United States v. Stern ( 1994 )


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    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
    ____________________

    No. 92-2300
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

    Appellee,
    v.

    AARON STERN,
    Defendant, Appellant.

    ____________________
    No. 93-1047

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Appellee,

    v.
    LAWRENCE GORDON,

    Defendant, Appellant.
    ____________________

    APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

    [Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge]
    ___________________
    ____________________

    Before
    Boudin, Circuit Judge,
    _____________

    Coffin and Campbell, Senior Circuit Judges.
    _____________________
    ____________________

    Martin D. Boudreau for appellant Aaron Stern.
    __________________
    Lawrence Gordon on brief pro se.
    _______________
    Paul G. Levenson, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom
    __________________
    A. John Pappalardo, United States Attorney, was on brief for the
    ___________________
    United States.


    ____________________

    January 20, 1994
    ____________________





















    BOUDIN, Circuit Judge. The Miller Act, 40 U.S.C.
    _____________

    270a-f requires all contractors bidding for government

    construction contracts in excess of $25,000 to post

    performance and payment bonds, and the Air Force further

    requires that a bid bond accompany the bid itself.1 In

    order to qualify for consideration, contractors must submit

    bonds issued by companies approved by the United States

    Treasury and listed in Treasury Department Circular 570,

    commonly called the "T-list." See 48 C.F.R. 28.202(a)(1).
    ___

    The bonds must also be submitted on standard government

    forms: SF 24 (bid bond), SF 25 (payment bond) and SF 25A

    (performance bond).

    Defendant Lawrence Gordon was the head of Tower

    Associates, Inc., a Winchester, Massachusetts, construction

    company seeking to secure a contract to renovate a

    photography laboratory at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford,

    Massachusetts. In September 1988 Tower submitted the low bid

    for the project, offering to perform the renovations for

    $1,000,200. This bid was accompanied by a bid bond issued by

    Continental Surety Company, a surety or purported surety that

    did not appear on the T-list and which apparently had no



    ____________________

    1"Bid bonds" ensure that a contractor will in fact
    undertake the contract if its bid is accepted; "performance
    bonds" guarantee that the contractor will complete the
    project in accordance with the specifications; and "payment
    bonds" ensure that those who furnish labor and materials for
    the project will be paid.

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    assets. The Air Force employee responsible for overseeing

    the bidding process, Lorraine McLoughlin, did not at first

    notice this problem and Tower was awarded the contract on

    September 30, 1988.

    When shortly thereafter McLoughlin learned that

    Continental was not an approved issuer, she called Gordon and

    informed him that Tower's payment and performance bonds would

    have to be written by a T-listed company. On October 17,

    1988, Gordon presented a payment and performance bond

    purportedly issued by Amwest Surety Insurance Co., a company

    that did appear on the T-list. The bond bore Tower's seal,

    as well as the signatures of Gordon and one "Alan Stime," who

    was listed as Amwest's attorney-in-fact. The bond was

    accompanied by a power of attorney, purportedly from Amwest,

    also signed by "Alan Stime."

    The Amwest bond and power of attorney were counterfeits

    fabricated by James Grier, the principal of Continental.

    Grier later testified at trial that he produced the bogus

    documents at Gordon's request. Sandra Catalano, a Tower

    employee, testified at trial that she was present when the

    bond was signed by Gordon and defendant Aaron Stern, who

    signed the bond as "Alan Stime." At trial, an Amwest

    official testified that the bond was not a genuine Amwest

    bond and that no "Alan Stime" was or ever had been an

    authorized attorney in fact for Amwest.



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    The Air Force rejected the phony bond after McLoughlin

    noted that some of the signatures on the bond appeared to be

    facsimiles and that the purported Amwest seal was poorly

    impressed and illegible. On October 19, 1988, McLoughlin

    requested that Tower resubmit its bonds and enclosed standard

    government bond forms. The Air Force received a second set

    of bonds, on the government forms, from Tower on October 24,

    1988. These bonds were also purportedly issued by Amwest,

    but the typed name of the attorney-in-fact under the "Alan

    Stime" signature was "Aaron Stern." By this time, McLoughlin

    had been told by an Amwest employee that Amwest "had never

    heard of Tower Associates."

