Micah Rudisill (“Micah”) and his father, Tim Rudisill (“Tim”), appeal various issues relating to their convictions and sentences on one count of conspiracy to defraud, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2314 (1994), eleven counts of interstate transportation of securities taken by fraud, id. at § 2314, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, id. at §§ 1956(a)(l)(A)(i), 1956(h). After careful review of the record, we find no reversible error in the district court’s rulings. Thus, we affirm the convictions and sentences in all respects.
I. FACTS
Micah Rudisill and Melvin White (“White”) met in 1991 while working as salesmen for a telemarketing company known as the Great American Catalog Company. Both changed jobs frequently over the next few years and worked together at several similar places before they decided to form their own telemarketing company sometime in 1993 to be operated from a location in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Because Micah was only about 19 years old at the time, it was agreed that White would handle the financial end of the business, whereas Micah would be in charge of making the telemarketing calls. Company names were continuously changed in response to complaints to the Georgia Attorney General’s office, until the formation of two companies known as Southern Health and American Distributing. These companies are the ones named in the indictment.
Individuals who received calls from Southern Health or American Distributing (most of whom were elderly) were told that they had won $50,000, but that they could not collect the prize until they paid a federal “transfer” fee. Generally, the fee was between $2,500 and $3,000. Upon receipt of this fee, the individual was told, the prize would be sent. Of course, there was no prize to be had.
Tim heads an organization known as the Society of Stewards, an allegedly religious entity that does not solicit contributions from its members. Tim first met White, albeit briefly, while visiting his son, after Micah went into business with White. Tim met White a second time for a slightly longer period, at which encounter White showed him around the office. Both of these meetings occurred prior to the formation of Southern Health and American Distributing. Nonetheless, at the second meeting, Tim was in the front room, where salesmen could be overheard making fraudulent pitches to their targets.
Micah and White established a mailing address in Georgia to receive the funds. The checks received were then deposited in banks in Birmingham, Alabama. The money in the Alabama accounts was then either used to pay business expenses of the telemarketing operation or distributed out as profit. White signed blank checks and also made out checks to Micah, Tim, and the Society of Stewards. On at least one occasion, Tim personally cashed one of White’s checks under circumstances that aroused the suspicions of bank officials and caused them to question Tim about the funds. The checks to the Society of Stewards amounted to $32,150, and accounted for the entire amount in the Society’s bank account other than $200 contributed by two unidentified individuals.
Eventually, bank officials at one of the Alabama banks with which White had *1263 opened an account became suspicious and requested that White close the account. He and Micah drove to Birmingham on January 24, 1995, to close the account. While White was in the bank, he was served with a grand jury subpoena to provide fingerprints, photographs, and handwriting exemplars. Soon thereafter, White met Micah at an Atlanta hotel, bringing with him $18,000 from the closing of the bank account. Micah encouraged White to become a fugitive instead of providing the information to the grand jury that was required by the subpoena. Micah suggested to White that the money might be marked and convinced White that he should turn over the money to Tim so that Tim could exchange it for non-marked money. Micah telephoned Tim and Tim came to the hotel. White gave the cash to Tim, in exchange for a receipt from the Society. White testified that he and Tim specifically discussed: the existence of the grand jury subpoena; the possibility that the money was marked; the need to have it exchanged for non-marked money; the need to return it to White so that he could have money to live on while in hiding; the possibility of White fleeing to countries without extradition treaties with the United States; and the protection afforded to Micah by virtue of White’s decision to flee, for which Tim offered his gratitude to White. Upon White’s departure from the hotel, Micah gave him $1,000 for use as he fled the authorities. White did not appear before the grand jury on January 31, 1995, as required. Micah provided White with an additional $4,000 while he was a fugitive.
White’s fugitive status was short-lived; the authorities caught him in Fort Lauder-dale, Florida, on March 26, 1995. Subsequently, White pled guilty to ten counts of interstate transportation of securities taken by fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 (1994). He was ultimately sentenced to 39 months in custody, along with restitution of $80,296 and three years of supervised release.
Based on the same conduct to which White pled guilty, a grand jury indicted Micah and Tim 1 in 1997 for eleven counts of interstate transportation of securities taken by fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money, laundering. 2 These counts were based on the activities undertaken by Southern Health and American Distributing between Mdy of 1994 and January 24, 1995. At trial, White was the government’s star witness. Also, Tim testified in his own defense at trial, but refused to testify as to the conversation- between White and himself at the Atlanta hotel. Micah and Tim were ultimately found guilty on all counts.
