United States v. J.L Menefee, II

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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 14-11133
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:09-cr-00499-RWS-CCH-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
J. L. MENEFEE, II,
a.k.a. J.L. Menefee,
a.k.a. JL Menefee,
a.k.a. JL Menefee, II,
a.k.a. James L. Menefee,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________
(April 6, 2015)
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Before MARCUS, WILSON, and WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
J. L. Menefee appeals his twenty-month revocation sentence imposed by the
district court after it revoked his supervised release. 1 On appeal, Menefee argues
the district court’s imposition of a twenty-month revocation sentence was
procedurally unreasonable because the district court failed to consider the
applicable Sentencing Guidelines before it imposed the revocation sentence.
Menefee also contends the district court improperly determined that his conduct
was a Grade A violation of his supervised release because (1) there was
insufficient evidence to conclude that he knew his companion was using a stolen
identity and (2) insufficient evidence to prove that the banks involved were
federally insured.
Upon review of the record and after consideration of the parties’ briefs, we
find no reversible error. Therefore, we affirm Menefee’s twenty-month revocation
sentence.
1
After completing a custodial term of twenty months’ imprisonment for an unrelated
offense, Menefee was placed on supervised release, the terms of which required, among other
things, Menefee to refrain from committing another federal, state, or local offense. Menefee’s
term of supervised release began in 2012. In 2013, the district court found that Menefee violated
the terms and conditions of his of supervised release by engaging in new criminal conduct that
included, among other things, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated
identity theft.
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I.
First, we address Menefee’s argument that the district court erred by failing
to consider the applicable Sentencing Guidelines before it imposed his revocation
sentence, resulting in the imposition of a sentence that is procedurally
unreasonable.
We review a sentence imposed upon revocation of supervised release for
reasonableness. United States v. Sweeting, 437 F.3d 1105, 1106–07 (11th Cir.
2006) (per curiam). Where there was no objection to the procedural
reasonableness during sentencing, however, we review for plain error. United
States v. Vandergrift, 754 F.3d 1303, 1307 (11th Cir. 2014). “To preserve an issue
for appeal, a general objection or an objection on other grounds will not suffice.”
United States v. Gallo-Chamorro, 48 F.3d 502, 507 (11th Cir. 1995). If a
statement does not clearly inform the district court of the legal basis for the
objection, then the issue is not properly preserved. United States v. Massey, 443
F.3d 814, 819 (11th Cir. 2006). Since Menefee generally objected in broad terms
to, without any legal or factual specificity, the procedural reasonableness of his
revocation sentence, his objection was not sufficient to preserve the issue. See id.
Thus, our review is for plain error only.
Under plain error review, a party must show (1) error, (2) that is plain, and
(3) that affects substantial rights. Vandergrift, 754 F.3d at 1307. If all three
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conditions are met, we may then exercise our discretion to notice a forfeited error
if it “seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial
proceedings.” United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 631, 122 S. Ct. 1781, 1785
(2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). Error is not plain unless it is clear or
obvious under current law. United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 734, 113 S. Ct.
1770, 1777 (1993). The burden is on the defendant to show prejudice by
establishing “that the error actually did make a difference.” United States v.
Shelton, 400 F.3d 1325, 1331–32 (11th Cir. 2005) (internal quotation marks
omitted). To make this determination, we must decide whether there is a
“reasonable probability” that there would have been a different result had the error
not occurred. See id. at 1332. “A reasonable probability of a different result
means a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Id.
(internal quotation marks omitted).
“[U]pon finding that a defendant violated a condition of supervised release,
a district court, after considering factors set forth in [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(a), may . . .
revoke a term of supervised release and require the defendant to serve in prison all
or part of the term of supervised release.” United States v. White, 416 F.3d 1313,
1318 (11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam); see also § 3583(e)(3). “One of the factors a
court must consider is the sentencing range established by the applicable
guidelines or policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.” United
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States v. Campbell, 473 F.3d 1345, 1348 (11th Cir. 2007) (per curiam) (internal
quotation marks omitted); see also § 3553(a)(4)–(5). The law does not require the
sentencing court to discuss the factors set forth in § 3553(a) or even explicitly state
that it has considered those factors. See United States v. Robles, 408 F.3d 1324,
1328 (11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam) (noting that we do not “expect the district court
in every case to conduct an accounting of every § 3553(a) factor”).
“[B]ecause the Guidelines have always been advisory for sentences imposed
upon revocation of supervised release, White, 416 F.3d at 1318, it is sufficient that
there be some indication that the district court was aware of and considered the
Guidelines.” Campbell, 473 F.3d at 1349 (internal quotation marks omitted). We
have found error, however, where the district court never mentioned the Guideline
range or the classification of the conduct that violated the terms of supervised
release. See id.
While the district court is not required to discuss the Sentencing Guidelines
at length, see Robles, 408 F.3d at 1328, we acknowledge that, here, the district
court gave no indication as to whether it even considered them, see Campbell, 473
F.3d at 1349. We suspect that, the district court, having sentenced Menefee within
the advisory range, had the Guidelines in mind; but, since the district court failed
to mention them at all, there is no way to confirm our suspicion. The district court
did state that it was leaning towards imposing a twenty-four-month (above the
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Guideline range) revocation sentence; but instead, it imposed a twenty-month
revocation sentence to avoid exceeding Menefee’s original sentence. This seems
to suggest that Menefee’s revocation sentence fell within the Guidelines range
simply by coincidence.