    Rather than accept the bonds, McLoughlin forwarded them

    to the Air Force Office of Investigations and sent Tower a

    notice to cure. On November 18, 1988, McLoughlin notified

    Gordon of her communications with Amwest. After requesting

    an extension of time to submit new bonds, Tower sent

    McLoughlin a third set of bonds on December 13, 1988,

    explaining that Tower "[had been] given a bond which proved

    invalid." This third set of bonds, like the original bid

    bond, was issued by Continental and signed by Aaron Stern as

    attorney-in-fact. As Continental was still not on the T-

    list, McLoughlin rejected the bonds.

    The Air Force terminated Tower's award on March 3, 1989,

    and eventually awarded the contract (without rebidding) to



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    Fellsway, Inc., which had submitted the second lowest bid.

    On June 13, 1991, Gordon and Stern were charged in a multi-

    count indictment with the following offenses:

    Count 1 Gordon and Stern were both charged with
    conspiring to defraud the United States in the
    solicitation and award of the construction
    contract at Hanscom Air Force Base. 18 U.S.C.
    371 (conspiracy to defraud).

    Count 2 Both defendants were charged with
    counterfeiting the October 17, 1988, payment
    and performance bond purportedly issued by
    Amwest Surety Insurance Company. 18 U.S.C.
    494 (making, uttering or presenting
    counterfeit bond).

    Count 3 Gordon was charged with knowingly presenting
    the same counterfeit bond to the Air Force. 18
    U.S.C. 494.

    Count 4 Gordon and Stern were both charged with
    uttering to the Air Force a counterfeit power
    of attorney. 18 U.S.C. 495 (making, uttering
    or presenting counterfeit power of attorney).

    Count 5 Both defendants were charged with false
    statements in completing and submitting
    Standard Form 25, the government form for
    performance bonds. 18 U.S.C. 1001 (false
    statement statute).

    Count 6 Both defendants were charged with false
    statements in completing and submitting
    Standard Form 25A, the government form for
    payment bonds. 18 U.S.C. 1001.

    After a jury trial, Stern was convicted on counts 1 and

    4, and acquitted on count 2. Gordon was convicted on count 3,

    and acquitted on counts 1, 2 and 4. Both defendants were

    convicted on Counts 5 and 6. Gordon moved for a new trial on

    June 19, 1992, arguing that the verdict was internally

    inconsistent and that the government had withheld material


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    exculpatory evidence. The district court denied this motion

    on December 18, 1992.

    On October 13, 1992, the district court sentenced Stern

    to a 60-day term of imprisonment, along with a period of

    supervised release. Gordon was sentenced on November 24,

    1992, to a 30-day term of imprisonment and nine months of

    home confinement. Both defendants were also held jointly and

    severally liable for restitution.2 These consolidated

    appeals followed. Stern's counsel has briefed and argued the

    case; Gordon, with this court's permission, has relied upon

    his district court filings in support of a new trial.

    In this court both defendants claim that the jury

    verdicts are internally inconsistent. Gordon argued in the

    district court that since he was acquitted (under count 2) of

    counterfeiting the October 17 bond, it was inconsistent for

    the jury then to convict him (under count 3) of uttering the

    same counterfeit bond. Stern points to his own acquittal of

    the charge of counterfeiting the bond (again under count 2)

    and protests that this acquittal undermines the jury verdict

    convicting Stern (under count 4) of uttering a forged power

    of attorney in support of the same bond.





    ____________________

    2Stern's sentence was stayed pending appeal. The
    district court denied Gordon's motion for a similar stay on
    January 19, 1993, but this court stayed the payment of
    Gordon's restitution pending appeal on August 24, 1993.

