United States v. Geevers

226 F.3d 186 (3rd. Cir. 2000)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D pleaded guilty to bank fraud for opening a bank account with a $ 75,000 check drawn on a closed account at Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch advised the bank that the check was not covered by sufficient funds. The bank closed D's account before he attempted to draw any funds on the account. This transaction produced no loss to the involved banks. This was just another attempt in D’s endless schemes as many other banks to try the same scam. All told, D deposited or sought to cash checks with face values approximating $2,000,000 in total. D attempted to withdraw or transfer about $400,000. He actually managed to withdraw or transfer over $160,000. P argued that the loss amount relevant for sentencing should be the total face value of the deposited checks, which is the potential loss. D maintains that because he did not complete the acts necessary to effect that loss, he was at least entitled to a three-level reduction of his offense score under the guideline pertaining to attempts. The Court adopted a loss figure of $ 2,188,575 and rejected the downward adjustment. This increased D's base offense level by for a loss in excess of $ 1.5 million and also by 2 levels for more than minimum planning. It was then reduced 3 levels for acceptance of responsibility. The resulting offense level of 17 carried an imprisonment range between 30 and 37 months, and the Court imposed a sentence in the middle of the range--33 months. D appealed.