In any event, even if we were to assume that Menefee has shown error which
is plain, he cannot show that such an error affected his substantial rights. See
Vandergrift, 754 F.3d at 1307. Menefee acknowledges, for example, that his
revocation sentence of twenty months falls within the applicable Guideline range
of fifteen to twenty-one months. See U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4. Thus, even if the district
court failed to consider the Sentencing Guidelines, it nonetheless sentenced
Menefee within them. See Shelton, 400 F.3d at 1332 (noting that the error must
actually make a difference). Therefore, we cannot conclude that there is a
reasonable probability the result here would have been different had the district
court undoubtedly considered the Sentencing Guidelines. See id. (providing that a
reasonable probability is one that is “sufficient to undermine confidence in the
outcome” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
II.
Second, we address Menefee’s argument that there was insufficient evidence
to conclude that he knew that his companion was using a stolen identity.
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As noted above, we review a revocation sentence for reasonableness when
an objection is preserved, Sweeting, 437 F.3d at 1106–07, and for plain error when
an objection is not preserved, Vandergrift, 754 F.3d at 1307. “We may affirm the
[d]istrict [c]ourt on any basis supported by the record.” Miller v. Harget, 458 F.3d
1251, 1256 (11th Cir. 2006). Since Menefee’s argument under this subsection was
preserved below, we review it for reasonableness.
At the revocation hearing, the government presented evidence to establish
that Menefee went to the car dealership, learned he needed more paperwork, and
later returned with a woman who picked out a car, filled out paperwork, and signed
as a guarantor for the car loans. The evidence also showed that the woman used a
stolen identity to secure the loans. As we see it, this evidence strongly suggests
that Menefee knew the woman’s true identity, and that she was using a false
identity on the credit application in order to secure the loans. See id. at 1107
(stating a district court may revoke a term of supervised release when the
preponderance of the evidence establishes a defendant violated a condition of
supervised release). Therefore, the district court’s conclusion that Menefee
knowingly participated in the fraud was not unreasonable.
III.
Finally, Menefee argues for the first time on appeal that the government did
not show that his conduct was a Grade A violation of his supervised release
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because it failed to establish that the banks involved were federally insured, and,
consequently, failed to prove all of the elements of bank fraud. Menefee contends
this is significant because the Guideline range is determined by the grade of the
violation, and the grade of the violation is, in turn, determined by whether the
offense is punishable by a term of imprisonment that exceeds a certain number of
years. See U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1. Since Menefee failed to preserve this argument
below, we review it for plain error only. Vandergrift, 754 F.3d at 1307.
A sentence is procedurally unreasonable where the district court considers
an incorrect Guideline range. See Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51, 128 S. Ct.
586, 597 (2007). “[T]he recommended sentencing range [for a revocation
sentence] is based on the classification of the conduct that resulted in the
revocation and the criminal history category applicable at the time the defendant
originally was sentenced to the term of supervision.” See Campbell, 473 F.3d at
1348–49; see also U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4. “[A]t [a] revocation [hearing][,] the court
should sanction primarily the defendant’s breach of trust, while taking into
account, to a limited degree, the seriousness of the underlying violation and the
criminal history of the violator.” See U.S.S.G. ch. 7, pt. A, introductory. cmt. 3(b).
There are three grades of violations of supervised release. Grade A
violations are for conduct constituting, among other things, “federal, state, or local
offense[s] punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding twenty years.”
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U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1(a)(1). Grade B violations are for “conduct constituting . . .
federal, state, or local offense[s] punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding
one year.” Id. § 7B1.1(a)(2). Finally, Grade C violations are for conduct that
constitutes “(A) a federal, state, or local offense punishable by a term of
imprisonment of one year or less; or (B) a violation of any other condition of
supervision.” Id. § 7B1.1(a)(3). “[T]he grade of the violation does not depend
upon the conduct that is the subject of criminal charges . . . [r]ather, the grade of
the violation is to be based on the defendant’s actual conduct.” 2 § 7B1.1 cmt. n.1.
Here, Menefee’s alleged participation in bank fraud violated the terms and
conditions of his supervised release. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1344, a person who
commits bank fraud by obtaining credit from a financial institution by means of
fraudulent representations may be imprisoned for up to thirty years. Proof that the
financial institution is federally insured has been characterized as both a
jurisdictional prerequisite and a substantive element of the crime. See United
States v. Dennis, 237 F.3d 1295, 1303 (11th Cir. 2001).
We first note that the government was not required to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that Menefee committed the alleged crime, United States v.
2
“Actual conduct” here is Menefee’s “breach of trust” under the terms and conditions of
his supervised release by committing bank fraud. See U.S.S.G. ch. 7, pt. A, introductory. cmt.
3(b). The Sentencing Commission intended to avoid sanctioning new criminal conduct (here, the
activity by which Menefee violated his supervised release) at revocation proceedings because of
“[t]he potential unavailability of information and witnesses necessary for a determination of
specific offense characteristics or other guideline adjustments could create questions about the
accuracy of factual findings concerning the existence of those factors.” Id.
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Taylor, 931 F.2d 842, 848 (11th Cir. 1991) (per curiam); the government was only
required to prove by the preponderance of the evidence that Menefee violated the
conditions of his supervised release, see Sweeting, 437 F.3d at 1107. Furthermore,
Menefee’s violation grade is not dependent upon the conduct that is the subject of
the underlying criminal charges—that is, fraudulently obtaining credit from a
federally insured financial institution; Menefee’s violation grade is based only on
his “actual conduct.” See U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1 cmt. n.1. The federally insured status
of the banks involved here is the subject of criminal charges, and, therefore, had
nothing to do with the classification of Menefee’s actual conduct for purposes of
determining the grade of his violation.
Consequently, the district court did not commit plain error because it was
entitled to consider Menefee’s actual conduct to be a Grade A violation of
supervised release, regardless of whether the government proved that the banks
involved were federally insured.
AFFIRMED.
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