United States v. Kaveh Vahedi

MEMORANDUM

Kaveh Vahedi appeals his sentence of 216 months in prison following his guilty-plea in federal district court to bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements to a federally insured bank. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a), and we affirm.

1. The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Vahedi’s request for a continuance to respond to a victims’ sentencing memorandum filed six days before sentencing. To obtain a reversal, appellant must demonstrate “at a minimum that he has suffered prejudice as a result of the denial of his request.” United States v. Zamora-Hernandez, 222 F.3d 1046, 1049 (9th Cir.2000) (quoting United States v. Flynt, 756 F.2d 1352, 1359 (9th Cir.1985)). Vahedi has not shown the district court relied on the memorandum, or that he was prejudiced by it. The court was clear that harm to the victims was the dominant factor in sentencing, and the memorandum provided no new insight in that regard. Any new information in the memorandum was immaterial to the sentence.

2. The district court adequately “verif[ied] that the defendant and the defendant’s attorney ha[d] read and…