United States v. Joseph Catone, Jr.United States v. Joseph Catone, Jr.
Case Information
*1 Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and KEENAN and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge Floyd wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge Traxler and Judge Keenan joined.
ARGUED : Joshua B. Carpenter, FEDERAL DEFENDERS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, INC., Asheville, North Carolina, for Appellant. William Michael Miller, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF : Ross Hall Richardson, Acting Executive Director, FEDERAL DEFENDERS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, INC., Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Anne M. Tompkins, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF *2 THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.
FLOYD, Circuit Judge:
A jury convicted Joseph Catone, Jr., of one count of making
a false statement in connection with his receipt of federal
workers’ compensation benefits, in violation of
I.
Catone began working for the United States Postal Service in 1977. On August 2, 2006, he submitted a claim for federal workers’ compensation benefits under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act based on injuries arising from extended periods of driving. The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) awarded to Catone benefits regarding his claim of temporary aggravation of obstructive sleep apnea, which he began receiving in March 2007.
To verify his continued eligibility for benefits, Catone submitted a “CA-1032” form to OWCP each year. The form instructed Catone to disclose whether, in the past fifteen *4 months, he (1) “work[ed] for any employer”; (2) was “self- employed or involved in any business enterprise”; (3) earned “monetary or in-kind compensation” for “volunteer work”; or (4) was “unemployed for all periods.” Catone submitted CA-1032 forms in April 2008 and 2009, and each time he answered “no” to the first three questions and “yes” to the fourth question. From March 2007 to September 2009, Catone received $121,729.80 in benefits from OWCP.
Catone was indicted in May 2011 on three criminal charges
stemming from his receipt of federal workers’ compensation
benefits. The first two counts charged Catone with making false
statements in connection with his receipt of benefits, in
violation of
At trial, the government elicited testimony from three
former employees of the Center, whose testimony collectively
established that Catone often assisted his wife in cleaning the
Center; that Catone was not employed or paid by the Center; and
that the Center contracted with Angelo’s Maintenance to provide
cleaning services. The government also proffered testimony from
an employee at the bank where Catone and his wife maintained a
joint checking account. According to his testimony, the
Catones’ account included three checks written directly to
Catone from Angelo’s Maintenance. Two of the checks predated
Catone’s receipt of workers’ compensation benefits and the third
check, which Catone received while also receiving workers’
compensation benefits, was for $635. The jury convicted Catone
on count one, which alleged a violation of
A presentence investigation report (PSR) prepared by a
probation officer concluded that Catone’s conviction under
Prior to his sentencing, Catone filed several objections to the PSR, two of which are relevant here. First, he objected to the PSR’s conclusion that his sentence carried a statutory maximum of five years’ imprisonment, claiming that his conviction was for a misdemeanor with a one-year maximum because the jury never determined that the amount of benefits falsely obtained exceeded $1000. Second, Catone objected to the loss- amount calculation. In his view, the loss amount should have been based on the difference between the amount of benefits that he actually received and the amount that he would have received but for the false statement. The district court rejected *7 Catone’s objections, sentenced Catone to a sixteen-month term of imprisonment, and imposed restitution in the amount of $106,411.83.
II.
We first address Catone’s challenge to his conviction.
Catone argues that his conviction under § 1920 should be vacated
because the government failed to disclose, in violation of Brady
v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), evidence that undermined the
government’s theory that Catone willfully concealed the work he
performed for Angelo’s Maintenance. Because Catone did not
raise this issue below, we review the claim for plain error.
See United States v. Vinyard,
Catone bases his Brady claim on a “CA-7” form that he submitted to the Department of Labor in March 2007, which disclosed that he had performed a total of 14.6 hours of work for Angelo’s Maintenance at a rate of $12.00 per hour. In his view, the CA-7 form undermined the government’s theory that he had been willfully concealing from the OWCP the work that he performed for Angelo’s Maintenance. Catone thus argues that the government’s failure to produce the form as part of discovery constitutes a Brady violation that should be noticed on plain- error review.
