USA v. Lisa Faulkner, No. 14-10636 (5th Cir. 2015)

 Annotate this Case
Download PDF
Case: 14-10636 Document: 00512978522 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/23/2015 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 14-10636 Summary Calendar United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED March 23, 2015 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee Lyle W. Cayce Clerk v. LISA FAULKNER, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 4:14-CR-12-1 Before PRADO, OWEN, and GRAVES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: * Lisa Faulkner appeals the sentence imposed following her guilty plea conviction for wire fraud. Faulkner argues that the district court erred by imposing a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(10)(C) because the offense involved sophisticated means. We review the district court’s factual determination that Faulkner used sophisticated means for clear error. See United States v. Conner, 537 F.3d 480, 492 (5th Cir. 2008). Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. * Case: 14-10636 Document: 00512978522 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/23/2015 No. 14-10636 Faulkner created fictitious room revenue credits using the house account and issued these refunds to her personal accounts. The majority of these refunds corresponded to the current nightly room rate and taxes. Faulkner’s scheme “made it more difficult for the offense to be detected,” United States v. Valdez, 726 F.3d 684, 695 (5th Cir. 2013), insofar as she created fictitious refunds, keyed the refund amounts to the current room rates, and deposited the refunds into four different personal accounts. Given these facts, the district court’s application of the enhancement was not clear error. See Conner, 537 F.3d at 492. Further, we are satisfied that, given the record, the Government has carried its burden of demonstrating that any error was harmless. See United States v. Ibarra-Luna, 628 F.3d 712, 718-19 (5th Cir. 2010). AFFIRMED. 2

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.