United States v. Neko K. Defterios

The United States appeals the sentence imposed, on Neko Kimon Defterios. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344 . Holding that the district court erred as a matter of law in sentencing him to imprisonment of one month, we reverse- the district court and remand for resentencing.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Defterios’s sentence was affected by his sentence in a 1992 case, the Palos Verdes fraud, proceedings in which antedated the present case. In the 1992 case, Defterios had used false tax returns in 1992 to secure a $950,000 loan to buy a house in Palos Verdes; he defaulted on the loan. On April 4, 1998, he was indicted for loan application fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 . On July 30, 1998, pursuant to a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to count one of the indictment. Sentencing was, unaccountably, delayed. On April 22, 1999, his counsel advised him that the government was investigating “the acquisition of the Haster property,” a separate case, and that “[although it would be a tremendous benefit to you to attempt to ‘package’ these matters and work out a global resolution, I am disinclined to take…