United States v. Ronald M. Turner

Appellant Ronald Melvin Turner appeals the district court order granting the government’s petition to revoke his supervised release. In so doing, the district court vacated its previous order of restitution as void, resentenced Turner to ninety days’ home confinement, followed by thirty-three months’ supervised release, and fined him $100,000. Based on the following, we reverse the judgment of the district court and reinstate its original order of restitution with special instructions.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

For over twenty-five years, Turner owned several successful real estate businesses in Seattle, employing, at one time, more than 400 employees. In late 1993, however, Turner’s enterprises experienced severe cash flow problems. In response, Turner began kiting checks between two banks, Key Bank and Seafirst Bank. He had no previous criminal record. For the next six months, he kited over 400 checks, worth $1,391,781.08, back and forth between the two banks in a schematic, attempt to disguise his financial problems.

In mid-1994, Turner apparently experienced a change of heart. He instructed his attorney to meet with and inform the two unsuspecting banks of his…