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    Both objections lack merit. As the defendants purport

    to recognize, general jury verdicts may not normally be set

    aside for inconsistency as between counts. United States v.
    _____________

    Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 64-65 (1984); United States v.
    ______ _______________

    Bucuvalas, 909 F.2d 593, 597 (1st Cir. 1990). The reasons
    _________

    are explained by Judge Friendly in United States v. Maybury,
    _____________ _______

    274 F.2d 899 (2d Cir. 1960), and do not need repeating.

    Maybury is relied on by both defendants because the appeals
    _______

    court there did set aside verdicts as inconsistent. But the

    inconsistent verdicts were there rendered by a judge in a
    _____

    jury-waived trial. The whole point of Maybury is that (for
    _______

    both practical and historical reasons) the general verdict by

    a jury is a special case but a requirement of consistency

    does apply to written findings made by a single judge. Id.
    ___

    at 903.

    We need not discuss other inconsistent-verdict cases

    cited by defendants because, as it happens, there is no

    necessary inconsistency in the verdicts in this case. As to

    Gordon, there was evidence from Grier that he (Grier)

    fabricated the October 17, 1988, bond, but also evidence that

    Gordon knew it was counterfeit and nevertheless presented it

    to the Air Force. The jury may have supposed (quite wrongly)

    that Grier's admission entirely lifted responsibility for the

    counterfeiting from Gordon's shoulders but also permissibly





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    believed that Gordon uttered the bond knowing it to be

    forged.3

    Similarly, the acquittal of Stern on the charge of

    counterfeiting the same bond, again quite possibly because of

    Grier's admission, is in no way inconsistent with Stern's

    conviction for uttering to the Air Force the companion power

    of attorney document knowing it to be forged. In addition to

    other evidence to support the uttering conviction, there was

    direct testimony from Sandra Catalano that Stern himself

    signed the bond using the phony signature "Alan Stime."

    Whether or not Stern, Gordon or both could have been

    convicted of procuring or participating in the counterfeiting

    of the bond itself is irrelevant. It is sufficient to dispel

    the taint of inconsistency that a rational jury could easily

    have acquitted on count 2 while convicting Gordon on count 3

    and Stern on count 4. And, as explained at the outset,

    inconsistency would not in any event undermine the

    convictions so long as they themselves were, as they are

    here, supported by sufficient evidence. See Powell, 469 U.S.
    ___ ______

    at 67.




    ____________________

    3Gordon's claim that the conspiracy acquittal (under
    count 1) is inconsistent with the uttering conviction (under
    count 3) is even more far-fetched. True, the uttering was
    charged as an act in furtherance of the conspiracy. But a
    literal minded jury might believe that the uttering itself
    was proved amply but that the "agreement" element of
    conspiracy had not been established.

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    Next, Gordon claimed in the district court that the

    government violated its obligation, under Brady v. Maryland,
    _____ ________

    373 U.S. 83 (1963), to produce exculpatory evidence by

    failing to turn over the grand jury testimony of Grier, whom

    Stern called as a witness. The background is this: Grier,

    called by Stern as a defense witness, was then cross-examined

    by Gordon's counsel--not by the government. On this cross-

    examination, Grier proceeded to testify that Gordon had asked

    Grier to forge the October 17, 1988 bond. Although Gordon

    was acquitted of that forgery, he was convicted of uttering

    the forged bond, and the Grier testimony--elicited by

    Gordon's own counsel--may have helped to confirm Gordon's

    knowledge of the forgery.

    After conviction Gordon learned that Grier, testifying

    in the grand jury prior to trial, had himself denied any

    knowledge of the bond. Gordon moved for a new trial,

    contending that the government's failure to produce the grand

    jury testimony at trial as impeaching evidence violated its

    obligation under Brady. In pre-trial requests Gordon had
    _____

    asked in general terms for Brady material, but he had never
    _____

    specifically requested production of prior statements or

    testimony by Grier. The district court denied the new trial

    motion, citing United States v. Pandozzi, 878 F.2d 1526 (1st
    _____________ ________

    Cir. 1989), and United States v. Carrasquillo-Plaza, 873 F.2d
    _____________ ____________ _____

    10 (1st Cir. 1989).



