Martinez

The district court dismissed an indictment for preindictment delay because the delay might increase the total sentence the defendant would serve. The United States appeals. We reverse.

I. Facts

During 1992, the FBI ran a sting operation to catch traffickers in stolen goods. An FBI agent posed as a broker in stolen goods operating a crooked warehouse, which was wired with sound and video recording devices. In December of 1992, Martinez came in with a truckload of children’s toys, worth $60,012, stolen in Rhode Island. He was indicted in June 1993, and pleaded guilty to possessing stolen property. Martinez’s plea agreement stipulated that his “relevant conduct” for sentencing guidelines purposes would be limited to the $60,000 worth of toys. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3; United States v. Fine, 975 F.2d 596, 600 (9th Cir.1992) (conduct that is part of a common scheme is relevant conduct that counts toward sentence, even if defendant is not convicted of crimes based on that conduct). Actually, he had been tape recorded with truckloads of other stolen goods as well, amounting to about $1.4 million. Sentences for theft under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 increase in steps according to the amount of loss.…