To prevail on a Brady claim, a defendant must show that
(1) the evidence is either exculpatory or impeaching, (2) the
government suppressed the evidence, and (3) the evidence was
material to the defense. United States v. McLean,
Catone’s Brady violation claim fails for numerous reasons. First, to establish a Brady violation, the exculpatory material must be known to the government but not to the defendant. See United States v. Roane, 378 F.3d 382, 402 (4th Cir. 2004) (“[I]nformation actually known by the defendant falls outside the ambit of the Brady rule.”). As Catone is the individual who completed the CA-7 form and submitted it to the Department of Labor, the document was already known to him. Second, the CA-7 form is a publicly available document and could have been uncovered by a diligent investigation. As a senior claims examiner at the Department of Labor testified, Catone could have obtained a copy of his entire claims file by simply submitting a written request to the Department of Labor. See United States v. Wilson, 901 F.2d 378, 381 (4th Cir. 1990) (observing that “where the exculpatory information is not only available to the defendant but also lies in a source where a reasonable defendant would have looked, a defendant is not entitled to the benefit of the Brady doctrine”). Third, Catone is unable to show that had the CA-7 form been disclosed, it would have likely changed the verdict. Instead of undermining the government’s theory of intent, the CA-7 form demonstrates that Catone—in a separate benefits claim—knew that he was required to disclose his *10 employment with Angelo’s Maintenance but nevertheless failed to do so with respect to the benefits he received in connection with the underlying charges. Catone has failed to establish plain error with respect to his Brady claim.
III.
Catone next challenges the imposition of his sixteen-month
felony sentence, claiming that his conviction under § 1920
resulted in a misdemeanor rather than a felony conviction.
Because Catone properly raised this issue during his sentencing
hearing, we review his claim de novo. See United States v.
Mackins,
Section 1920 of the criminal code makes it unlawful to
“knowingly and willfully . . . make[] . . . a false, fictitious,
or fraudulent statement or representation . . . in connection
with the application for or receipt of compensation or other
benefit or payment” under a federal program.
shall be punished by a fine under this title, or by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both; but if the amount of the benefits falsely obtained does not exceed $1,000, such person shall be punished by a fine under this title, or by imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or both.
Id. Although the jury found that Catone knowingly and willfully
made a false statement in connection with his receipt of federal
workers’ compensation benefits, it made no finding that the
offense led to more than $1000 in “falsely obtained” benefits.
Construing the “amount of the benefits falsely obtained” as an
element necessary to sustain a felony conviction under
A.
Whether a particular fact must be submitted to the jury and
found beyond a reasonable doubt turns on whether the fact
constitutes an element of the charged offense. See United
States v. O’Brien, 560 U.S. 218, 224 (2010) (“Elements of a
crime must be charged in an indictment and proved to a jury
beyond a reasonable doubt.”). Although this Court has not
previously addressed whether the amount of benefits falsely
obtained is an element of a
Our analysis in Wilson is consistent with, and supported by, the Supreme Court’s recent Sixth Amendment jurisprudence. In Apprendi v. New Jersey, the Supreme Court held that, “[o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to the jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” 530 U.S. 466, 490 (2000). The Court subsequently extended the reasoning of Apprendi to mandatory minimum sentences, explaining that when a finding of fact “aggravates the legally prescribed range of allowable sentences, it constitutes an element of a separate, aggravated offense that must be found by the jury, *13 regardless of what sentence the defendant might have received if a different range had been applicable.” Alleyne v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2151, 2162 (2013); id. at 2155 (“Any fact that, by law, increases the penalty for a crime is an ‘element’ that must be submitted to the jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt.”). Under Apprendi and its progeny, therefore, any fact that increases either the statutory maximum or mandatory minimum constitutes “an element of a distinct and aggravated crime” that must be found by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 2162-63.
Our conclusion that the amount of benefits falsely obtained
is a substantive element for a felony conviction under
B.
