3d 91, 94 (5th Cir. 1996); Braslawsky, 913
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F.2d at 468; United States v. Bolin, 423 F.2d 834, 838 (9th
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Cir.), cert. denied, 398 U.S. 954 (1970); Carl Klockars, The
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Professional Fence 144 (1974) (discussing the adage, "if there
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were no receivers, there would be no thieves"). It is reasonable
to assume, as a general rule, that a professional fencing opera-
tion efficiently can dispose of greater quantities of stolen
goods than could the individual thieves who supply the profes-
sional fence, see Klockars at 69-135, thereby enabling both the
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thieves and the fence to realize greater returns. Cf.
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Braslawsky, 913 F.2d at 468. Thus, as a rule professional fences
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may be expected to induce more stealing.
Furthermore, the interposition of a sophisticated
fencing operation between the thief and the ultimate purchaser of
the stolen property may confound or obstruct the investigation
and prosecution of theft offenses. Often, the stolen property
itself may be the only tangible evidence connecting the thief to
the crime. Since the professional fence is better positioned to
11
move stolen goods quickly into the hands of the ultimate "black
market" consumer, see Klockars at 77 n.2, 106-13, the loot is
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more likely to be dispersed before law enforcement agencies can
respond. Consequently, the fence not only affords the thief a
less risky and more efficient alternative for disposing of the
booty, but the increased efficiency comes at the expense of
effective law enforcement.4
The government argues, nonetheless, that the ITB
enhancement guideline should be construed simply to require proof
that McMinn's sales of stolen goods had a certain regularity or
sophistication. Cf. St. Cyr, 977 F.2d at 703 (adopting a "total-
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ity of the circumstances" test). For the reasons stated above,
we reject the government's interpretation as less consistent with
the language, history, and purpose of the ITB enhancement guide-
line.5 We think it important to point out that our
opinion in St. Cyr does not support the position advocated by the
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4These considerations represent an especially serious hin-
drance to law enforcement when the professional fence utilizes a
legitimate "front," such as a pawn shop or an outlet dealing in
distressed goods at sharply lower prices. See United States v.
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Robinson, 698 F.2d 448, 453 (D.C. Cir. 1983); Klockars at 69-135.
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The "front" may afford a superficially valid justification for
the low sale prices (i.e. the goods were pawned to the "front" or
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acquired as distressed goods) and thus serve to impede an infer-
ence that the fence knew the goods were stolen.
5Nor is the caselaw in other circuits inconsistent with the
requirement that the defendant must be a "fence" in order for the
ITB enhancement to apply. See, e.g., Sutton, 77 F.3d at 94;
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United States v. Zuniga, 66 F.3d 225, 229 (9th Cir. 1995); United
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States v. Warshawsky, 20 F.3d 204, 214-15 (6th Cir. 1994);
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United States v. King, 21 F.3d 1302, 1303 n.2 (3d Cir. 1994);
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United States v. Esquivel, 919 F.2d 957, 959 (5th Cir. 1990); see
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also St. Cyr, 977 F.2d at 703.
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12
government. St. Cyr neither expressed nor implied disapproval of
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the basic proposition that the ITB enhancement guideline should
apply only to "professional fences." See id. at 703 ("We think
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this assessment fits harmoniously . . . with the decisions of
those few circuit courts that have addressed the meaning of [the
ITB guideline]."). Rather, the St. Cyr panel observed that a
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"professional fence" test is not particularly helpful. Id. at
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702-03 ("Defining the term 'professional fence' is as chancy as
defining the language of the guideline itself."). Although the
"totality of the circumstances" test announced in St. Cyr did
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define the term "in the business," the court never reached the
question squarely presented here; viz., whether a defendant need
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have been in the business of "receiving and selling" stolen
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property (i.e. acting as a fence) in order for the ITB enhance-
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ment to apply. See also United States v. Richardson, 14 F.3d
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666, 675 (1st Cir. 1994) ("evidence . . . clearly demonstrates
that defendant was a fence"); cf. United States v. Tutiven, 40
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F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir. 1994) ("As it was stipulated that Tutiven did
not steal the motor vehicles . . . logic pretty much compels the
conclusion that Tutiven knowingly 'received stolen property.'"),
cert. denied, 115 S. Ct. 1391 (1995).
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The government in our case points to substantial
evidence that McMinn engaged not only in extensive thievery but
in storing and disseminating stolen property as well. Nothing
prevents a professional thief from also conducting a fencing
operation of sufficient size and continuity to qualify for the
13
ITB enhancement; criminals, too, may have more than one line of
business. For the reasons we have already indicated, however, a
thief would not qualify for the ITB enhancement if the only goods
he distributed were those which he had stolen.
There is nothing in the government's analysis or in the
district court's findings to indicate that McMinn sold property
which he had not stolen. Of course, since reasonable inferences
are always permitted, the case might be quite different if the
only evidence were that McMinn had stored and sold large quanti-
ties of stolen property. Here, however, the evidence revealed
that McMinn had stolen a great deal of property and, as the
record now stands, we have no basis to suppose that he did not
steal it all.
Finally, the government argues in the alternative that
McMinn should be treated as a professional fence because he
neither proffered evidence, nor admitted, that he had pilfered
all the stolen goods he sold. Since it is the government's
burden to prove that McMinn received and sold goods stolen by
others, however, its argument is fundamentally flawed. See St.
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Cyr, 977 F.2d at 702 ("the government bears the burden of estab-
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lishing that the ITB enhancement applies in a given case").6
II
II
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
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6As the ITB enhancement is inapplicable to McMinn, it is
unnecessary to resolve the "double counting" claim; that is,
whether it was appropriate to consider the same criminal conduct
in determining the upward departure and the ITB enhancement.
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For the foregoing reasons, the district court judgment
is vacated and the case is remanded for resentencing consistent
with this opinion.
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