United States v. Xavier Taylor

818 F.3d 671, 2016 WL 1179745
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 28, 2016
Docket14-13288
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 818 F.3d 671 (United States v. Xavier Taylor) 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. Xavier Taylor, 818 F.3d 671, 2016 WL 1179745 (11th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

WILSON, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-appellant Xavier Taylor used stolen identity information to add himself as an authorized user to other individuals’ pre-existing credit card accounts and open new accounts in the names of stolen -identities, causing banks to create new credit cards that included him as an authorized user. For this conduct, he was charged with and pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in unauthorized access devices, 1 in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(2), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(l). At *673 sentencing, the district court applied ' á two-level production enhancement pursuant to § 2B1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (the Guidelines) to the § 1029(a) conviction and sentenced Taylor to a total of sixty-one months’ imprisonment. This appeal followed, in which Taylor argues that interrelated provisions of the Guidelines preclude application of the production enhancement to his sentence.

Specifically, Taylor contends that he does not qualify for the § 2B1.1 production enhancement to his § 1029(a) conviction because a different provision of the Guidelines — § 2B1.6 — prohibits this enhancement for defendants who, like him, were also convicted under § 1028A. Taylor also avers that, even if the enhancement ■ can apply in a § 1028A case, he did not “produce” unauthorized access devices given that an innocent third'party (the banks, not Taylor or a criminal coconspirator) created the credit cards. 1 We have not yet addressed these issues in a published opinion.

After thorough consideration, we conclude that § 2B1.6 of the Guidelines does not prevent application of a § 2B1.1 production enhancement to a sentence imposed in conjunction with a § ‘ 1028A conviction when ■ the underlying conduct at issue involves “production,” rather than conduct limited to “transfer, possession, or use.” We also hold that willfully causing an innocent third party to produce a fraudulent credit card qualifies as “production” under the Guidelines. Accordingly, We affirm the district court.

I. Background

Using stolen identities, Taylor contacted banks, gained access to credit card accounts, and added himself as an authorized user of the accounts. The banks issued new credit cards associated with those accounts. All of the credit cards the banks issued exhibited the account numbers of the people whose identities Taylor had stolen, and some of the credit cards were even issued in Taylor’s name. Upon receiving the credit cards, Taylor activated them by telephone and began making unauthorized purchases totaling several thousand dollars. : • ••

Agents fi'om the United States Secret Service eventually obtained arid -executed a Search warrant for 'Taylor’s home. The search revealed approximately thirty-three credit cards linked to the accounts of Taylor’s victims. Taylor was arrested and charged With five counts of access device fraud. Subsequently, Taylor entered irito a written plea' agreement with the government. In exchange for favorable sentencing considerations, Taylor agreed to ple'ad guilty to one count of trafficking in unauthorized access devices and one count of aggravated identity theft iri 'satisfaction of all'five counts.

At sentencing, Taylor received several .enhancements to His base offense level, one of Which was a two-level enhancement for an offense involving the production of an unauthorized access device. See U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(11)(B)(i). Taylor objected to the imposition of this enhancement. Following a sentencing hearing, the district court overruled Taylor’s objection and, after considering the advisory sentencing range of thirty-seven to forty-six months, imposed a thirty-seven month sentence for the § 1029(a) conviction,‘followed by a consecutive mandatory twenty-four month sentence for the § 1028A(a)(1) conviction, for a total sixty-one month term of imprisonment.

II. Standard of Réview

“We review a district court’s legal conclusions regarding the- Sentencing Guidelines de novo, and its factual findings for clear error.” United States v. Cruz, *674 713 F.3d 600, 605 (11th Cir.2013). Questions of statutory or Guidelines interpretation receive de novo review. See United States v. Krawczak, 331 F.3d 1302, 1305 (11th Cir.2003).

III. Discussion

On appeal, Taylor contends that the district court erroneously applied the two-level enhancement pursuant to § 2B1.1(b)(11)(B)(i) for production of an unauthorized access device (the production enhancement). Our resolution of Taylor’s appeal requires us to answer two legal questions. First, does a defendant’s conviction for aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A preclude application of a production enhancement to the defendant’s sentence, irrespective of the conduct involved? Second, does causing an unauthorized access device to be produced by an innocent third party constitute “production” under the Guidelines? We find that the answer to the first question is no, while the answer to the second question is yes. We address each legal issue in turn and then apply our conclusions to Taylor’s conduct.

A. Application of a Production Enhancement Despite a Conviction Under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A

As a threshold matter, we must determine whether a district court may apply a production enhancement under § 2B1.1(b)(11)(B)(i) of the Guidelines when, as here, the defendant has been convicted under both 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a) and § 1028A. By way of background, the advisory sentencing range for a § 1029(a) conviction is calculated pursuant to the Sentencing Guidelines. In contrast, the Guidelines are not a factor in determining the sentence for a conviction' under § 1028A(a)(1) because conviction for this latter offense results in a mandatory, consecutive two-year term of imprisonment. See § 1028A(b). Yet, a conviction under § 1028A can nonetheless impact the calculation of the Guidelines for a § 1029(a) conviction because § 2B1.6 potentially precludes application of the § 2B1.1(b)(11) production enhancement for a § 1029(a) conviction when the defendant has also been convicted of § 1028A.

In pertinent part, § 2Bl.l(b)(ll) of the Guidelines provides a two-level sentencing enhancement if the offense involved:

(A) the possession or use of any (i) device-making equipment, or (ii) authentication feature;

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Bluebook (online)
818 F.3d 671, 2016 WL 1179745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-xavier-taylor-ca11-2016.