In calculating Micah’s sentence, the district court, inter alia, enhanced the sentence for obstruction of justice, and denied Micah’s application for a downward departure based on the disparity between his sentence and that of White. With respect to Tim’s sentence (as well as Micah’s), the district court applied the enhancement for vulnerable victims. In this opinion, we address only these sentencing issues, as well as Tim’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence with respect to the conspiracy convictions. The other claims of the appellants are rejected without need for discussion.
II. MICAH RUDISILL
A. Obstruction of Justice Enhancement
Micah contends that the district court wrongly enhanced his offense level by two points for obstruction of- justice. See U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1. 3 After White had been detained by law enforcement officers and served with a grand jury subpoena to provide fingerprints, photographs, and *1264 handwriting exemplars, Micah encouraged White to flee and become a fugitive. Micah argues that simply avoiding or fleeing from arrest does not justify the obstruction of justice enhancement, and therefore Micah’s encouragement of this conduct certainly should not constitute obstruction of justice.
It is true that
United States v. Alpert,
We readily conclude that the district court’s findings and its application of the obstruction of justice enhancement are not clearly erroneous. The Guidelines provide as an example of obstructive behavior “threatening, intimidating, or otherwise unlawfully influencing a co-defendant.” U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 3(a).
4
We found sufficient evidence of this type of conduct in
United States v. Garcia,
*1265
Micah’s argument fails for the additional reason that it presumes that White’s conduct was mere avoidance of arrest, when in fact it was obstructive in and of itself, thereby permitting enhancement of Micah’s sentence for aiding and abetting “White’s obstruction.
See
U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 8.
Alpert
makes clear that its holding involved simple disappearance to avoid arrest “without more,” and that “additional conduct while avoiding arrest” might warrant application of the enhancement.
Id.
at 1107. In this case, White’s conduct does not involve mere flight; he deliberately refused to comply with a properly served subpoena to provide fingerprints, photographs, and handwriting exemplars. In
United States v. Taylor, 88
F.3d 938, 944 (11th Cir.1996), we expressly held that a defendant’s refusal to comply with a subpoena for handwriting exemplars supported a § 3C1.1 enhancement. The fact that White fled, whereas the defendant in
Taylor
appeared as required, but then refused to give the handwriting exemplars,
see id.
at 943, does not bring the instant case within the scope of
Alpert.
The handwriting exemplars were evidentiary material that White was ordered to produce, but did not. Thus, White’s noncompliance with the subpoena and, more to the point, Micah’s assistance in this endeavor amounts to “concealing or directing or procuring another person to ... conceal evidence that is material to an official investigation.”
See
U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 3(d);
see also United States v. Yusufu,
B. Downward Departure Based on Disparity of Sentence
Ordinarily, decisions by a district court not to depart downward from the prescribed sentencing guidelines range are unreviewable on appeal.
See United States v. Chase,
Micah argues that the district court thought that it had no authority to downwardly depart on the basis of a gross disparity in sentence between Micah and White, despite their similar conduct. He points to the following exchange between his attorney and the court in support of this claim: 7
Mr. Martin: Your Honor, I think I am entitled to go on the record whether the Court is of the mind that it is not entitled to downwardly depart *1266 because of the disparity and under the Koon case—
The Court: Yes.... I am saying when I said I am denying it without comment, I want the record to reflect that I believe I have already addressed it on the record and denied it on the record and, yes, I am denying your motion for downward departure based on disparity in the sentence between ... the guideline that is now going to be applicable to your client versus the guideline to Mr. White.
7 Rec. on Appeal, at 69-70.
Had the court simply stopped at “yes,” we might conclude that Micah’s contention is a plausible interpretation of the district court’s understanding of his authority, or at least that there was significant ambiguity.
See United States v. Webb,
So a different Judge, different facts before that Judge, that was a plea, not a trial. I mean, the difference there not because he is being punished for going to trial, but how much evidence is before the Court at the time of sentencing. A lot more comes out at a trial that the Judge is aware of when a person goes to trial than you hear at the time of sentencing.
There is a money laundering charge here that was not present in Mr. White’s case. And the fact that he did not get [the] obstruction [enhancement], I don’t know if the government argued for obstruction.
