Unpublished Disposition, 904 F.2d 41 (9th Cir. 1990)

MEMORANDUM^* 

Ronald Hale appeals his sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines following his conviction for bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). The court added two points to Hale's base offense level pursuant to Sentencing Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1(c), finding that Hale appeared to be the leader of the bank robbery. Hale argues that the district court's leadership enhancement was clearly erroneous because the record contained insufficient information to justify its application to him.

Sentencing Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1(c) provides:

If the defendant was an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor in any criminal activity--increase by two levels.

Application Note No. 3 lists the factors a district court should consider in determining whether a defendant acted as an organizer or leader. These factors include:

the exercise of decision making authority, the nature of participation in the commission of the offense, the recruitment of accomplices ... the degree of participation in planning or organizing the offense, the nature and scope of the illegal activity, and the degree of control and authority exercised over others.

Hale's level of participation in the crime was extensive. He entered the bank and committed the robbery alone, aided solely by the help of a getaway driver. The district court expressly found that co-defendant Nedra Breunig Hale was easily led and misled, a fact supportive of the court's determination that Hale had organized the bank robbery scheme. Breunig Hale's testimony, her guilty plea and her sentence all reflect that her principal culpable conduct occurred after the bank robbery, not before. There is no evidence that she planned or in any way organized the scheme. Hale had previously committed a series of similar offenses using the same modus operandi. In United States v. Baker, 894 F.2d 1083, 1085 (9th Cir. 1990), we found the fact that a defendant had previously committed a number of similar schemes a relevant factor in a section 3B1.1(c) leadership determination.

The record, therefore, supports the district court's leadership adjustment based on the factors enumerated in section 3B1.1's application note.

AFFIRMED.