United States v. Shultz

880 F. Supp. 605, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3632, 1995 WL 128524
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 2, 1995
Docket2:94-cv-00067
StatusPublished

This text of 880 F. Supp. 605 (United States v. Shultz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Shultz, 880 F. Supp. 605, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3632, 1995 WL 128524 (N.D. Ind. 1995).

Opinion

SENTENCING MEMORANDUM

MILLER, District Judge.

Stephen Shultz owned a business called Micromasters. In 1992, Mr. Shultz and Don Langenderfer used the business to launder about $21,000 Mr. Langenderfer had made in the drug trade. As a result, Mr. Shultz has tendered guilty pleas to two counts of aiding and abetting money laundering, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(l)(B)(i), 2, as part of a plea agreement in which eight other charges are to be dismissed. One objection was made to the presentence report. The court adopts the remainder of the presentence report — ¶¶ 1-31 and 33-72 — as its own findings, specifically including ¶¶ 51-60 regarding Mr. Shultz’s earning ability and financial condition, with the additional findings that since the date of the presentenee report, Mr. Shultz’s financial condition has worsened: Micromasters’ net debt now approaches $30,000; further, there is no ready market for the stock identified in ¶54 of the presentence report.

Because the guidelines in effect at the time of the offenses are no more lenient, the court applies the November 1, 1994 version of the sentencing guidelines.

The base offense level for money laundering is 20. U.S.S.G. § 2Sl.l(a)(2). That offense level is increased to 23 because the defendant knew or believed that the moneys were from illegal drug transactions. U.S.S.G. § 2Sl.l(b)(l). Because the offenses involved less than $100,000, no adjustment is made for the amount of money laundered. U.S.S.G. § 2Sl.l(b)(2). The offenses are “grouped” together pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2(d).

The presentence report recommends that Mr. Shultz be denied the offense level reductions for .acceptance of responsibility provided by U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1. Mr. Shultz and the government both recommend that the court grant the reductions. Those recommendations, of course, are not binding on the court. United States v. Garcia, 35 F.3d 1125 (7th Cir.1994).

U.S.S.G. § 3El.l(a) provides a two-level reduction in offense level if the defendant clearly demonstrates acceptance of responsibility for his offense. U.S.S.G. § 3El.l(b) provides an additional one-level reduction if (1) the defendant qualifies for the two-level reduction under § 3El.l(a), (2) the defendant’s offense level is 16 or greater, and (3) the defendant either (a) timely provided complete information to the government concerning his own involvement in the offense, or (b) notified the prosecution of his intention to plead guilty sufficiently in advance of trial as to allow the government to avoid trial preparation and to allow the court to allocate its resources efficiently. The defendant bears the burden of showing a clear acceptance of responsibility. United States v. Dvorak, 41 F.3d 1215, 1217 (7th Cir.1994),

Sentencing courts in this circuit are to examine the non-exclusive list of considerations set forth in the application notes to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 when assessing a claim of acceptance of responsibility, United States v. Beal, 960 F.2d 629, 635 (7th Cir.), cert. denied — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 230, 121 L.Ed.2d 166 (1992); United States v. Sullivan, 916 F.2d 417, 420-421 (7th Cir.1990), although a single factor may outweigh all the *608 others. United States v. Corn, 956 F.2d 135, 137 (7th Cir.), cert. denied — U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 1574, 118 L.Ed.2d 218 (1992). Those considerations are as follows:

а. Truthful admission of the conduct comprising the offense or offenses of conviction and truthfully admitting or not falsely denying additional relevant conduct. Based on the government’s recommendation, the court believes that this factor favors Mr. Shultz’s claim for the offense level reduction. Further, at the sentencing hearing, Mr. Shultz conceded that he is an alcoholic, thus accepting responsibility on a different plane, apart from the offenses of conviction.
б. Voluntary termination or withdrawal from criminal conduct or associations. This factor cuts in both directions. Mr. Shultz’s offenses of conviction relate to his involvement with Mr. Langenderfer; Mr. Shultz voluntarily terminated that relationship. On the other hand, Mr. Shultz also was arrested for drunk driving after pleading guilty in this case, undercutting a claim that he has withdrawn from criminal conduct.
c. Voluntary payment of restitution prior to adjudication of guilt. This factor has no application; restitution is impossible for the offense of money laundering.
d. Voluntary surrender to authorities promptly after commission of the offense. Mr. Shultz did not surrender voluntarily promptly after the offenses’ commission. The offenses occurred in 1992, and he was indicted in September, 1994. Nonetheless, the court believes this to be a factor that is significant only on those rare occasions when the described conduct occurs. New defendants do this.
e.Voluntary assistance to authorities in the recovery of the fruits and instru-mentalities of the offense. The record is not sufficient to allow the court to evaluate this factor. Mr. Shultz has agreed to cooperate with investigators, but his alcoholism apparently has interfered with his cooperation. It is unclear whether Mr. Shultz has helped authorities recover any fruits or instrumentalities of the offense.
f. Voluntary resignation from the office or position held during the commission of the offense. This factor does not favor a reduction in offense level. Mr. Shultz remains in his position as head of Micromasters. The coux-t affords little weight to this factor, however, since Micro-masters is Mr. Shultz’s source of legitimate income.
g. Post-offense rehabilitative efforts. This factor cuts both ways. Mr. Shultz is an alcoholic, although the record does not support an inference that his disease played any role in the offense conduct. As is detailed below, Mr. Shultz has made post-offense rehabilitative efforts that did not bear fruit.
h. The timeliness of the defendant’s conduct in manifesting the acceptance of responsibility. This factor favors Mr. Shultz, who pleaded guilty two weeks before trial.

These are not, however, the only factors on which the probation officer relied in making her recommendation. Mr. Shultz performed poorly with respect to the conditions of his pretrial supervision. On the day he was placed on pretrial supervision, with a condition that he refrain from the excessive use of alcohol, Mr. Shultz’s urine tested positivej’or the presence of alcohol. A similar urinalysis

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Hernando Escobar-Mejia
915 F.2d 1152 (Seventh Circuit, 1990)
United States v. David B. Sullivan
916 F.2d 417 (Seventh Circuit, 1990)
United States v. Leslie K. Corn
956 F.2d 135 (Seventh Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Kevin L. Beal
960 F.2d 629 (Seventh Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Arnita Trussel and James Barker
961 F.2d 685 (Seventh Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Kurt W. McDonald
22 F.3d 139 (Seventh Circuit, 1994)
United States v. Jeffrey Kirkland
28 F.3d 49 (Seventh Circuit, 1994)
United States v. James E. Dvorak
41 F.3d 1215 (Seventh Circuit, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
880 F. Supp. 605, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3632, 1995 WL 128524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-shultz-innd-1995.