United States v. Williams

MEMORANDUM **

Gary Peter Williams appeals from the 136-month sentence imposed following his *784 guilty-plea conviction for bank fraud, and conspiracy to produce false identification documents and bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 371. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Williams first contends that the district court applied an unconstitutional burden of proof at the sentencing hearing by not requiring the Government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all non-admitted facts alleged to increase the offense level. This contention, however, is foreclosed by, our holding in United States v. Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir.2005) (en banc).

Williams next asserts that his rights under the Confrontation Clause were violated when the district court allowed the Government to rely on hearsay evidence at sentencing. His contentions lack merit because the admitted statements were accompanied by minimal indicia of reliability. See United States v. Littlesun, 444 F.3d 1196, 1199 (9th Cir. 2005).

Williams further contends that the district court erred by increasing his sentence by 16 levels under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 when it found a loss amount that was…