United States v. Wester ( 1996 )


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    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
    ____________________

    No. 95-1143

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

    Appellee,

    v.

    C. WILLIAM WESTER,

    Defendant, Appellant.

    ____________________

    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

    FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

    [Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton, U.S. District Judge] ___________________

    ____________________

    Before

    Selya, Cyr and Boudin,

    Circuit Judges. ______________

    ____________________

    Rhea P. Grossman, P.A. for appellant. ______________________
    Ellen R. Meltzer, Special Counsel, Fraud Section, Criminal __________________
    Division, Department of Justice, with whom Donald K. Stern, United ________________
    States Attorney, and Pamela Merchant, New England Bank Fraud Task ________________
    Force, were on brief for the United States.

    ____________________

    July 22, 1996
    ____________________




















    BOUDIN, Circuit Judge. Clary William Wester was ______________

    formerly president, chairman of the board, and chief

    executive officer of First Service Bank for Savings ("First

    Service"), a federally insured bank in Leominster,

    Massachusetts. In the late 1980s, Wester arranged various

    transactions at First Service, including a series of loans by

    First Service to Webster's partners in a separate real estate

    venture, made with the understanding that the partners would

    use the loaned funds to buy out Wester's interest in the

    partnership. At trial, Wester was convicted by a jury of

    several different crimes. He now challenges the jury

    instructions and two adjustments to his sentence.

    Although Wester does not directly dispute the

    sufficiency of the evidence, one of his claims as to jury

    instructions can be taken to raise the issue of sufficiency

    indirectly. For that reason, we begin by describing what the

    evidence would have permitted the jury to find. A reviewing

    court's perspective on the evidence depends on the claim of

    error being considered, and for a sufficiency claim, we take

    the evidence most favorable to the verdict. E.g., United ____ ______

    States v. Dodd, 43 F.3d 759, 760-61 (1st Cir. 1995). ______ ____

    In June 1986, Wester formed a partnership with three

    other men to construct a condominium project in Manchester,

    New Hampshire. The three others were Robert Fredo, senior

    vice president at First Service, Robert George, a developer,



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    and Charles Morgan, a broker. Wester and Fredo supplied

    start-up money, and Wester helped arrange a $12.4 million

    loan organized by New England Financial Resources, Inc.

    ("NEFR"), a commercial real estate lender not affiliated with

    First Service. The loan was secured by land and future

    improvements and a personal guaranty of the debt from each of

    the partners.

    Since Morgan had been a frequent borrower at First

    Service, NEFR was concerned that Wester's and Fredo's

    participation in the partnership might create conflicts of

    interest. As a condition of the loan NEFR required a

    certificate from First Service acknowledging that Wester and

    Fredo had disclosed their interest in the project to the

    board of directors of First Service. The certificate issued

    by First Service stated, inter alia, that the bank "was not _____ ____

    involved in the financing of this project and would not,

    without specific prior approval, grant any additional loans

    to Messrs. Morgan or George."

    In the fall of 1986, Morgan and George proposed another

    condominium project, this one in Massachusetts. Wester

    suggested that First Service participate in the project as a

    joint venturer, but said that he and Fredo would need to

    divest their interests in the earlier partnership. The four

    men agreed that Wester and Fredo would sell their interests

    to George and Morgan for $425,000 each, and be reimbursed for



    -3- -3-













    additional start-up money they had provided, all to be paid

    from future profits from the New Hampshire project. Before

    the details of the buyout plan had been resolved, First

    Service (through a subsidiary) joined the new project with

    Morgan and George, and the bank provided a $5 million loan to

    the venture.

    By June 1987, the New Hampshire project had yet to begin

    earning profits. Wester grew impatient and told George and

    Morgan that he wanted his buyout payments. When George said

    this was not feasible because of cash flow problems, Wester

    offered to provide First Service loans to George and Morgan

    to fund the buyout payments. These loans, and the resulting

    buyout payments, became the basis for most of the later

    charges against Wester.

