Bonham

MEMORANDUM *

Ms. Bonham pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 and one count of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 (a)(l)(A)(i); the government dismissed the remaining 52 counts of mail fraud, seven counts of money laundering, and eighteen counts of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property. Ms. Bonham and the government agreed that the loss was between $10 million and $20 million; eventually, some 1,100 people made claims totaling $50 million in the related bankruptcy proceeding. Based on the presentence report, the plea agreement, and the record as a whole, the district court found that there were over 1,000 victims.

At sentencing, the court departed upward two levels under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines § 5K2.0, concluding that “I’m satisfied that this is a case where the number of victims is, albeit a matter of a kind considered by 2F1.1, it exists — the number of victims exists in this case to a degree that is in no fashion, in my view, adequately taken into consideration in this ease.” Ms. Bonham challenges the district court’s § 5K2.0 departure.

First, Bonham argues that the district court, in effect,…