United States v. Laws, No. 14-3636 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendants Brenda Laws, Lareka Laws, Milton Laws, and Jameel Laws were convicted of charges related to their involvement in a scheme in which they filed more than 200 tax returns claiming first-time homebuyer tax credits to which the named taxpayer was not entitled. The court concluded that the district court did not err in applying the sophisticated means sentencing enhancement to Brenda under USSG 2B1.1(b)(10)(C). However, the district court erred in applying the organizer or leader enhancement under USSG 3B1.1(a) where there is insufficient evidence to show that Brenda was an organizer or leader. The district court did not err in applying an enhancement to Brenda's sentence under USSG 2B1.1(b)(2)(B) because the offense involved 50 or more victims. In regard to Milton's appeal, the court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the government’s motion to reconsider its prior ruling and reopen the suppression issue; the district court did not err in finding that Milton was not in custody when he made the statements he seeks to suppress; and therefore the district court properly denied Milton's motion to suppress. In regard to Lareka and Jameel's appeal, the court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict. Accordingly, the court reversed as to Brenda's sentence in regard to the application of the organizer/leader enhancement. The court affirmed in all other respects.
Court Description: Kelly, Author, with Murphy and Benton, Circuit Judges] Criminal cases - Criminal law and sentencing. The district court did not err in imposing an enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 2B1.1(b)(10)(C) for sophisticated means in determining defendant Brenda Laws' sentence; the court did err in imposing an enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1(a) for role in the offense as there was insufficient evidence to show defendant Brenda Laws was an organizer or a leader; no error in imposing an enhancement in defendant Brenda Laws' sentence under Guidelines Sec. 2B1.1(b)(2)(B) (2013) for an offense involving 50 or more victims; the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting the government's motion to reconsider a suppression order with respect to defendant Marvin Laws' statement to an IRS agent as the government provided sufficient justification for its failure to present all relevant evidence at the first hearing on Laws' belated motion to suppress; with respect to the merits of the motion, the court did not err in finding the statement was admissible because Laws was not in custody at the time he made the statement and he had been advised that he could end the encounter; the evidence was sufficient to support defendant Lareka Laws' and defendant Jameel Laws' convictions for tax fraud and making a false claim to the IRS.
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