    On June 12, 1987, George signed two promissory notes for

    unsecured loans by First Service totalling $200,000. That

    same day, George paid Wester and Fredo $100,000 each. Morgan

    received a $300,000 loan from First Service on June 12;

    several days later he paid Wester and Fredo $25,000 each, and

    George and Morgan (through the partnership) gave Wester and

    Fredo $250,000 for the start-up money previously contributed.



    Neither Wester nor Fredo disclosed the true purpose of

    these loans to First Service's loan review committee,





    -4- -4-













    executive committee, or board of directors.1 Nor did the

    supporting documentation reveal that the loaned funds were

    being used to fund the buyout. In one instance, the loan

    set-up sheets stated that the purpose of the loan was to

    "finance acquisition of real property"; in other instances no

    purpose for the loan was provided. The jury could have found

    that the failure to disclose the purpose of the loans to the

    loan review committee was material, deliberate, and

    dishonest.

    This process was repeated several times over in the

    following months, with Wester and Fredo arranging loans or

    letters of credit to Morgan, George or entities they

    controlled--and in one instance George's father--with

    portions of the proceeds returned to Wester and Fredo to

    satisfy the buyout. The last such loan was made on March 9,

    1988. On March 10, 1988, the buyout agreement was executed,

    and Wester's and Fredo's interests in the partnership were

    terminated "retroactive" to January 1, 1987.

    There was one more wrinkle of considerable importance.

    The buyout agreement included a provision for releasing

    Wester and Fredo from their personal guaranties on the


    ____________________

    1Under the bank's rules, all insider loans and all loans
    of over $5 million had to be approved by the board. The
    executive committee had to approve loans between $1 million
    and $5 million; and the loan review committee, on which
    Wester and Fredo sat with other officers, could approve loans
    up to $1 million.

    -5- -5-













    earlier $12.4 million loan from NEFR. NEFR, however, was

    concerned about the financial health of the New Hampshire

    condominium project. It made clear that it would only

    consent to the release if the partnership obtained a $2.3

    million bank loan or line of credit to provide additional

    security for the $12.4 million loan.

    Ultimately, Wester and Fredo arranged a $2.3 million

    loan by First Service for the partnership, without any

    disclosure to other bank officials of the connection to the

    proposed release and without approval by First Service's

    executive committee or board of directors. Under the bank's

    rules, approval by the former was evidently required because

    of the size of the loan. This loan and the promised release

    were each specified as offenses in the subsequent indictment.



    After a portion of the $2.3 million was disbursed to the

    partnership, and before NEFR formally executed Wester's and

    Fredo's releases from the guaranties, the FDIC began

    investigating the goings-on at First Service. Wester and

    Fredo were subsequently fired. First Service honored its

    commitment to the partnership and released the balance of the

    $2.3 million loan proceeds. NEFR never executed the

    releases, but neither did it call upon Wester or Fredo to pay

    based on their guaranties.





    -6- -6-













    On August 11, 1990, Wester and Fredo were named in a 22-

    count federal indictment charging them primarily with

    conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. 371, misapplication of bank funds, 18

    U.S.C. 656, and bank bribery, i.e., the soliciting or ____

    receiving of bribes or rewards for the making of the loans,

    18 U.S.C. 215. The loans for the buyout payments and for

    the release were charged as misapplications under section

    656; the payments and promised release were charged as bribes

    or rewards under section 215.

    Fredo pled guilty before trial to one count each of

    conspiracy, misapplication, and bank bribery, and testified

    for the government at Wester's trial. After a 13-day jury

    trial in July 1994, Wester was convicted of one count of

    conspiracy, five counts of misapplication, and six counts of

    bank bribery. He was acquitted of one count each of

    misapplication and bank bribery, and two tax evasion counts.

