United States v. Strevel, 85 F.3d 501 (11th Cir. 1996). · Go Syfert
United States v. Strevel, 85 F.3d 501 (11th Cir. 1996). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
5 citation events (4 in the last 25 years) across 3 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: USA v/ Hugh Stephens Worley (ca11, 2018-04-05)
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discussed Cited as authority (rule) USA v/ Hugh Stephens Worley
11th Cir. · 2018 · confidence medium
In United States v. Strevel, 85 F.3d 501, 502 (11th Cir. 1996) (per curiam), we concluded that it was error for the sentencing court to rely solely upon the loss calculation stipulated in the plea agreement, because such reliance constituted a clear violation of the plain language of the commentary.
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UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Victor H. STREVEL, Defendant-Appellant
94-8896.
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
May 10, 1996.
85 F.3d 501
Jay Lester Strongwater, Strongwater & Cherniak, Atlanta, GA, for Appellant., Kent Alexander, U.S. Atty., Martin James Weinstein, Asst. U.S. Atty., Atlanta, GA, for Appellee.
Barkett, Edmondson, Per Curiam, Tjoflat.
Cited by 3 opinions  |  Published
PER CURIAM:

Appellant challenges his sentences of imprisonment for structuring transactions to evade IRS reporting requirements on two grounds. First, appellant contends that the district court erred in calculating his criminal history category by treating as a conviction a bond forfeiture in a DUI case brought in a Georgia court. This contention is meritless; under Georgia law, a bond forfeiture in a DUI case is considered a conviction. See Cofer v. Crowell, 146 Ga.App. 639, 247 S.E.2d 152, 154 (1978); cf. Haley v. Hardison, 247 Ga. 750, 279 S.E.2d 712, 713 (1981).

Second, appellant contends that the district court, prior to the imposition of sentence, erred in failing to find as a fact the amount of the loss caused by appellant’s fraud. According to appellant, the court re[*502] lied solely on the amount stipulated in the parties’ plea agreement.

The commentary to U.S.S.G. § 6B1.4(d) states that

the [sentencing] court cannot rely exclusively upon stipulations in ascertaining the factors relevant to the determination of sentence. . Bather, in determining the factual basis for the sentence, the court will consider the stipulation, together with the results of the presentence investigation, and any other relevant information.

At sentencing, the court, as appellant contends, arrived at the amount of the loss in the case simply by selecting the amount referred to in the plea agreement. The court relied on nothing else. This constituted a clear violation of the plain language of the commentary and requires that we remand the case for a determination of the amount of the loss in question and, thereafter, for re-sentencing.

SO ORDERED.