United States v. William R. Beamon, Jr.
678 F. App'x 883
| 11th Cir. | 2017Background
- Defendant William “Rusty” Beamon, Jr. convicted on five counts of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1344 and sentenced to 42 months; he appeals convictions and denial of a new-trial motion.
- Counts involved fraudulent acquisition or diversion of funds related to multiple real-estate transactions (Vickery Woods, Poplar Street, and others) involving Appalachian Community Bank (ACB).
- Government presented evidence of conflicts-of-interest, policy violations at the bank, deceptive document handling, use of shell entities, altered payment methods (cashier’s checks under $10,000), and diversion of rents/security deposits to Beamon’s accounts.
- Beamon argued insufficient evidence (pointing to an acquittal on a related count), claimed bank officials knew/approved transactions, sought a new trial based on post-trial neuropsychological testing, and challenged loss calculation, an aggravating-role enhancement, and the substantive reasonableness of his sentence.
- District court denied the new-trial motion, included various related properties in loss calculation, applied a two-level role enhancement (§ 3B1.1(c)), and imposed a below-guidelines 42-month sentence; Eleventh Circuit affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence for bank fraud convictions | Gov: evidence of scheme, diversion of bank-owned funds, and execution of scheme satisfied § 1344 | Beamon: acquittal on related count and lack of misrepresentations show insufficient evidence; bank officials knew/approved transactions | Affirmed — viewing evidence in favor of verdict, reasonable jury could find guilt on all five counts |
| Motion for new trial based on post-trial neuropsychological evidence | Beamon: newly discovered evidence of impaired executive functioning would negate specific intent | Gov: evidence was not material to defendant’s mental state at time of offenses | Affirmed — evidence not shown to reflect condition in 2009 or to negate intent; district court did not abuse discretion |
| Loss calculation for sentencing (inclusion of additional properties and speculative losses) | Beamon: court erred by including properties he did not buy from bank or speculative losses | Gov: relevant conduct and reasonable loss estimates supported inclusion; district court entitled to deference | Affirmed — district court’s relevant-conduct and loss estimates were not clearly erroneous; any minor errors harmless |
| Role enhancement and sentence reasonableness | Beamon: no organizer/leader; sentence substantively unreasonable under § 3553(a) | Gov: Beamon supervised participants (e.g., Cardd); court weighed § 3553(a) factors and imposed below-guidelines sentence | Affirmed — two-level managerial enhancement supported; 42-month sentence substantively reasonable |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Goldsmith, 109 F.3d 714 (11th Cir. 1997) (conviction under § 1344 may be sustained on either clause charged)
- United States v. Isaacson, 752 F.3d 1291 (11th Cir. 2014) (standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence)
- United States v. Grzybowicz, 747 F.3d 1296 (11th Cir. 2014) (jury verdict upheld if any reasonable construction of the evidence supports it)
- United States v. Hamaker, 455 F.3d 1316 (11th Cir. 2006) (jury may disbelieve dubious explanations)
- United States v. Adkinson, 158 F.3d 1147 (11th Cir. 1998) (execution of a scheme includes movement of money completing the scheme)
- United States v. Lee, 68 F.3d 1267 (11th Cir. 1995) (elements for newly discovered evidence to obtain new trial)
- United States v. Barrington, 648 F.3d 1178 (11th Cir. 2011) (standard of review and reasonableness for loss calculation)
- United States v. Sepulveda, 115 F.3d 882 (11th Cir. 1997) (government bears burden to prove disputed sentencing facts by preponderance)
- Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (sentence reasonableness reviewed for abuse of discretion)
- Williams v. United States, 503 U.S. 193 (1992) (harmless-error standard for Guidelines errors)