UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricardo SCARANO, Defendant-Appellant

Appellant Ricardo Scarano appeals from a judgment and sentence of the district court imposing consecutive terms of incarceration for two counts of mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341 . Scarano contends that the district court’s decision to impose the sentences consecutively, rather than concurrently, violated the Double Jeopardy Clause. Alternatively, Scarano contends that the district court’s imposition of consecutive sentences violated the Sentencing Guidelines. We have jurisdiction over the instant appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 , and we affirm.

I.

BACKGROUND

On August 16, 1990, Appellant Ricardo Scarano entered guilty pleas pursuant to a plea agreement on two counts of mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341 . Count One was a Guidelines count alleging Scarano’s fraudulent acquisition of $38,906.00 in disability benefits from the Social Security Administration on May 3,1990. Count Two was a pre- Guidelines count alleging Scarano’s fraudulent acquisition of $102,163.72 in disability benefits from Guardian Life Insurance Company on May 8, 1986. Scarano’s plea agreement stipulated that, for the purposes of § 2Fl.l(b)(H)(l) of the Sentencing Guidelines, the…