Ruff

BACKGROUND

Ruff worked as a Materials Supervisor at Sacred Heart Medical Center (“SHMC”) between January 2002 and Octo- ber 2005. In this capacity, he “had access and authority to record receipt of inventory, to make adjustments to the inven- tory account, and to modify purchase orders to include addi- tional items for inventory.” Ruff took advantage of this authority to steal $644,866 worth of SHMC inventory and sell it over eBay. When confronted by his employer, Ruff readily admitted his illegal conduct and cooperated with federal investigators. In December 2006, he pled guilty to one count of health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347, four counts of theft, embezzlement and conversion of property and assets of a health care benefit program, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 669, and four counts of money laundering, in viola- UNITED STATES v. RUFF 9865 tion of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1). The Presentencing Report cal- culated Ruff’s guideline range as 30-37 months.

At a May 1, 2007 sentencing hearing, the district judge began his analysis by accepting the guideline range as accu- rate and noting its advisory nature. Acknowledging that he was “required to impose…