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    Under the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. 3500, the government

    is required to produce prior statements by its own witnesses,

    whether or not the statements are exculpatory. And, if a

    statement is itself exculpatory, the government under Brady
    _____

    is normally required to produce it, regardless of whether it

    is made by a trial witness. See Brady, 373 U.S. at 86. Here,
    ___ _____

    says the government, Grier's grand jury testimony was not a

    prior statement by a government witness, nor was it

    exculpatory in the sense that it disproved Gordon's guilt.

    Thus, in the government's view, the grand jury testimony

    is merely newly discovered impeaching evidence. Under the

    Wright-Martin standard for a new trial based on newly
    _____________

    discovered evidence, the ordinary requisites for a new trial

    on this ground are specific and demanding.4 Gordon may not

    have met any of the requisites, and he certainly did not meet
    ___

    the requirement that the newly discovered evidence be (at

    least in the normal case) "not merely . . . impeaching."

    Martin, 815 F.2d at 824 (quoting Wright, 625 F.2d at 1019).
    ______ ______


    ____________________

    4A new trial will ordinarily be denied absent a showing
    that
    (1) the evidence was unknown or unavailable to the
    defendant at the time of the trial; (2) failure to
    learn of the evidence was not due to lack of
    diligence by the defendant; (3) the evidence is
    material, and not merely cumulative or impeaching;
    and (4) it will probably result in an acquittal
    upon retrial of the defendant.

    United States v. Martin, 815 F.2d 818, 824 (1st Cir.), cert.
    _____________ ______ _____
    denied, 484 U.S. 825 (1987) (quoting United States v. Wright,
    ______ _____________ ______
    625 F.2d 1017, 1019 (1st Cir. 1980)).

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    Thus Gordon's only hope is to argue that the grand jury

    testimony did have to be produced under Brady in which event,
    _____

    as the government notes, the Wright-Martin standard does not
    _____________

    invariably apply. See United States v. Sanchez, 917 F.2d 607,
    ___ _____________ _______

    617 (1st Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 977 (1991).
    ____________

    Rather, there is a general obligation to produce exculpatory

    testimony and failures to comply are reviewed after the fact

    under the standard of United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667
    _____________ ______

    (1985). Bagley is somewhat opaque, there being no single
    ______

    majority opinion, but reversal may be warranted where there

    is a "reasonable probability" that the undisclosed evidence

    would havealtered the outcome. Id. at 682(plurality opinion).
    ___

    Here the grand jury testimony was not exculpatory in the

    sense that, reading the bare language before trial, an

    assistant U.S. attorney would think it helpful to Gordon.

    After all, in the testimony Grier denied knowledge of the

    forgery, a position that could be neutral in its impact on

    Gordon or even potentially harmful to Gordon (in shifting

    responsibility to someone other than Grier). Only after

    Grier, as a defense witness for Stern, named Gordon as the

    procurer of the forgery did the grand jury testimony take on

    a potential as impeaching evidence.

    The government protests that it has no ongoing

    obligation to monitor the testimony of defense witnesses and

    to seek out prior statements in its files that may in the



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    course of trial turn out to have impeachment value when

    defense testimony injures a defendant. Even if it did have

    such an obligation in some instances, there would be serious

    questions--not easily answered on this record--whether in

    this case Gordon's own access to Grier negated the

    obligation, see United States v. Hicks, 848 F.2d 1, 3-4 (1st
    ___ _____________ _____

    Cir. 1988), and whether the failure of Gordon to request the

    grand jury testimony is also fatal to the Brady claim. Cf.
    _____ __

    18 U.S.C. 3500(b) (request by defendant required under

    Jencks Act); Carrasquillo-Plaza, 873 F.2d at 13 (failure to
    __________________

    make a specific request for alibi witness statements).