The government concedes that Catone’s felony conviction is not supported by a jury finding that the offense led to more than $1000 in falsely obtained benefits, but it argues that the error is harmless. As with all nonstructural constitutional errors, an Apprendi error does not mandate reversal if the government can establish that the error is harmless. United States v. Brown, __ F.3d __, 2014 WL 2937091, at *4 (4th Cir. July 1, 2014). An Apprendi error is harmless “where a reviewing court concludes beyond a reasonable doubt that the omitted element was uncontested and supported by overwhelming evidence, such that the jury verdict would have been the same absent the error.” Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 17 (1999); United States v. Strickland, 245 F.3d 368, 380 (4th Cir. 2001) *16 (observing that Neder “articulat[es] the particular test for when an omitted instruction on an element of an offense is harmless”).
The government contends that, in this case, the Apprendi
error is harmless because there is overwhelming evidence
establishing that Catone received more than $100,000 in federal
workers’ compensation benefits. In its view, to obtain a felony
conviction under
But the plain language of the statute indicates just the
opposite: whether a conviction under
Although it is uncontested that Catone received more than $100,000 in federal workers’ compensation benefits, the evidence regarding the portion of benefits Catone falsely obtained is far from overwhelming and uncontroverted. Evidence adduced at trial shows that Catone received a single check—in the amount of $635— from Angelo’s Maintenance during the period he received federal workers’ compensation benefits. And the government’s own witness testified that an individual may continue to receive benefits despite earning small amounts of income. Notably, the government fails to point to any probative evidence that could reasonably support a finding that Catone received more than *18 $1000 in benefits as a result of his false statement. We therefore are unable to find that the Apprendi error is harmless.
Because the jury made no finding that the amount of benefits falsely obtained exceeded $1000, and we are unable to locate “overwhelming evidence” in the record to support such a conclusion, Neder, 527 U.S. at 17, Catone’s felony conviction cannot stand. Accordingly, we vacate Catone’s felony conviction and direct the district court to impose a misdemeanor sentence on remand.
IV.
Last, Catone challenges the district court’s application of
a ten-level sentencing enhancement to his base offense level
under Section 2B1.1(b)(1)(F) of the Guidelines, as well as the
district court’s restitution order. We review the district
court’s application of the Guidelines de novo and its factual
findings for clear error. United States v. Quinn,
Section 2B1.1(a) of the Guidelines provides the base
offense level for crimes involving fraud or deceit. That
Section also calls for various increases to a defendant’s base
*19
offense level depending on the specific loss amount at issue.
U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b). The government must prove the amount of
loss by a preponderance of evidence. United States v. Pierce,
409 F.3d 228, 234 (4th Cir. 2005). The district court, though
it need not reach a precise figure as to loss, must make a
“reasonable estimate” of loss based on the “available
information” in the record. U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n.3(C); see
also United States v. Miller,
As a general rule, the Guidelines instruct that “loss is the greater of actual loss or intended loss.” U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n.3(A). A different rule applies, however, for government- benefits offenses like Catone’s. We have held that, when a defendant obtains both proper and improper benefits, the amount of loss is calculated based on “the difference between the amount of benefits [the defendant] actually received and the amount he would have received had he truthfully and accurately completed the [CA-]1032 forms.” United States v. Dawkins, 202 F.3d 711, 715 (4th Cir. 2000).
After our decision in Dawkins, the Sentencing Commission adopted the following commentary to § 2B1.1:
Government Benefits.—In a case involving government benefits (e.g., grants, loans, entitlement program payments), loss shall be considered to be not less than the value of benefits obtained by unintended recipients or diverted to unintended uses, as the case may be. For example, if the defendant was the intended recipient of food stamps having a value of *20 $100 but fraudulently received food stamps having a value of $150, loss is $50.
U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n.3(F)(ii). Consistent with our case law, Comment Note 3(F)(ii) distinguishes a defendant’s loss amount from the total amount of benefits obtained. It further instructs that, when a defendant is the intended recipient of some amount of government benefits, the proper loss calculation is based on the amount of benefits received as a result of the defendant’s fraudulent representation.