7 Rec. on Appeal, at 31, 33-34. We think these statements, when read in conjunction with the ultimate denial of the downward departure, strongly point to the conclusion that the district court exercised its discretion in denying the downward departure based on its determination that White and Micah were not actually similarly situated. In other words, whether or not the court believed it had the authority to depart on the basis of a sentencing disparity, the court did not believe that such a departure would be warranted in this case. 8 We will not disturb this conclusion. 9
*1267 III. TIM RUDISILL
A. Sufficiency of the Evidence for Conviction
Tim challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for conviction of both conspiracy counts. In analyzing a sufficiency question, our review is
de novo,
but “[w]e resolve all reasonable inferences and credibility evaluations in favor of the jury’s verdict.”
United States v. Suba,
We address the conspiracy to commit money laundering count together with the conspiracy to defraud because it is clear that the money laundering conspiracy was simply a means of financing the ongoing conspiracy to defraud. We have recently reiterated that “[i]n order to be convicted of a conspiracy one must have knowledge of such conspiracy and must intend to join or associate [himself] with the objective of the conspiracy.”
United States v. Calderon,
Tim does not challenge the existence of the charged conspiracies. Indeed, there is ample evidence of the conspiracy to defraud by means of the telemarketing scheme which extracted money from the victims by false and fraudulent representations. With respect to the money laundering conspiracy, there is ample evidence that financial transactions with the proceeds of the unlawful activity were conducted with the intent to promote the carrying on of the unlawful activity. For example, the payroll and other expenses of the illegal enterprise were paid by checks written on the Alabama bank accounts. Rather than challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conspiracies, Tim challenges only the sufficiency of the evidence of his personal knowledge of and association with the conspiracies.
We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to sustain Tim’s convictions on the conspiracy counts. The evidence shows that Tim was present while suspicious telemarketing calls were being made on two occasions. 10 The jury could reasonably infer that Tim overheard what was happening and was aware that unlawful telemarketing was taking place. In addition to this knowledge of the conspiracy to defraud, the jury could reasonably infer knowledge of the conspiracy to launder. Tim knew that the unlawful activities were continuing and that the normal expenses thereof (e.g., payroll, phone bills, etc.) would be met with the proceeds of the fraud, and he knew that such expenses would be paid by means of financial transactions, i.e., financial transactions intended to promote the carrying on of the unlawful activity. After acquiring this knowledge that the illegal activities were on-going, *1268 instead of disassociating himself, Tim knowingly associated himself with and furthered the illegal activities by the actions described below.
Tim deposited checks written by White totaling more than $32,000 into the account of the Society of Stewards. Only $200 worth of contributions was obtained by the Society from other sources. In other words, Tim’s alleged charity was funded almost entirely by the illegal business. Another $13,000 went directly to Tim. Bank officials from an Alabama bank testified to one instance in which they had requested permission from White before cashing an $8,000 check for Tim. At that time, Tim described White as a generous supporter of his church. White testified, however, that he had little knowledge of the Society of Stewards; rather, the funds were a portion of Micah’s profits that he distributed to Tim on Micah’s behalf. He further testified to signing several blank checks, specifically testifying as to one check that someone other than he had written “emergency relief fund” in the memo section, which check found its way into the Society of Stewards’ bank account. The jury could reasonably have credited White’s testimony in these respects, permitting it to infer that Tim’s statements to the bank officials were meant to conceal the illegal origins of the funds, and facilitate the continuation of the unlawful activities and avoid detection thereof. In addition, White described the meeting at the hotel during which White decided to flee. This provides strong evidence of Tim’s knowledge of the conspiracies and of his association with them. At that meeting, White and Tim discussed the grand jury subpoena, the advisability of flight, the protection afforded to Micah if White fled, the promise of assistance while White was a fugitive, the possibility that some countries did not have extradition agreements with the United States, the likelihood that the $18,000 was marked, and the exchange of that $18,000 for “clean” money. Tim then did implement the exchange, taking the potentially marked $18,000 and giving White a receipt. Plainly, a jury could reasonably infer from these actions on the part of Tim that he had knowledge of the conspiracies and knowingly associated himself with them and furthered them and sought to avoid detection of them.
Our conclusion is bolstered by the fact that Tim testified in his own defense at trial. As we have previously stated, “when a defendant chooses to testify, he runs the risk that if disbelieved the jury might conclude the opposite of his testimony is true.”
