United States v. Hamlet Sardariani

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Hamlet Sardariani appeals his sentence of 78 months imposed for a guilty plea conviction for conspiring to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and transactional money laundering ( 18 U.S.C. § 371 ) and tax evasion ( 26 U.S.C. § 7201 ). We affirm.

The district court was correct in applying an enhancement for use of an authentication feature under U.S.S.G. § 2Bl.l(b)(ll)(A)(ii) (formerly § 2Bl.l(b)(10)(B)(ii)). See United States v. Henrik Sardariani, No. 12-50418, 580 Fed.Appx. 532 (9th Cir.2014) (forged notary seal used here qualified as an “authentication feature” under 18 U.S.C. § 1028 ).

Defendant contends that his false assurance of payment to one of the victims did not constitute “especially complex” conduct as required for an enhancement for sophisticated means under U.S.S.G. § 2Bl.l(b)(10)(C). Defendant’s claim fails because the relevant conduct was the entire scheme as a whole, not Defendant’s individual contribution (U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 (a)(1)(B) (a conspirator may be held responsible for “all reasonably foreseeable acts and omissions ... in furtherance of the jointly undertaken criminal activity”)), and the court found that the scheme as a…