At sentencing, both Catone and the government agreed that the framework established by Dawkins controlled. And both parties asserted that the Dawkins analysis could be made based on the facts in the existing record. Citing Dawkins, the government contended that, if Catone had truthfully and accurately completed his CA-1032 forms, “he would not have received any benefits” at all. J.A. 343. Thus, the government asserted that the loss amount was $128,124.75, the entire amount of the benefits he received. Id. at 342-43. In support, the government cited “the jury’s guilty verdict and the evidence presented at trial.” Id. at 343.
In contrast, Catone asserted that the loss amount under Dawkins was less than $1,000. Id. at 307-08. Like the government, he also cited evidence presented at trial: namely, the testimony of two federal employees, who stated that Catone’s *21 benefits likely would have been reduced – but not completely terminated – had he properly disclosed his work as a custodian on the CA-1032 forms. Id. at 51-52, 78-79. Indeed, one of the government’s witnesses testified that it was possible that small amounts of reported outside income would not reduce the benefit amount at all. Id. at 78. According to these employees, the precise amount of any reduction would be calculated under a so- called “Shadrick Formula” published by the U.S. Department of Labor. Id. at 51-52. Catone asserts that under the Shadrick Formula – which he contends is consistent with Dawkins – his benefits would have been reduced by less than $1,000.
The district court ultimately accepted the government’s position, but did not perform the calculation required by Dawkins and the Guidelines. J.A. 281. Rather, it simply adopted the PSR’s conclusion that the loss amount equaled the entire amount of benefits that Catone received. Id. The PSR in turn is devoid of any analysis under Dawkins or Comment Note 3(F)(ii) of the Guidelines. Id. at 324.
As the government concedes on appeal, the district court failed to apply the analysis required under Dawkins, and its loss-amount calculation therefore was erroneous. Accordingly, we must vacate Catone’s sentence and remand for resentencing.
As Catone argues, however, the record is devoid of any evidence that could reasonably support a finding of loss in *22 excess of $5,000, as is required for any offense-level enhancement under the Guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1)(A) (no increase in offense level for loss of $5,000 or less). The evidence presented at trial established that disability benefits are calculated under the Shadrick Formula, that the Shadrick Formula would also be used to calculate any reduction in benefits resulting from Catone’s outside income, and that it was possible that Catone’s benefits might not have been reduced at all. The government, however, failed to present any evidence at trial or at sentencing showing how the Shadrick Formula would be applied in this case, nor did it present any other evidence otherwise establishing the amount of benefits Catone would have been entitled to receive had he truthfully reported his outside income. While a sentencing court need only make a “reasonable estimate” of loss based on the “available information” in the record, U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 cmt. n.3(C), an estimate that is unsupported by any evidence cannot be reasonable.
The government bears the burden of proving the loss amount, see Dawkins, 202 F.3d at 714, yet it failed to present the evidence necessary for the district court to make that determination. Because there is no evidence in the record that could support a loss amount exceeding $5,000, we direct the district court on remand to resentence Catone under U.S.S.G. § *23 2B1.1(b)(1)(A), without any offense-level enhancements for loss amount. [*]
Finally, because the district court erred in calculating Catone’s loss amount, we also must vacate the district court’s award of restitution in the amount of $106,411.83, which represents the amount of a forfeiture imposed by the Department of Labor. As we explained in Dawkins, the restitution amount in a government-benefits case depends on the loss amount calculated under the Guidelines. See Dawkins, 202 F.3d at 715. In light of the district court’s erroneous loss-amount calculation, we vacate the restitution order and remand for recalculation consistent with this opinion.
V.
For the reasons provided above, we affirm Catone’s conviction, vacate his sentence, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED
Notes
[*] Because we have determined that Catone’s sentence was
“imposed as a result of an incorrect application of the
sentencing guidelines,” we have broad authority to “remand the
case for further sentencing proceedings with such instructions
as [we] consider[] appropriate.”