United States v. Brown,
B. Vulnerable Victim Enhancement
At the time of Tim’s sentencing, § 3Al.l(b) of the Guidelines stated that “[i]f the defendant knew or should have known that a victim of the offense was unusually vulnerable due to age, physical or mental condition, or that a victim was otherwise particularly susceptible to the criminal conduct, increase by 2 levels.” U.S.S.G. § 3Al.l(b). Tim does not challenge the existence of vulnerable victims in this case, as the evidence clearly supports a conclusion that the telemarketing scheme targeted the elderly. He does ar *1269 gue, however, that he had no knowledge that the scheme was targeting the elderly,
Our review of the district court’s factual determinations is for clear error only, and “we give due deference to the district court’s application of the guidelines to the facts.”
United States v. Yount,
IV. CONCLUSION
We affirm the conviction and sentence of each appellant. The judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED.
Notes
. A third co-defendant was also indicted, but the jury acquitted him on all counts.
. A fourteenth count was later withdrawn by the government.
.Throughout this opinion, we cite to the 1997 version of the Sentencing Guidelines Manual, which was in effect at the time that Micah and Tim were sentenced.
. In full, comment 3(a) provides: "[t]he following is a non-exhauslive list of examples of the types of conduct to which this enhancement applies: (a) threatening, intimidating, or otherwise unlawfully influencing a co-defendant, witness, or juror, directly or indirectly, or attempting to do so.” U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 3(a). The current version of the Guidelines includes the same provision, renumbered as comment 4(a). See U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 4(a) (1998) (using identical language, except that "enhancement” in the 1997 version is replaced with "adjustment” in the 1998 version).
. We recognize that Alexander is unclear as to whether the provision of money to the co-conspirator in that case was "unlawful.” The Guideline commentary expressly indicates that the examples it provides are "non-exhaustive,” see U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 3, so that the presence vel non of "unlawfulness” in Alexander may not be decisive. Nevertheless, one of the examples specifically supports the enhancement when "unlawfulness” is present. See U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 3(a) (describing the obstructive conduct as "threatening, intimidating, or otherwise unlawfully influencing ...”) (emphasis added). In the instant case, Micah's encouragement of White’s flight was clearly an unlawful influence because it was unlawful for White not to comply with the grand jury subpoena. Thus, the facts of the instant case fall more squarely within *1265 the quoted comment than do the facts in Alexander. Of course, we need not address the question of the applicability of the enhancement in a context in which the "unlawful” aspect is missing.
. Our conclusion renders it unnecessary for us to consider whether failure to comply with the grand jury subpoena warrants the enhancement on the independent basis that it constitutes "willfully failing to appear, as ordered, for a judicial proceeding.”
See
U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt. 3(e). We note, however, that at least one appellate court has held that, whether or not a grand jury proceeding is actually a judicial proceeding, the expressly non-exhaustive character of the examples provided in the commentary makes clear that such a failure to appear before a grand jury does justify enhancement.
See United States
v.
Monem,
. Micah does not specifically identify this exchange in his brief on appeal and does not discuss it in the section of his brief dealing with this issue. See Brief for the Appellant Micah Rudisill, at 24. He does cite to the pages in the record containing this exchange in his statement of facts, however, and we construe his obscure references to point to this exchange. See id. at 20.
. Our construction of the district court's statements is further supported by the sentencing hearing for Tim, in which the same judge, having heard the same evidence, again denied the same motion for a downward departure six days after sentencing Micah. At that hearing, the court stated that "as I said at the sentencing of Micah Rudisill, the Court here would not depart even if I felt I could depart to adjust for a disparity in the sentence between ... this Mr. Rudisill and Mr. White.” 8 Rec. on Appeal, at 35. The court reiterated the factual distinctions between White and the Rudisills that we quoted above, and twice more emphasized that no downward departure was warranted based on these facts. See id. (stating “if I could depart downward to adjust for the disparity, this would be a case where I would not” and “again, let me state clearly that if I could [depart], I would not”).
. In light of this decision, we need not address Micah’s argument that the Supreme Court's decision in
Koon v. United States,
. Tim argues that these visits are not probative of his knowledge of the conspiracies, since they took place several months prior to the time period identified in the indictment. We disagree. The jury could readily infer that the nature of the "business” continued unchanged, and that Tim had knowledge thereof.
. At sentencing, the district court expressly found that Tim had committed perjury in this regard. For example, in answer to a question as to whether his son, Micah, had discussed the business with him, Tim testified that nothing was said which aroused his suspicion of illegal activity. See 8 Rec. on Appeal, at 29.