    In December 1994, Wester was sentenced to 46 months in

    prison. This appeal followed. For the reasons that follow,

    we affirm the convictions but remand for resentencing.

    1. Wester's main challenge to the trial proceedings

    concerns the district court's jury instructions on the

    misapplication counts. In relevant part, 18 U.S.C. 656

    provides criminal penalties for "an officer, director, agent,

    or employee of . . . national bank or insured bank . . .

    [who] willfully misapplies any of the moneys, funds or



    -7- -7-













    credits of such bank." Formally, the dispute on appeal

    centers around the phrase "willfully misapplies"; in reality,

    Wester's argument also presents the question whether the

    evidence was adequate.

    The problem that has confronted and perplexed the courts

    is that there is no statutory definition or common law

    heritage that gives content to the phrase "willfully

    misapplies." United States v. Gens, 493 F.2d 216, 221 (1st _____________ ____

    Cir. 1974). And to focus simply on the deprivation of

    property is hardly much help since it is a purpose of banks

    to lend money. In response, the case law has developed two

    notions that help to clarify and delimit the statute--one

    relating primarily to conduct and the other to intent.

    First, "misapplication" has been taken by most courts to

    mean "wrongful" use of the bank's moneys. See 1 Sand, et ___ __

    al., Modern Federal Jury Instructions 24.01 (1995). And, __ ________________________________

    second, the courts have uniformly read back into the statute

    an earlier requirement, removed by a careless revisor, that

    the defendant have intended "to injure or defraud" the bank.

    E.g., United States v. Angelos, 763 F.2d 859, 861 (7th Cir. ____ _____________ _______

    1985). Of course, the same facts can easily be the basis for

    deeming the conduct to be wrongful and the intent fraudulent;

    but both misapplication and scienter are required.

    In this case, the district court's affirmative charge

    describing the offense of misapplication was for the most



    -8- -8-













    part conventional. What Wester objects to on appeal is the

    court's refusal to give certain additional language _______

    specifically requested by Wester. The language--which Wester

    believes to have been required by our decision in Gens-- ____

    appears at two different points in Wester's requested

    instruction no. 37:

    I instruct you that a loan to a
    financially capable person who fully
    understands that it is his responsibility
    to repay the loan does not constitute
    misapplication, even if the bank officer
    involved with the loan receives proceeds
    of the loan, or some other benefit.
    Thus, in this case, with respect to the
    loans charged, if the debtors were
    financially capable of repaying the loans
    and that [sic] they understood that it
    was their responsibility to repay the
    loans, Mr. Wester must be acquitted on
    those counts irrespective of whether or
    not he received proceeds, or any other
    benefit, from those loans. . . .

    . . .

    Therefore, in this case, for each loan
    alleged in the Indictment as a
    misapplication of bank funds, if the
    named debtor was financially capable of
    repaying the loan and recognized his
    responsibility to repay the loan, there
    is no misapplication as a matter of law,
    even if proceeds of those loans or some
    other benefits were received by Mr.
    Wester.

    Needless to say, such language would have been very

    useful to Wester. The government, it appears, did not try to

    show that any of the designated borrowers in the

    misapplication counts (E.g., George and Morgan) were ____



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    fictitious or financially irresponsible or had never assumed

    liability for the loan. Wester suggests that for bona fide

    loans to financially responsible borrowers, there is no

    serious risk of harm to the bank and therefore, even apart

    from the authority of Gens, no reason to apply the statute. ____

    Wester's position is far from absurd, cf. United States ___ _____________

    v. Dochtery, 468 F.2d 989 (2d Cir. 1972), but in the end it ________

    reads the statute too narrowly. There is no indication that

    insider loans are inflexibly forbidden by federal law, but

    they obviously create a special set of dangers. At least one

    danger--quis custodiet ipsos custodes--is that the insider _______________________________

    who approves or fosters the loan may do so too readily if he

    himself benefits by it. Controls on such loans, including

    authorizations and disclosures, are therefore pertinent to

    the safety of the bank.

