United States v. Emmanuel Onwuzulike

MEMORANDUM

Emmanuel Ifechukwu Onwuzulike appeals the sentence and restitution order imposed by the district court following his guilty plea to one count of mail fraud, under 18 U.S.C. § 1341 , arising from his involvement in a fraudulent lottery scheme. We affirm. Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we need not recount it here.

I

The district court did not err by enhancing Onwuzulike’s sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines for loss amount, number of victims, or obstruction of justice. We review the district court’s interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines de novo and its findings of fact for clear error. United States v. Laurienti, 611 F.3d 530, 551-52 (9th Cir.2010).

A

The district court did not clearly err by determining that the loss amount exceeded $2.5 million. The sentencing guidelines allow the district court to “make a reasonable estimate of the loss” in a fraud case. U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n. 3(C). The court “ ‘need not make its loss calculation with absolute precision; rather, it need only make a reasonable estimate of the loss based on the available information.’ ” Laurienti, 611 F.3d at 558 (quoting United…