United States v. Vincent Caterino

I. BACKGROUND

On March 18, 1989 a jury convicted appellant, Vincent Caterino, of twenty-two counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 ,1341, and 1343. He appeals his sentence, imposed by the district court after we remanded his case for resentencing. We have jurisdiction -under 18 U.S.C. § 3742 .

Mr. Caterino’s convictions arose out of a scheme whereby he- and others operating a company called Marco Numismatics, Inc. (“Marco”), conspired to fraudulently induce more than 500 customers to invest in nearly worthless coins. Thirteen of the twenty-two counts of which Caterino was convicted arose from conduct occurring before November 1, 1987, the effective date of the Sentencing Guidelines.

After the jury returned its verdict, the district court sentenced Caterino for offenses committed before and after the Sentencing Guidelines became effective. For each of the pre-Guidelines offenses it imposed a five-year prison term, to be served concurrently with the other pre-Guidelines sentences. For each of the Guidelines offenses, it imposed a 97-month term, to be served concurrently with the other Guidelines sentences. The pre-Guidelines sentences…