United States v. Walker, 89 F.4th 173

Shaun Walker was involved in a conspiracy to commit a Hobbs Act robbery of a home-based business selling glass marijuana-smoking paraphernalia in Massachusetts.
Law enforcement surveilled the conspirators’ planning and intercepted key communications through a wiretap.
On the day of the planned robbery, conspirators purchased tools for the break-in and traveled to the target location but were apprehended by police before the offense could occur.
The Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) recommended certain enhancements (economic loss, dangerous weapon) and reductions (acceptance of responsibility) under the Sentencing Guidelines.
Walker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 36 months, one month below the guideline range recommended by the PSR; he appealed procedural rulings regarding guideline calculations and application of enhancements/reductions.

Issue	Walker's Argument	Government Argument	Held
Economic-Loss Enhancement	Intended loss should be actual loss ($2,500), as conspirators may not have stolen all inventory; enhancement based on intended $40,000 loss not proper	Intended loss applies; intended to steal property worth $40,000, so enhancement proper	Enhancement proper; intended loss standard applies to conspiracies
Dangerous-Weapon Enhancement	Enhancement should apply only if intent to use tools (crowbar, screwdriver, razor blades) as weapons was shown	Enhancement applies if defendant intended to possess dangerous weapon, regardless of intended use as weapon	Enhancement proper; intent to possess is sufficient
Incomplete-Conspiracy Reduction	Not all acts necessary for robbery completed; co-defendants undecided whether to proceed due to circumstances	Group was about to complete offense, having planned, armed themselves, arrived at scene, and begun prep	No clear error; reduction properly denied
Mitigating-Role Reduction	Less culpable than other participants, lacked authority, little involvement in planning	Walker cannot be minimal participant, as he agreed to enter the house and facilitate the robbery	Record insufficient to affirm; remanded for sentencing court to compare culpability versus co-defendants

United States v. Chapdelaine, 989 F.2d 28 (1st Cir. 1993) (Intended loss standard for economic-loss enhancement in thwarted robbery conspiracies)
United States v. Medeiros, 897 F.2d 13 (1st Cir. 1990) (Inference of conspirators’ intent from actual plan in sentencing context)
United States v. Andino-Rodríguez, 79 F.4th 7 (1st Cir. 2023) (Standards for reviewing sentencing guideline applications and mitigating-role reductions)
United States v. Arias-Mercedes, 901 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2018) (Burden and standards for mitigating-role reduction)
United States v. Pérez, 819 F.3d 541 (1st Cir. 2016) (Fact-specific nature of role-in-offense determinations)