United States v. William Quinn

306 F. App'x 989
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 16, 2009
Docket07-4093
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 306 F. App'x 989 (United States v. William Quinn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. William Quinn, 306 F. App'x 989 (6th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

SILER, Circuit Judge.

Defendant William Lee Quinn appeals his sentence of 70 months imprisonment following his plea of guilty to attempted bank larceny. He argues that the district court (1) erred by calculating an advisory Guidelines range based on facts not admitted by him or proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt and (2) miscalculated the Guidelines range, misapplying the economic reality test when determining the amount of “intended loss,” so that the resulting sentence was unreasonable. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2007, Quinn entered a plea of guilty to Count 1 of the Superseding Information charging him with attempting to enter a bank with the intent to commit a felony by *991 taking over $1,000 (ie., attempted bank larceny) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2118(a). In the plea agreement, the parties agreed that Quinn attempted to enter the North-side Bank and Trust Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the intent to steal $4,000,000 in 2006. Quinn recruited co-defendant Lisa Moss to drive him from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Cincinnati. Then, a government cooperating witness brought him a bag to carry the money and drove him to the bank. The FBI took Quinn into custody as he was approaching the bank.

In sentencing Quinn, the district court calculated the advisory Guidelines range of 70 to 87 months two ways that yielded identical results: (1) using an intended loss amount of $1,390,794 (the amount on hand in the bank at the time of the attempted bank larceny) and (2) using the stipulated intended loss amount of $4,000,000 and departing downward to a range that reflected a loss amount of $1,390,794 because otherwise the offense level would overstate the seriousness of the offense. It then considered the other § 3553(a) factors and imposed a sentence of 70 months imprisonment, within the advisory Guidelines range.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the constitutionality of sentences de novo, the district court’s calculation of the amount of loss for clear error, and the reasonableness of the sentence for abuse of discretion. United States v. Conatser, 514 F.3d 508, 527 (6th Cir.2008); United States v. Sexton, 512 F.3d 326, 331 (6th Cir.2008); United States v. Blackwell, 459 F.3d 739, 772 (6th Cir.2006).

III. DISCUSSION

(1) Using facts not admitted by Quinn or proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt

Quinn argues that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury because (1) the Government did not establish the amount of “intended loss” and (2) the district court should not have used the $1,390,794 of cash allegedly on hand at the bank as the loss amount because the amount was not agreed to by Quinn or found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Government met its burden of establishing the amount of “intended loss.” In the plea agreement, the parties stipulated and agreed that the “intended loss” was $4,000,000. The Government read this stipulation to the district court at the change of plea hearing, and Quinn did not challenge this stipulation. Then, the presentence investigation report (“PSR”) included the stipulated “intended loss” amount of $4,000,000, and at sentencing, the district court adopted the factual statements in the PSR.

We have squarely rejected the argument that after United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), all facts that increase the severity of a sentence must be admitted by the defendant or found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Sexton, 512 F.3d 326, 329-30 (6th Cir. 2008). “Where, as here, the district court recognized the advisory nature of the guidelines, the increase in a defendant’s sentence based on facts not admitted by the defendant or proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt does not violate the Sixth Amendment.” United States v. Conatser, 514 F.3d 508, 527 (2008). The district court properly used the $1,390,794 of cash in the bank to come up with a more appropriate sentence. Although not included in the PSR, the probation officer called the bank to ascertain the amount of funds on hand at the time of the attempted robbery. *992 This determination inured to the benefit of Quinn at sentencing.

Further, by departing downward to the Guidelines range for an “intended loss” of $1,390,794, the district court did not increase the sentence beyond the maximum authorized. United States v. Jones, 417 F.3d 547, 551 (6th Cir.2005) (“A downward departure ... results in a discretionarily reduced sentence, not one that is mandatorily increased beyond the maximum authorized by a jury verdict or guilty plea.”). “Since defendants were sentenced under an advisory Guidelines scheme, the maximum statutory penalty that the district court could impose was determined by the statute of conviction, rather than by a Guidelines range calculated using only jury findings.” Sexton, 512 F.3d at 330. The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) is 240 months, well above the sentence that Quinn received.

(2) The economic reality test

The district court’s determination that the intended loss was $4,000,000, followed by a downward departure because the offense level overstated the seriousness of the offense, was not clearly erroneous. 1 The offense level for larceny depends on the amount of actual or intended loss. United States v. McBride, 362 F.3d 360, 373 (6th Cir.2004) (citing USSG § 2B1.1). “‘Intended loss’ (I) means the pecuniary harm that was intended to result from the offense; and (II) includes intended pecuniary harm that would have been impossible or unlikely to occur {e.g., as in a government sting operation, or an insurance fraud in which the claim exceeded the insured value).” USSG § 2Bl.lcmt. n. 3(A)(ii). The definition of intended loss may reach unlikely or impossible losses, unless the offender’s mistaken belief of the facts is “so irrational that the words ‘intended loss’ can no longer reasonably apply.” McBride, 362 F.3d at 374.

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Bluebook (online)
306 F. App'x 989, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-william-quinn-ca6-2009.