United States v. Donald Catherine

The defendant pled guilty to several counts of making false statements in loan applications in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 . The loan applications concerned loans secured by deeds of trust on four separate residences. The defendant defaulted on the loans, and the lender, Home Savings of America, foreclosed the deeds of trust. The district court sentenced the defendant to twelve months and one day in custody, and three years supervised release. The court also ordered that the defendant make restitution in the amount of $120,000. The defendant appeals only the order of restitution. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

This appeal raises two issues. The threshold issue is whether the defendant, by the terms of the plea agreement, waived his right to appeal the restitution order. We conclude he did not. The substantive issue is the manner in which the loss to the lender is to be calculated for purposes of ordering restitution. We conclude that the loss must be calculated as of the date of the foreclosure of the deeds of trust with credit given for the value of the collateral property as of the date title to the property is taken. Because the restitution order was not…