United States v. Virgil Lee Baker

This sentencing appeal follows defendant-appellant Virgil Lee Baker’s plea of guilty to charges of conspiracy to use a counterfeit credit card and use of a counterfeit credit card in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1029 (a)(1) and 371.

At the sentencing hearing, Baker challenged the presentence report in which the probation officer recommended an upward adjustment in Baker’s sentence for being the leader of the counterfeiting scheme. The probation officer further recommended that Baker’s sentence be adjusted upward on the ground that Baker obstructed justice by deliberately misstating his number of prior convictions. Baker argued that he was not the leader, that he did not willfully mislead the probation officer and that any misrepresentations were immaterial as they did not alter his criminal history determination. At sentencing, the district court rejected Baker’s challenges, denied Baker’s request for an evidentiary hearing, and upwardly adjusted Baker’s sentence to thirty-three months. This appeal followed.

The novel issue in the instant case is the validity of appellant’s assertion that any misstatements to the probation officer regarding his criminal history were immaterial to…