United States v. Becky Ann Myers

In this appeal we are called upon to determine whether a district court may consider a defendant’s post-offense conduct as a ground for departing upward in imposing sentence under section 4A1.3 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.” or “Guidelines”). For the reasons which follow, we hold that the district court in the instant case did not err by taking such conduct into consideration at sentencing.

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

Between November 1990 and July 1992, Becky Ann Myers fraudulently obtained more than $144,000 from Donald and Evelyn Marshall and members of the Marshall family. The FBI arrested Myers in August 1992 on a charge of wire fraud, and Myers was later released on her own recognizance to a halfway house. In November 1992 a federal grand jury handed down a two-count indictment charging Myers with having committed mail and wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343. Myers, still on release, entered a plea of not guilty to both counts. Myers was subsequently discharged from the halfway house but continued on release pending trial.

Pursuant to the terms of a plea agreement, Myers entered a change of plea in Februaiy 1993 in which she…