United States v. Rodney Eugene Burns

Rodney Burns pled guilty to one count of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1029 (a)(2) (fraudulent use of access device) and appeals from the resulting 30-month sentence.

Using fraudulently obtained credit card numbers, Burns ordered computer equipment. Before he was apprehended, he had obtained goods for which billings exceeded $107,423. He contends inter alia that his peculations were improperly calculated because sales tax and shipping charges should not have been included in the “loss” column. He says the victim seller did not “lose” these amounts. His other attacks on the sentence are equally ingenious and equally unpersuasive.

The presentence report prepared in Burns’s case calculated his base level as six and, pursuant to Sentencing Guideline § 2F1.1(b)(1)(G), added six more points because the loss was between $100,001 and $200,000. Another two points were added because Burns’s scheme defrauded more than one victim and involved more than minimal planning, and two points were deducted for acceptance of responsibility. The total offense level was therefore twelve. As an ex-convict, Burns had a criminal history category of VI. The applicable guideline sentence range was therefore 30-37…