    Further, financial responsibility on the part of the

    borrower is not an absolute but a matter of degree. To say

    that the nominal borrower is at the outset financially

    capable of repayment hardly proves that the bank would have

    made the loan if it had been fully apprised of the risks and

    circumstances. Here, two members of First Service's

    executive committee testified that they would not have

    approved the loans if Wester had disclosed that the proceeds

    were going to fund the buyout of Wester and Fredo's

    interests.



    -10- -10-













    In this instance, the jury could reasonably have found

    that Wester caused the loans to be made for his own benefit

    without obtaining approvals from the executive committee or

    board of directors required under the bank's own rules (as to

    the largest $2.3 million loan) and (as to it and all others)

    because he deliberately suppressed or withheld information

    that the purpose of the loans was one that the bank would not

    have approved.2 This wrongful conduct permitted the jury in

    turn to find that Wester had engaged in the "misapplication"

    of bank funds. All that remained was to find scienter.

    The scienter requirement--an intent to injure or

    defraud--is stated in the alternative. In the Supreme

    Court's classic summary, "the words ``to defraud' commonly

    refer ``to wronging one in his property rights by dishonest

    means or schemes,' and ``usually signify the deprivation of

    something of value by trick, deceit, chicane or

    overreaching.'" McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350, 358 _______ _____________

    (1987) (citation omitted). Whether or not Wester intended to

    injure the bank, a jury could properly find that he intended

    to "defraud" the bank by causing it through consciously

    dishonest means to part with its property for his own

    benefit.

    ____________________

    2The government's brief conveys the impression that, as
    to all of the loans there was a failure to obtain required ___ ________
    approvals by a bank board or committee. On our reading of
    the transcript pages cited by the government, this is clear
    only as to the $2.3 million loan.

    -11- -11-













    This brings us to Gens. In that case, the defendant ____

    Gens, a director of the bank, had persuaded others (e.g., one ____

    of his friends) to borrow from the bank and to transfer the

    funds to him; and bank officers working with Gens had

    approved the loans knowing that he would obtain use of the

    funds. As this court read the trial court's charge, it told

    the jury that misapplication had occurred "if it was found

    that [the officers] granted loans to the [nominal borrowers]

    knowing that the proceeds would be turned over to Gens." 493

    F.2d at 221. The jury convicted Gens and he appealed.

    On appeal in Gens, this court rejected the government's ____

    broad notion that "willful misapplication occurs whenever ________

    bank officials grant loans to parties with the knowledge that

    the proceeds will go to a third party." 492 F.2d at 223

    (emphasis added). Our opinion pointed out that most of the

    pertinent cases under the misapplication statute involved

    loans to borrowers who were fictitious, unwitting,

    irresponsible or had not assumed liability. The contrary was

    so in Gens, except arguably as to one borrower; and the count ____

    as to that borrower was remanded for a new trial under new

    instructions.

    Gens held that the government's "whenever" theory was ____

    overbroad but Gens did not bar a misapplication charge in ____ ___

    every case where the straw happened to be a financially

    responsible borrower. We so noted in United States v. ______________



    -12- -12-













    Brennan, 994 F.2d 918 (1st Cir. 1993). There we said that a _______

    misapplication charge could be made out where a bank officer

    made loans to named debtors knowing that the proceeds would

    go to a third party and where the surrounding circumstances ___

    involved dishonesty (e.g., false entries in the bank's ____

    records). Id. at 923-24. ___

    Wester's requested instruction 37 was thus not warranted

    by Gens because it would have converted a circumstance in ____

    Gens--financial responsibility of the borrower--into an ____

    automatic defense requiring acquittal regardless of other

    evidence of dishonesty. Misapplication and intent to defraud

    turn largely on the facts; the facts here were enough to

    convict; and the requested instruction was overbroad and was

    properly denied.

