United States v. Atkins, No. 17-1074 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of defrauding Georgia Pacific, a company that operated a paper mill in Arkansas, by falsely presenting scale tickets for non-existent pulpwood loads that resulted in payments to defendant; the government did not improperly vouch for the credibility of a witness at trial; the district court did not err in giving a deliberate indifference/willful blindness jury instruction; the district court did not err by imposing a two-point sophisticated means enhancement under USSG 2B1.1(b)(10)(C) or a two-level enhancement for defendant's role in the offense under USSG 3B1.1; and defendant's sentence was substantively reasonable when compared to the sentence of defendant's co-conspirator.
Court Description: Beam, Author, with Loken and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. Evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for conspiracy and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud Georgia Pacific by fabricating false scale tickets at the company's pulp mill; claim that government improperly vouched for defendant's co-conspirator's testimony rejected; no error in giving a deliberate indifference/willful blindness instruction; no error in imposing a two-point sophisticated means enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 2B1.1(b)(10)(C); no error in imposing a two-level enhancement for role in the offense under Guidelines Sec. 3B1.1; sentence was not substantively unreasonable when compared with the sentence given the co-conspirator.
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