United States v. Mario J. Taylor

I.

OVERVIEW

A jury convicted appellant Mario Taylor (Taylor) of aiding and abetting the counterfeiting of United States currency and possession of counterfeit currency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 18 U.S.C. § 472 . He was sentenced to a fifty-one month jail term followed by three years of supervised release. He appeals claiming that the district court erred in interpreting the sentencing guidelines. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231 . We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3742 and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

II.

BACKGROUND

Taylor was indicted for possession of counterfeit Federal reserve notes, counterfeiting and aiding and abetting counterfeiting. A jury found Taylor guilty on both the possession and aiding and abetting counts but acquitted him of counterfeiting.

At sentencing, the district court found that Taylor had “possessed or had custody over a photocopying machine involved with these crimes,” and had “obviously produced counterfeit currency.” Based on this finding, the district court raised Taylor’s offense level to fifteen pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2B5.1(b)(2), sentencing him to the maximum penalty of…