    2. Wester's other complaint about the jury charge

    concerns the district court's instruction based on Pinkerton _________

    v. United States, 328 U.S. 640 (1946), that a conspirator may _____________

    be accountable for actions of co-conspirators taken in

    furtherance of the conspiracy. Wester was charged with a

    conspiracy that had as its objects misapplication and bank

    bribery. Wester claims that the district court's Pinkerton _________

    instruction was mistaken in two respects.

    First, Wester argues that the Pinkerton instruction _________

    allowed the jury to find him vicariously liable for the

    substantive crimes of a co-conspirator even if those crimes



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    were not the object of the conspiracy or in furtherance of

    it. For example, he says that the jury could have found that

    Wester was guilty of the substantive crime of bank bribery

    because one of his co-conspirators committed that offense;

    yet the jury could have found that the conspiracy's object

    was limited to misapplication.

    One wonders if Wester carefully read the transcript of

    the jury charge before making this argument. After correctly

    describing the other elements of the Pinkerton doctrine, the _________

    district court stated that the jury must find "that the

    substantive crime (attributed to the defendant vicariously)

    was committed pursuant to the common plan and understanding

    you found to exist among the conspirators," and that "the

    defendant could have reasonably foreseen that the substantive

    crime might be committed by his co-conspirator." In short,

    the instruction itself answers Wester's hypothetical.

    Second, Wester argues that it was inappropriate to give

    a Pinkerton instruction at all, because "where there is _________

    evidence of various substantive offenses . . . it raises the

    risk that the jury will resort to the inverse of Pinkerton _________

    and infer the existence of the conspiracy from the series of

    substantive criminal offenses." He says this risk was

    especially high here because the government concentrated its

    efforts on proving only the substantive charges. We agree

    neither with the premise nor the conclusion.



    -14- -14-













    In a case like this one, some interplay between the

    jury's assessment of guilt on the substantive counts and the

    conspiracy charge is both natural and appropriate. Indeed,

    the fact that substantive crimes were carried out by the

    defendants, following discussions between them, may well make

    the fact of agreement more likely. Rossetti v. Curran, 80 ________ ______

    F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 1996). This is so whether or not a

    Pinkerton charge is given; the charge is at most an added _________

    complication for the jury but one well within its ken.

    Here, the government offered ample evidence of

    discussions between the four partners that provided a firm

    basis for the conspiracy charge. There were pages of

    testimony concerning the meetings among Wester, Fredo, George

    and Morgan, that led to the various loans and the payments

    back to Wester. This testimony provided grounds for the jury

    to find that Wester participated in the charged conspiracy.

    And, because Wester argued that he was unaware of many acts

    undertaken by his co-conspirators (i.e, the false entries on ___

    loan documents by Fredo), a Pinkerton instruction was _________

    especially apt.

    3. Wester's challenges to his sentence have more

    merit. One argument is that the district court improperly

    calculated the victim loss figures for one of the bank

    bribery counts. The other concerns an adjustment for role in

    the offense. We address the claims in that order, describing



    -15- -15-













    at the outset the calculation of the sentence. Citations are

    to the 1987 edition of the guidelines which was applied in

    this case.

    At sentencing, the misapplication and bank bribery

    counts were grouped as closely related counts under U.S.S.G.

    3D1.2(d); and the bribery guideline was used to determine

    the base offense level because its level is the higher of the

    two. Id. 3D1.3(b). The base offense level for bank ___

    bribery is eight, id. 2B4.1, to be increased based on the ___

    greater of the value of the bribe or the improper benefit

    conferred in return, according to the table at section 2F1.1

    (fraud). In this case, the figure employed was the value of

    the bribe.

