United States v. Robert Ramseur ( 2020 )

Case: 20-10283 Document: 00515659589 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/03/2020
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
December 3, 2020
No. 20-10283 Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Robert Earl Ramseur,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 3:16-CR-65-1
Before Higginbotham, Jones, and Costa, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Robert Earl Ramseur appeals the $141,419.04 restitution award
imposed on remand from United States v. Ramseur, 793 F. App’x 245 (5th
Cir. 2019), pursuant to his conviction for willfully assisting the preparation
of false income tax returns. The district court originally ordered $399,400 in
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 20-10283 Document: 00515659589 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/03/2020
No. 20-10283
restitution, but we held that included amounts beyond the tax returns for
which he was convicted and failed to account for tax payments made by some
of Ramseur’s’ clients on returns that were the basis for his convictions. See
id. at 249. Ramseur now challenges the new, reduced restitution order on the
ground that it exceeds the Internal Revenue Service’s actual loss from the
offenses of conviction.
The issue whether a restitution award is illegal is reviewed de novo,
and the amount of the restitution award is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
United States v. Arledge, 553 F.3d 881, 897 (5th Cir. 2008). The amount of a
victim’s restitution award must be tied to only the loss that directly resulted
from the offense of conviction; the gain to the defendant on account of his
illegal conduct is not relevant to the calculation of the restitution award. Id.
at 899. Citing United States v. Tawil, 40 F. App’x 531 (9th Cir. 2002),
Ramseur argues that the restitution award should be reduced by $24,113 that
was erroneously deposited by the IRS into the accounts of three taxpayers
against whom the IRS has not sought a refund. Tawil, which is factually
distinguishable, is not persuasive because there was no evidence in that case
that the defendants’ scheme caused the full amount of the loss at issue. See
40 F. App’x at 533, 535. In contrast, Ramseur’s acts of conviction caused the
entire $141,419.04 loss to the IRS, regardless of the amount he personally
received or from which he benefitted. See Arledge, 553 F.3d at 899. The
restitution award therefore is neither illegal nor an abuse of discretion. See
id. at 897-99.
AFFIRMED.
2