Hilgers

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  No. 08-30078 Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  D.C. No. 6:7-cr-00012-CCL

SCOTT WILLIAM HILGERS,

OPINION

Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana Charles C. Lovell, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted December 8, 2008—Portland, Oregon

Filed March 11, 2009

Before: Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Susan P. Graber, and Jay S. Bybee, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge O’Scannlain COUNSEL

Steven C. Haddon, Haddon Law Office, Helena, Montana, argued the cause for the defendant-appellant and submitted a brief.

Carl E. Rostad, Assistant United States Attorney, Great Falls, Montana, argued the cause for the plaintiff-appellee and sub- mitted a brief. William M. Mercer, United States Attorney, was on the briefs.

OPINION

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:

We must decide whether an above-Guidelines prison sen- tence of a mortgage broker convicted of wire fraud is reason- able.

I

A

Scott Hilgers was a mortgage broker, that is, one who finds homeowner buyers for institutional…