    We think that these interesting questions had best await

    another occasion. It is enough in this case that the

    impeaching evidence, even if made available to Gordon, could

    not conceivably have altered the outcome. See generally
    ______________

    Pandozzi, 878 F.2d at 1528-30. The jury acquitted Gordon on
    ________ _________

    the counterfeiting count despite Grier's direct inculpation

    of Gordon; and the knowledge element of the uttering count,

    on which Gordon was convicted, was confirmed by the direct

    testimony of another witness, Catalano, as well as much else

    in Gordon's conduct. Under Bagley, the impeaching evidence
    ______

    does not remotely "undermine confidence" in the outcome. 473

    U.S. at 682.

    The final issue in this case is the most perplexing and

    relates solely to sentencing. Under the Sentencing



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    Guidelines,5 the amount of "the loss" is a specific offense

    characteristic of crimes involving fraud or deceit, and the

    base offense level (6 levels) is increased by a specified

    number of levels (from 0 to 11 additional levels) depending

    on the amount of the loss. U.S.S.G. 2F1.1 (1988). The

    adjusted offense level, together with criminal history,

    determines the sentencing range, and actual loss may also be

    the basis for a restitution order. 18 U.S.C. 3663(b)(1).

    In this case, following the pre-sentence report, the

    district court found that the loss to the Air Force of the

    fraudulent activities in this case was "the difference

    between the bid price [by Tower] and the award [to Fellsway,

    the second lowest bidder] for $88,477, increased by the

    restated administrative costs of $250" involved in reawarding

    the contract to Fellsway. The resulting figure, $88,727,

    increased the base offense level from 6 to 11, U.S.S.G.

    2F1.1(b)(1) (1988), and this in turn was increased to 13 by





    ____________________

    5The pre-sentence report referred to the 1988
    guidelines, which were in effect when the crime was
    committed. Current practice would normally invoke the
    guidelines in effect at the time of sentencing--the 1991
    version for Stern and the 1992 version for Gordon--barring
    any ex post facto problems. See Isabel v. United States, 980
    _____________ ___ _______________________
    F.2d 60, 62 (1st Cir. 1992). But since the 1991 and 1992
    guidelines employ a new loss/increase- in-level table which
    would have resulted in a higher base offense level for both
    Stern and Gordon than provided for under the 1988 guidelines,
    we cite to the 1988 version. See United States v.
    ___ ______________
    Harotunian, 920 F.2d 1040, 1042 (1st Cir. 1990).
    __________

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    the addition of two more levels for "more than minimal

    planning." Id. 2F1.1(b)(2).
    ___

    The loss attributed to Stern may well have had no effect

    on his sentence of confinement; a downward departure, based

    on assistance to the government, reduced his confinement to

    below the minimum range that would have prevailed if no loss
    __

    had been attributed to him. Gordon's sentence of

    confinement, also based on a downward departure, might or

    might not have been affected by a lower loss figure,

    depending on how small a loss was imputed.6 But based on

    the imputed loss of $88,727, both defendants were ordered to

    pay restitution--Stern to pay $88,727 and Gordon $80,000--so

    the importance of the loss figure is obvious.

    At this point, some procedural history is needed. In

    the district court, both defendants challenged the $88,727

    loss figure on somewhat different grounds. Then, while these

    appeals were pending, someone apparently happened upon Judge

    Posner's decision in United States v. Schneider, 930 F.2d 555
    _____________ _________

    (7th Cir. 1991), which undoubtedly made the government uneasy

    about the loss calculation in this case. In any event, the

    government and defendants entered into a joint stipulation,



    ____________________

    6Gordon's departure was based on the theory that the Air
    Force could have rebid the entire contract for $10,000 (a
    figure supplied by the Air Force), instead of merely awarding
    it to the previous second lowest bidder. Cf. United States
    ___ _____________
    v. Gregorio, 956 F.2d 341, 344-48 (1st Cir. 1992). The
    ________
    government did not appeal this departure.

