United States v. Walter J. Rayborn, Jr.

957 F.2d 841, 70 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5102, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 6452, 1992 WL 56039
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 9, 1992
Docket90-3679
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 957 F.2d 841 (United States v. Walter J. Rayborn, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Walter J. Rayborn, Jr., 957 F.2d 841, 70 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5102, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 6452, 1992 WL 56039 (11th Cir. 1992).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Walter J. Rayborn, Jr., the appellant, prepared and filed federal income tax returns in the names of persons claiming to own fishing boats. Under Title 26 of the Internal Revenue Code, commercial fishermen may claim a tax credit on their personal tax returns for excise taxes assessed on fuel vessels use on inland and intercoastal waterways. This particular tax credit provides claimants with a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the tax and thus, can generate large tax refunds.

To promote his tax fraud scheme, Ray-born persuaded others to serve as recruiters to seek out persons who would allow their names and social security numbers to be employed to generate fraudulent tax refunds. Rayborn would then prepare the returns for these persons claiming the ownership of a commercial fishing vessel. Rayborn shared the proceeds of the refunds generated with the recruiters and the persons who allowed their names and social security numbers to be used. After pleading guilty to this tax fraud scheme, the district court sentenced Rayborn to thirty-three months in the federal prison system. The district court ordered Ray-born to surrender on August 1, 1988.

During the time Rayborn was allowed to remain free on his own recognizance, he committed the offenses involved in this appeal. Before June 2, 1988, Rayborn approached Charles Dereberry and entered into an agreement with him to file a fraudulent 1987 tax return. The return stated that Dereberry owned a commercial fishing vessel and that he was entitled to a federal income tax refund. Dereberry did not sign the tax return, but he did show Rayborn copies of his signature. Rayborn then forged Dereberry’s signature on the fraudulent tax return and filed it with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Based on the 1987 tax return Rayborn filed, the IRS paid Dereberry a tax refund of $22,192. Upon receipt of the refund monies, Dereberry paid Rayborn $5,000.

On July 11,1988, Rayborn filed a fraudulent income tax return for 1986 using Dere-berry’s name but without Dereberry’s knowledge. In the income tax return, Ray-born sought a refund of $23,289 based on the tax credit for commercial fuel use. After forging Dereberry’s signature, Rayborn submitted the return to the IRS. On this occasion, the IRS rejected the fraudulent return because Dereberry had previously filed a legitimate 1986 tax return. Since the IRS did not pay this refund amount, Rayborn’s actions caused the IRS to incur a total loss of the amount paid on the fraudulent 1987 return, $22,192.

On March 28, 1990, a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida indicted Rayborn for three counts of conspiracy and making fraudulent claims to the Internal Revenue Service, all violations of 18 U.S.C. § 287. Rayborn entered into an agreement with the government in which he pleaded guilty to Count II of the three-count indictment. Specifically, Count II of the indictment detailed the transaction whereby Rayborn received $5,000 from Dereberry for the fraudulent 1987 tax return. Count I of the indictment charged a conspiracy, and Count III charged Rayborn’s conduct in submitting the fraudulent 1986 tax return. In *843 accordance with the plea agreement, Counts I and III were dismissed.

On July 17, 1990, the district court sentenced Rayborn pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. In arriving at Ray-born’s sentence, the district court weighed the conduct charged in Count III of the indictment to determine Rayborn’s base offense level. The district court also considered Rayborn’s related case in which he was convicted of similar charges on May 9, 1988 in Alabama. At the time Rayborn committed the instant offense, he had not served any prison time for his May 9, 1988, conviction.

In arriving at Rayborn’s base offense level, the district court included in the amount the IRS lost not only the $22,192 the IRS suffered in actual losses, but also the $23,289 claimed in the fraudulent, but unpaid, 1986 return. Under United States Sentencing Guidelines § 2Fl.l(b)(l), the inclusion of the potential losses in Count III caused Rayborn’s sentence to be increased by five levels.

The district court also added three points to Rayborn’s sentence calculation pursuant to Sentencing Guidelines § 4Al.l(a) because it included in Rayborn’s criminal history a sentence of imprisonment for his 1988 offense, even though he had not begun serving that sentence at the time he committed the instant offense. Consequently, the district court sentenced Ray-born to twenty-one months in prison to run consecutively to the Alabama sentence.

I.ISSUES

Rayborn raises two issues on appeal. The first issue is whether the district court erred by increasing Rayborn’s base offense level under Sentencing Guidelines §§ 1B1.3 and 2F1.1(b)(1) for the amount lost as a result of his offense conduct. The second issue is whether the district court erred by including in Rayborn’s criminal history an assessment of a sentence of imprisonment for the 1988 offense under Sentencing Guidelines § 4A1.1, even though Rayborn had not begun serving the sentence until after his sentencing in- this case.

II. CONTENTIONS

As to the first issue, Rayborn contends that the district court incorrectly cumulat-ed the actual and potential losses to the IRS. As to the second issue, Rayborn contends that the district court erroneously computed the point valuation for his prior criminal history.

III. DISCUSSION

Rayborn first contends that the sentencing judge incorrectly applied guideline section 2Fl.l(b)(l) to his case. Section 2F1.1 establishes a base offense level of six for crimes involving fraud or deceit, and provides for an increase in the base offense level- which corresponds to the amount of loss the district court calculates. Thus, under section 2F1.1(b)(1), the higher the amount of calculated loss, the more the base offense level is increased.

Rayborn asserts that the district court erroneously calculated the total loss amount when it cumulated losses detailed under Counts II and III of the indictment because Count III was dismissed. Rayborn further argues that the loss was miscalculated because a portion of the loss described in Count II was attributable to Der-eberry. Rayborn argues that his base offense level should be calculated using a loss figure of $5,000. Rayborn further argues that since his sentence was increased for more than minimal planning, a loss figure over $5,000 would punish him twice for the same offense.

Rayborn’s first argument, that the losses detailed in Counts II and III of the indictment cannot be cumulated, is incorrect. Under guideline section 2F1.1 and the applicable commentary, it is clear that a district court may consider losses from dismissed counts of an indictment when determining the total loss amount.

The comments accompanying section 2F1.1 (note 6 and note 7), provide:

Some fraudulent schemes may result in multiple count indictments, depending on the technical elements of the offense. The cumulative loss produced by a com *844

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Bluebook (online)
957 F.2d 841, 70 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5102, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 6452, 1992 WL 56039, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-walter-j-rayborn-jr-ca11-1992.