United States v. Vinson

147 F. App'x 763
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 2, 2005
Docket04-5039
StatusUnpublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 147 F. App'x 763 (United States v. Vinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Vinson, 147 F. App'x 763 (10th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT **

PER CURIAM.

Wallace Dean Vinson appeals the district court’s sentence of thirty months of imprisonment, which also included seven supervised release conditions. Mr. Vinson argues that the district court erred in (1) calculating the amount of loss for his offense, and determining facts that increased the maximum sentence to which he was subject under the Guidelines, in violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), and (2) imposing special sex offender conditions of supervised release that were not reasonably related to the controlling statutory factors and were too restrictive upon his liberty. He asks us to vacate his sentence, remand for re-sentencing, and remove the sex offender conditions on his supervised release. Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We conclude that (1) there is no violation of Blakely or its progeny and (2) the district court did not abuse its discretion when it imposed the special offense conditions. Thus, we affirm Mr. Vinson’s conviction and sentence.

I. BACKGROUND

Mr. Vinson was hired as President of Rockland International in 1999. Rockland International Corporation, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, manufactured environmentally safe products and published books on health and nutrition. In 2000, he transferred to the parent company, Rockland Corporation, as vice-president of sales. With Mr. Vinson’s assistance, Rockland established a business relationship with a company called Renaissance For Life (“RFL”). Mr. Vinson became the primary contact person with RFL. During 2000 and 2001, Mr. Vinson diverted approximately $159,990.72 in payments sent by RFL to Rockland into his own accounts for personal use.

The government issued a twelve-count indictment against Mr. Vinson for subscribing to a false tax return, wire fraud, and mail fraud. The indictment against Mr. Vinson listed Rockland’s loss at approximately $77,000. On September 26, 2003, Mr. Vinson pleaded guilty to all charges.

At the change of plea hearing, the district court asked defense counsel for his loss calculations, and he replied: “I think we have some issues ... with the amount of the actual loss to the company. I think [the government is] saying about $208,000.00. We might wish to present the Court with some different figures ..., but other than that, it’s pretty close to what we are saying.” Change of Plea Tr. (“COP”), at 14-15. The district court informed Mr. Vinson that it is “not unusual *766 when the Probation Office prepares a Presentence Report [‘PSR’], and that’s the report I rely on for the purpose of sentencing, that the guidelines turn out to be different than has been estimated by the attorneys today.... Do you understand that?” Id. at 17-18. Mr. Vinson replied: ‘Tes, I do, Your Honor.” Id. at 18. Mr. Vinson then told the court that he would “like to state I don’t agree with the amounts, but I’m sure we’ll settle that; but I do agree with the charges and I take full responsibility for it.” Id. at 27. During the sentencing hearing, when the district court gave Mr. Vinson the opportunity to make a statement, he acknowledged “I did violate my trust or their trust.” Sent. Tr. at 16.

In calculating Mr. Vinson’s sentence under the Guidelines, the district court adopted the recommendations in the PSR and its addendum. The district court found the amount of loss was $159,990.72, and Mr. Vinson did not object to this amount. Because the total loss was between $120,000 and $200,000, the district court increased Mr. Vinson’s base offense level by ten points. It also applied a two-level adjustment for his abuse of trust, under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3. Mr. Vinson does not challenge this adjustment.

The district court calculated Mr. Vinson’s total offense level to be 17, with a criminal history category II and an applicable Guidelines range of 27 to 33 months’ imprisonment. The district court sentenced Mr. Vinson to 30 months’ imprisonment and ordered payment of restitution in the amount of $159,990.72. When it announced the sentence, the district court noted that “[a] sentence in the middle of the guideline range is being imposed because there are no aggravating or mitigating circumstances that have not been taken into account in determining the guideline range for the instant offense.” Sent. Tr. at 18.

The district court also imposed three years of supervised release and several special sex offender conditions based on Mr. Vinson’s prior criminal history. The district court instructed Mr. Vinson (1) to register as a sex offender in accordance with state law; (2) to participate in sex offender and/or mental health treatment as directed by the probation officer, including submission to a risk assessment and psychological testing; (3) not to have contact with children under the age of eighteen without the prior written permission of the probation officer; (4) not to engage in any occupation, business, or profession where he would have access to children under the age of eighteen without prior written approval of the probation officer; (5) not to loiter within one hundred feet of schools, parks, playgrounds, arcades, or other places frequented by children; (6) not to possess sexually stimulating or sexually oriented material as deemed inappropriate by the probation officer; and (7) not to subscribe to or use any Internet service without first receiving written permission from his probation officer.

Mr. Vinson pleaded guilty in 1994 in California to three felony sex crimes: two counts of a lewd act with a minor and one count of sexual intercourse with a minor. The convictions were based on a single event in which Mr. Vinson had sexual relations with an underage hitchhiker. He served six months in jail and was placed on probation for five years, during which time he registered as a sex offender in California and reportedly underwent psychological testing. The record does not indicate that he registered as a sex offender in Oklahoma or Texas, where he resided before being sentenced in this matter.

On appeal, Mr. Vinson argues that (1) his sentence should be vacated in light of *767 Blakely, and (2) the district court abused its discretion in imposing special sex offender conditions during his supervised release.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Booker error

Mr. Vinson was sentenced before the Supreme Court’s decisions in Blakely and United States v. Booker, — U.S. -, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). “When the defendant raised Blakely before this court, the Supreme Court had not yet issued Booker. We nonetheless apply both cases.” United States v. Dalton, 409 F.3d 1247, 1249 n. 1 (10th Cir.2005).

In Booker, the Supreme Court applied its holding in Blakely

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147 F. App'x 763, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-vinson-ca10-2005.