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    proposing that this court remand the case, before deciding

    the merits, for resentencing in light of Schneider; and the
    _________

    parties stipulated further that

    1. The parties jointly stipulate that the best
    readily calculable measure of the loss from the
    offenses of conviction, for purposes of applying
    the Sentencing Guidelines, is $ 20,450. This
    amount includes both an attempted gain of $ 20,200
    (the purchase price for a genuine bond of the kind
    that was forged in this case), and actual
    consequential losses of $ 250 (the immediately
    identifiable administrative costs associated with
    the re-awarding the Photolab contract). For
    purposes of ordering restitution, only the actual
    loss figure, $ 250 is subject to restitution.

    2. The United States further reserves the right to
    argue that the stipulated amount--while
    representing the best readily ascertainable
    estimate of loss--understates the full extent of
    the loss in question. The United states further
    reserves the right to argue that, given the small
    sum of restitution payable, fines should be imposed
    upon each defendant, in an amount to be fixed in
    light of the defendants' resources.

    This court denied the motion to remand, believing that

    the challenges to the convictions ought to be decided before

    any remand for fine-tuning the sentences. Stern, taking the

    view that the stipulation was binding only if this court

    ordered an immediate remand, has argued in his brief in this

    court that no loss, apart perhaps from the $250 involved in
    __

    shifting the award to the second bidder, has been shown by

    the government. The government adheres to its request for a

    remand in accordance with the stipulation, arguing that Stern

    has waived the contention he now makes. Gordon has urged

    nothing beyond the stipulation.


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    It would be a hazardous venture to lay down abstract

    rules as to how "loss" is to be calculated under the

    governing guideline even if the focus were narrowed to false

    statements in bid documents. As Judge Posner made clear in

    Schneider, the underlying facts of individual cases may
    _________

    differ widely, and even in comparable situations, what proof

    is available as to specific items of loss will vary from case

    to case. See 930 F.2d at 557-59. Further, we note that the
    ___

    deceptively simple notion of "loss" is elaborated under the

    guideline to include situations of foreseeable or intended

    losses, see U.S.S.G. 2F1.1, application note 7 (1988), and
    ___

    in later versions to cover various specific types of fraud,

    e.g., id., application note 7(e) (1993) (Davis-Bacon Act
    ____ ___

    fraud).

    If we agreed with the district court's original

    calculations of loss, we would not remand the case regardless

    of the stipulation of the parties, since the parties cannot

    by agreement create error where none exists. On this record,

    however, we think that there is no basis for mechanically

    measuring the loss as the difference between the two bids.

    The problem is that the government never showed that it could

    have secured a bid from a properly bonded contractor at the

    price offered by Tower. Without such evidence, it is hard to

    see how the government can measure its loss on the theory





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    that, but for the fraud, it would have enjoyed that initial

    low price.7

    On certain facts--say, a general increase in the level

    of second round bids after a rebidding due to fraud--a

    calculation of loss based on the differential between a

    tainted first-round best bid and a higher second-round best

    bid might be entirely persuasive. But here the government

    simply took the second best first-round bid with no

    rebidding; and its administrative costs in shifting the award

    from Tower to Fellsway were admittedly minimal ($250). The

    probation reports and the government urged the loss figure

    adopted by the district judge, and the defendants while

    protesting did little to undermine it. Yet the government

    itself no longer supports the $88,275 figure, and we can find

    no basis to sustain it on the present record.

