Barnes

Appellant Gerald Barnes appeals the sentence imposed by the district court following his guilty plea for charges stemming from his fraudulent impersonation of a medical doctor. Appellant contends that the district court misapplied the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”) to his case. Except for the court’s application of the Guidelines’ amount of loss provision, we affirm the decision. Accordingly, we remand for recalculation of the loss suffered by the victims and resentencing of Appellant.

I. Facts

The facts in this case are undisputed. Appellant, a trained pharmacist, was bom Jerald Barnbaum; he later changed his name to Gerald Barnes. In 1976, after his indictment for mail fraud in Illinois, Appellant’s pharmaceutical license was revoked. He subsequently moved to Southern California and began to practice medicine, although he had never attended medical school nor received a medical license. To impersonate a trained physician, Appellant fraudulently obtained documents pertaining to the qualifications of a legitimately licensed doctor, also named Gerald Barnes. He then used these documents to acquire medical positions.

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