    At the sentencing hearing, the district court found that

    Wester received, or intended to receive, bribes totalling

    $12,650,000. From the presentence report, it appears that

    this total reflected Wester's release from personal liability

    on the $12.4 million NEFR loan (in exchange for arranging the

    $2.3 million loan to Morgan and George), and the $250,000 in

    buyout payments he received from Morgan and George. This

    $12,650,000 figure subjected Wester to the maximum 11-level

    increase. U.S.S.G. 2F1.1.

    The resulting offense level of 19 (8 plus 11) was

    further adjusted upward by 4 levels to 23, reflecting

    Wester's role as an organizer or leader (a separate issue



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    addressed below). There was no reduction for acceptance of

    responsibility. The resulting range, for a first time

    offender, is 46 to 57 months' imprisonment. The district

    court sentenced Wester, at the bottom of the range, to 46

    months.

    On appeal, Wester first maintains that the district

    court should not have included the $12.4 million figure as

    any part of the value of the bribes. He contends that the

    release from his personal guaranty on the $12.4 million loan

    should not count because NEFR did not consider the $2.3

    million loan a quid pro quo for the release, an argument that

    he supports by pointing out that NEFR never formally executed

    the release. He also asserts that First Service would likely

    have made the $2.3 million loan to Morgan and George

    regardless whether NEFR offered to release Wester and Fredo

    from personal liability.

    18 U.S.C. 215 makes it criminal corruptly to solicit,

    accept or agree to accept anything of value intending to be

    influenced or rewarded in connection with a bank transaction.

    The jury was entitled to find that Wester did foster the $2.3

    million loan to NEFR on the understanding that he would be

    relieved of his personal guaranty. Whether the bank would

    have made the loan anyway, and whether Wester actually

    received the promised benefit, are of no moment under the





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    statute; and the guidelines apply to a promised payment quite

    as much as to payment actually received.3

    Wester is on more solid ground when he argues that,

    assuming that the promised release of his personal guaranty

    could be counted for sentencing purposes, the district court

    incorrectly valued the release at the $12.4 million figure,

    which represented the full amount of the loan. It is far

    from clear that this issue was properly preserved, a point to

    which we will return; but the issue was discussed in oral

    argument in this court, and the government has furnished us

    with the Eighth Circuit's helpful decision in United States _____________

    v. Fitzhugh, 78 F.3d 1326, 1331 (8th Cir. 1996). ________

    In Fitzhugh, the court was concerned with valuing the ________

    improper benefit conferred on the borrower by a loan obtained

    by bank bribery. The trial court had taken this value to be

    simply the face amount of the loan; but as the Eighth Circuit

    explained, citing authority and examples, "[t]he value of a

    transaction is often quite different than the face amount of

    that transaction." 78 F.3d at 1331. Indeed, the current

    guideline commentary makes clear that (depending on the

    facts) the value of a loan might be no more than the value of

    a lower interest rate procured through the bribe. Id. ___

    ____________________

    3The statute by its own terms applies to solicitations
    and agreements to accept as well as to bribes actually paid.
    As to the guidelines, see, e.g., United States v. Gillis, 951 ___ ____ _____________ ______
    F.2d 580, 585 (4th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 112 S. Ct. 3030 ____________
    (1992); U.S.S.G. 2C1.1 (lack of completion irrelevant).

    -18- -18-













    Obviously, if Wester had been bribed with a one-dollar

    lottery ticket for a million dollar prize, no one would claim

    that the ticket should be valued at the full potential

    winnings. So, too, if he had been given a million-dollar

    term life insurance policy. Here, the actual value of

    Wester's promised release from his personal guaranty for the

    $12.4 million loan depends on such factors as the likelihood

    of default and the worth of the collateral securing the loan.

    It is unlikely that the economic value of the release comes

    close to $12.4 million.

    At sentencing, neither the parties nor the probation

    officer made any attempt to develop the information necessary

    to estimate reasonably the value of the release. It appears

    that in the district court Wester's primary concern was to

    exclude any consideration of the release (on grounds we have ___

    already rejected); and neither the probation officer nor the

    government seems to have noticed the underlying problem with

    using face value when the presentence report was prepared.