    Conversely, we reject Stern's "no loss at all" argument,

    at least so far as concerns the guideline calculation. The

    section 2F1.1 guideline commentary, from the 1988 version

    (application note 7) to the present 1993 version (id.), has
    ___

    included the "probable" or "intended" or "expected" loss



    ____________________

    7It is true that if the Amwest bond had been a real bond
    instead of a forgery, then the government would have enjoyed
    the original low price; and in this sense the forgery may
    seem like the cause of that loss. But there is no evidence
    ____
    that Tower Associates could ever have secured a real bond by
    a T-list surety or, if it could, that its bid would have been
    as low. Indeed, Continental seems to have been an off-shore
    "front" for contractors who could not get T-list bonding.

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    threatened by a defendant's conduct as an alternative measure
    ___________

    of loss if that figure can be determined and is larger than

    actual loss. The evident purpose of the alternative is to be

    certain that attempted fraud does not escape all adjustments

    based on magnitude merely because the fraud miscarried. We

    think that this is just such a case where the foreseeable

    loss exceeded the actual loss.

    It was plainly foreseeable at the time of the fraud that

    the Air Force might be deceived by the phony Amwest bond and

    might finally award the contract to Tower. At that point, it

    is hard to know the precise risk of loss imposed on the

    government, for it would depend on many circumstances

    including the likelihood that Tower would flawlessly complete

    the contract. Yet "the amount of loss need not be precise,"

    U.S.S.G. 2F1.1, application note 7 (1988); and, broadly

    speaking, to inflict a phony construction-contract bond on

    the government exposes the government to the average cost of
    _______

    failure to perform the contract adjusted by the average risk
    _______

    of failure to perform. That adjusted figure should also be

    the approximate price of the average bond for such a project.

    Of course, the pertinent figure could be higher if the

    government sought to prove that Tower was a high-risk

    contractor and would have been charged more for a valid bond.







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    To assume that the phony bond might well be accepted is,

    in a case like this one, entirely fair. It is the

    defendants' intended outcome and, given possible carelessness

    by administrators or merely a good forgery, it is normally a

    realistic likelihood. From the standpoint of the guideline's

    "intended or probable loss" criterion, we see nothing wrong

    with the use of the cost of a valid bond as a fair proxy for

    the potential loss caused by the uttering of the phony bond

    and forged power of attorney. In this case, the potential

    was not realized, but it was still intended or reasonably

    likely and thus a proper measure of loss under the guideline.

    Consequently, we think that the principle underlying the

    first paragraph of the quoted stipulation is a legitimate

    basis in this case for calculating loss under the guideline;

    whether the $20,200 figure is binding on Stern is a matter

    that can be resolved on remand if Stern seeks to disclaim the

    stipulation.8 Of course, the government did not offer such

    evidence of bond cost in the original sentencing proceeding;

    but where a sentence is vacated and remanded for

    redetermination under correct principles, the government is

    not automatically foreclosed from offering evidence pertinent


    ____________________

    8The district court is not required to accept a
    stipulation on an issue of fact pertinent to sentencing, but
    is free to do so given the apparent reasonableness of the
    proposed figure. This assumes, of course, either that Stern
    withdraws his disclaimer (as he would plainly be wise to do)
    or that the district court decides that his initial
    acceptance of the stipulation is binding in any event.

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    to the newly announced rule. See United States v. Sepulveda,
    ___ _____________ _________

    1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 33020, *107 n.31 (1st Cir., Dec. 20,

    1993).

    Restitution is a different matter. We agree with the

    government's concession that the intended or probable loss

    cannot be the measure of restitution: it is one thing to

    base a criminal sentence on the magnitude of threatened harm

    but quite another to "restore" to the government money that

    it never lost. Here, the actual loss is only the $250

    administrative cost of reawarding the contract. Given the

    common interrelationship between fines and restitution, we

    see no reason why the government should not be allowed to

    argue for a fine on remand.

    Accordingly, the judgment of conviction in each case is

    affirmed, and the sentence and the orders of restitution in
    ________

    each case are vacated and the cases are remanded for
    _______ ________

    resentencing in accordance with this opinion. Further

    proceedings on remand are for the district court to determine

    in the first instance.

    It is so ordered.
    ________________














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