United States v. Redman

887 F.3d 789
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedApril 17, 2018
DocketNo. 17-1357
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 887 F.3d 789 (United States v. Redman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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. Redman, 887 F.3d 789 (7th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

Stadtmueller, District Judge.

From September 2015 until his arrest in February 2016, Scott Redman posed as a psychiatrist at a Chicago medical clinic using the name and license number of Dr. Julian Lopez Garcia. He "treated" patients who suffered from a variety of mental illnesses, and he "prescribed" a variety of controlled substances. Redman is not a doctor; indeed, he did not attend school past the tenth grade.

A jury found Redman guilty of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, furnishing false and fraudulent material information in documents required under the federal drug laws, and distributing controlled substances. The district court sentenced Redman to 157 months' imprisonment for these offenses.

On appeal, Redman does not contest his convictions, but he claims that the district court erred in determining the appropriate sentence. Finding no error in Redman's sentence, we affirm the decision of the district court.

I. HISTORY

Scott Redman identified himself as Dr. Julian Lopez Garcia when he responded to an advertisement for an open psychiatry position at Clarity Clinic, a downtown Chicago mental health clinic. He submitted a curriculum vitae in which he claimed to have attended the University of Connecticut for undergraduate and medical school, as well as a residency, and that he was licensed to practice medicine in the state of Illinois. In mid-September 2015, Redman interviewed with the clinic owner, Dr. Pavan Prasad, to whom he recited the lies listed on his curriculum vitae. At the close of the inter-view, Dr. Prasad offered him a job.

Redman initially declined the offer, but at the end of October 2015, he reached out to Dr. Prasad and accepted a con-tract position at Clarity Clinic as a psychiatrist. Prior to commencing employment, Redman provided falsified documentation of his credentials: an employment application, payroll application, I-9 Employment *791Eligibility Verification form, W-9 form, photograph of an Indiana driver's license with Redman's picture, photocopy of an Illinois medical license, photocopy of a medical school diploma, a residency certificate for training in psychiatry, and a photocopy of a social security card.

He enlisted the help of online counterfeiting services ("fakediplomanow.com," for example) to create some of these falsified documents. Each bore the name of Julian Lopez Garcia. In addition, Redman submitted an online Drug Enforcement Administration Form 224 using false information to obtain a DEA registration number, thereby enabling him to prescribe controlled substances. He obtained malpractice insurance by using false information as well.

During his approximately two-and-a-half months of employment at Clarity Clinic, Redman "treated" patients with a combination of therapy and controlled substances. He issued approximately 92 prescriptions for controlled substances to 57 patients. Unsurprisingly, the government's trial presentation included evidence that Redman made errors in his practice, particularly with respect to prescriptions.

In one instance, Redman prescribed 5 milligrams of a particular controlled substance, benzodiazepine, for which a normal dosage is in the range of .5 milligrams. Dr. Prasad testified that any dosage of benzodiazepine for the particular patient to whom Redman prescribed it was concerning because of the patient's previous history of addiction. Another patient, whom Redman diagnosed with two mental illnesses treatable with two prescription medications, testified at trial that she later saw a real doctor who determined she had been completely misdiagnosed and changed her medications.

The clinic attributed Redman's mistakes to his being a re-cent graduate, a "little rusty" on fundamentals that he would eventually correct. At trial, Dr. Prasad testified that he thought Redman was doing a "decent job." By the end of his time at Clarity Clinic, Redman was seeing nearly a dozen patients a day.

Dr. Prasad also testified that Redman often reminisced about his days in residency, and that Redman attended professional functions at which he would chat with other physicians about his experience and interest in certain areas of medicine.

Local authorities, and later the federal government, were alerted to Redman's scheme when the real Dr. Julian Lopez Garcia reported that someone had used his State of Illinois medical license number to obtain a DEA registration number in his name. Redman was charged in a ten-count indictment with three counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, one count of aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1), one count of furnishing false and fraudulent material in an application filed under Title 21 of the United States Code in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(a)(4)(A), and four counts of distributing a controlled substance in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Redman proceeded to trial and was convicted by a jury on all counts.

The probation officer who prepared Redman's presentence investigation report recommended grouping the wire fraud counts together with the false statements count, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2. All counts for distribution of a controlled substance were also grouped. The aggravated identity theft count was not grouped.

Various enhancements were applied in the calculation for the offense level for each group, and the combined adjusted offense level was 31. Coupled with a criminal history category of II, Redman's sentencing Guidelines range was 121 to 151 *792months' imprisonment, with a mandatory two-year consecutive term of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft count.

At sentencing, Redman objected to enhancements for the monetary loss amount, the number of victims, the use of sophisticated means, his conscious or reckless disregard for the risk of death or injury to patients, his abuse of trust, and the involvement of vulnerable victims. The district court over-ruled his objections, adopted the Guidelines calculation as presented in the presentence report, and imposed a sentence of 157 months' imprisonment.

II. ANALYSIS

Redman's appeal challenges the district court's application of only two of the above-noted enhancements, both applied to the offense level for the grouping of counts for wire fraud and false statements: a two-level enhancement for use of sophisticated means under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(10)(C), and a two-level enhancement for conduct that involved a conscious or reckless disregard of a risk of death or serious bodily injury under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(15)(A).

We review the district court's interpretation of the sentencing Guidelines de novo

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
887 F.3d 789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-redman-ca7-2018.