    Thus, the district court was not fairly alerted to the issue.

    Nevertheless, we think that the miscalculation should be

    noticed as plain error. United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725 _____________ _____

    (1993). Prejudice exists since it is almost certain that the

    misevaluation affected the guideline range, quite possibly to

    a significant extent; for example, eliminating the $12.4

    million figure entirely would lower the range to 30 to 37



    -19- -19-













    months. And while an appeals court is not required to notice

    every such unpreserved error in sentencing, Olano, 507 U.S. _____

    at 736, we think that this is a proper case for us to notice

    a significant mistake. United States v. Whiting, 28 F.3d _____________ _______

    1296, 1312 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 115 S. Ct. 378 (1994). _____ ______



    Wester's other main claim as to his sentence is that the

    district court erred in adjusting his offense level up four

    levels for his role in the offense, under U.S.S.G 3B1.1(a).

    This provision provides for a four-level enhancement if the

    court finds that "the defendant was an organizer or leader of

    a criminal activity which included five or more participants

    or was otherwise extensive." On appeal, Wester's only

    developed challenge is to the latter requirement that the

    activity include five or more participants or be "otherwise

    extensive."

    At the sentencing hearing, the district judge found that

    Wester was an organizer or leader, based on his capacity as a

    top official at First Service and because the scheme likely

    could not have taken place without Wester's leadership. From

    this the court concluded that the enhancement was warranted,

    without making any additional record finding as to whether

    the enterprise involved five or more participants or was

    "otherwise extensive."





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    The court did adopt the presentence report by checking

    the appropriate box, but the report is itself a source of

    uncertainty. The initial report appears to rely on the "five

    or more participants" prong, stating that Wester was the

    organizer of criminal activity involving himself, Fredo,

    George, Morgan, and then naming several other individuals

    such as Morgan's accountant, George's lawyer, officials at

    NEFR, and employees of First Service. There was no reliance

    on other variables such as duration, number of episodes, or

    amount.

    Before sentencing, Wester objected to this finding on

    the grounds that the necessary five participants must each be

    criminally responsible, not merely involved, see United __________ ___ ______

    States v. Graciani, 61 F.3d 70, 75 (1st Cir. 1995), and that ______ ________

    none of the persons named in the report beyond the four main

    actors were criminally responsible for the relevant actions.

    In response, the probation officer prepared an amended report

    that took the position that Wester's activities were

    "otherwise extensive" because of the number of individuals

    directly involved and the necessary use of other unknowing

    employees of First Service in order to effect the scheme.

    But the amended report did not clearly abandon the

    earlier position that there were also five or more

    participants, and the district judge did not make clear which

    of the report's two alternative grounds he was adopting. The



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    problem is not that independent detailed findings by the

    district court are required; rather, it is that we cannot

    effectively review the decision to impose the four-level

    increase without knowing the ground on which it rests.

    United States v. Anh Van, 1996 WL 324615 at *3-4 (1st Cir. _____________ _______

    June 18, 1996).

    None of this would matter if the undisputed facts

    required a finding that there were five criminally ________

    responsible participants or that the activity was otherwise

    extensive. But that is not the case here. On appeal, the

    government concedes that the five participant requirement

    cannot be met, and, in our view, the district court was not

    compelled to find that the activity was "otherwise

    extensive," a label that incorporates a number of variables

    primarily within the ken of the district court. Anh Van, ________

    1996 WL 324615 at *4.

    On remand, the district court should address the

    "otherwise extensive" issue in the course of resentencing.

    The court is free to make new findings in support of its

    earlier determination or to reconsider the adjustment

    entirely, as it sees fit. Since resentencing will likely be

    required based on the re-valuation of the bribes, we affirm ______

    the convictions but vacate the existing sentence and remand ______ ______

    for resentencing.

    It is so ordered. _________________



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