United States v. Warren Elvin Ensminger

174 F.3d 1143, 1999 Colo. J. C.A.R. 2139, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 7515, 1999 WL 224926
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedApril 19, 1999
Docket98-6179
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 174 F.3d 1143 (United States v. Warren Elvin Ensminger) 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. Warren Elvin Ensminger, 174 F.3d 1143, 1999 Colo. J. C.A.R. 2139, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 7515, 1999 WL 224926 (10th Cir. 1999).

Opinions

[1145]*1145PAUL KELLY, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Defendant Warren Elvin Ensminger appeals Ms eighteen-month sentence and conditions of probation for violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (false statements). The district court adopted the offense level calculation contained in the presentence report under USSG § 2F1.1 (1997), which governs offenses involving fraud and deceit, including a ten-level enhancement for an intended loss of $540,700 and a two-level enhancement for more than minimal planning. In addition, the district court imposed several conditions of probation, including the monitoring of Mr. Ensminger’s financial dealings. Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we reverse in part and affirm in part.

Background

Since Mr. Ensminger’s appeal only deals with the propriety of his sentence and probation conditions, we briefly set out the factual background of this case. Mr. En-sminger was indicted on three counts. Counts one and two charged him with a scheme to obtain an ownership interest in certain real property through submitting bogus financial instruments in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1341. Mr. Ensminger allegedly purchased at least- six false money orders and mailed two of them to different banks, in order to pay off outstanding promissory notes executed by his mother. Count three charged him with presenting a document to the U.S. Marshal’s Office which falsely indicated that he had prevailed in a civil action against the Farm Credit Bank of Wichita, Kansas, when in fact, Mr. Ensminger knew that the action had been dismissed. This document, which Mr. Ensminger entitled “Special Execution and Order of Assistance for Possession,” also indicated that the lawsuit entitled him to possession of certain real properties located in Major County, Oklahoma. Mr. Ensminger pled guilty to count three in exchange for the dismissal of counts one and two.

Mr. Ensminger filed several objections to the presentence report, and the district court heard argument on these objections at the sentencing hearing on April 8, 1998. Mr. Ensminger contended that the amount of intended loss should not be calculated at the full value of the properties in question ($540,700), but rather on the one-ninth interest Mr. Ensminger would have received as a beneficiary of his mother’s estate had his scheme been successful. Alternatively, Mr. Ensminger argued that there was no possibility of his scheme being successful, and thus that the amount of intended loss should be zero. He further argued that a more than minimal planning enhancement should not be applied to his case. The district court rejected his arguments and sentenced Mr. Ensminger to eighteen months imprisonment and two years of supervised release.

Mr. Ensminger appeals, contending that the district court erred in (1) enhancing his offense level based on an intended loss of $540,700; (2) enhancing his offense level based on a finding of more than minimal planning; and (3) imposing special conditions of supervised release relating to financial disclosures and restrictions.

Discussion

On appeal, “[w]e review the district court’s legal interpretation of the guidelines de novo, and review its findings of fact for clear error, giving due deference to the district court’s application of the guidelines to the facts.” United States v. Janusz, 135 F.3d 1319, 1324 (10th Cir.1998) (citations omitted).

A. Amount of Intended Loss

The district court sentenced Mr. Ensminger based on the uncontested value of the properties, $540,700, that he attempted to have the U.S. Marshal seize. Mr. Ensminger argues that the district court erred in sentencing him based upon an intended loss of greater than $500,000, see USSG § 2Fl.l(b)(l)(K), because there was no possibility of loss occurring as a result of his “Special Execution and Order of Assistance for Possession.” He asserts that he was “incapable of causing loss because of governmental control over the [1146]*1146civil execution process and judicial intervention.” Aplt. Brief at 14.

Mr. Ensminger relies upon our decisions in United States v. Galbraith, 20 F.3d 1054 (10th Cir.1994), and United States v. Santiago, 977 F.2d 517 (10th Cir.1992). In Galbraith, the defendant argued that “because his offense was committed in response to an undercover sting operation structured so there was no possibility of loss to a victim, the intended or probable loss was zero.” Galbraith, 20 F.3d at 1059. We agreed, stating that

the loss defendant subjectively intended to cause is not controlling if he was incapable of inflicting that loss. Because this was an undercover sting operation which was structured to sell stock to a pension fund that did not exist, defendant could not have occasioned any loss even if the scheme had been completed.

Id.

Galbraith relied in part on Santiago, in which we held that “whatever a defendant’s subjective belief, an intended loss under Guidelines § 2F1.1 cannot exceed the loss a defendant in fact could have occasioned if his or her fraud had been entirely successful.” Santiago, 977 F.2d at 524. In that case the defendant fraudulently filed a claim of $11,000 with his insurance company. However, the market value of the car that he falsely claimed was stolen was only $4,800, which was the maximum amount the insurance company would have paid had his scheme been successful. In finding that the $4,800 was the intended loss, we looked to the economic reality of the situation and established the principle that “the fair market value of what a defendant has taken or attempted to take defines the upper limit for loss valuation.” Id. at 525.

While there is no dispute that the fair market value of the properties that Mr. Ensminger attempted to obtain was $540,-700, see Apit. Brief at 12-13, there is also no dispute that there was no way in which the scheme could have been successful. Although Mr. Ensminger successfully persuaded a deputy clerk to sign the "Special Execution" document, the properties he sought had already been sold to third parties. No record facts suggest that there was even a remote probability that he could have either obtained the properties or the proceeds from the sale of the properties. While it is true that Mr. En-sminger tried to obtain the properties, and perhaps thought he could succeed, under Gal braith we must still consider that "the loss defendant subjectively intended to cause is not controlling if he was incapable of inflicting that loss." Gaibraith, 20 F.3d at 1059. Ordinarily, it would be necessary to remand for a determination on this issue; however, because the uncon-troverted facts establish that there was no possibility for Mr. Ensminger to have succeeded in his scheme 1

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174 F.3d 1143, 1999 Colo. J. C.A.R. 2139, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 7515, 1999 WL 224926, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-warren-elvin-ensminger-ca10-1999.