United States v. Brenda Arlene Linville

Brenda Linville appeals her sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines after her guilty plea conviction of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 . Lin-ville contends that her base offense level under the Sentencing Guidelines should not have been increased pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1(b)(3)(B) for violation of administrative process. We vacate Linville’s sentence and remand for resentencing.

BACKGROUND FACTS

Linville, David Stephens and Tracy Lynne Stephens developed a scheme to make money by taking advantage of trusting pet owners. Linville would fraudulently obtain pets from owners who placed “Free to Good Home” ads in local newspapers. She would tell the owners that she wanted the animals as pets and would provide good homes for them. In fact she planned to sell and did sell the animals to David and Tracy Stephens (doing business as D & T Kennels), whom Linville knew would in turn sell the pets to institutions for medical research purposes. On one occasion, Lin-ville specifically told a pet owner that she would not sell her dogs for medical research, signed a statement to that effect and promised to notify the owner if…