United States v. Alland Philidor, 717 F.3d 883 (11th Cir. 2013). · Go Syfert
United States v. Alland Philidor, 717 F.3d 883 (11th Cir. 2013). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
87 citation events (87 in the last 25 years) across 5 distinct courts.
Treatment trajectory · 2014 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
2014 2020 2026
Cited for
At page 885 Reviewing district court factual findings for clear error55 citing cases“left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.”16 citing courts quote it · 54 listed here
  • United States v. Rodney Lamar Nelson, No. 23-11293 (11th Cir. May 29, 2024).unpublished
    “the district court may rely on undisputed facts contained in the psi in determining a sentence.”
  • United States v. Antoine Smith, No. 23-11943 (11th Cir. Apr. 22, 2024).unpublished
    See also United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013) (“The district court may rely on undisputed facts contained in the PSI in USCA11 Case: 23-11943 Document: 27-1 Date Filed: 04/22/2024 Page: 20 of 21 determining a sente…
  • United States v. Nicole Devilbiss, No. 24-12252 (11th Cir. June 29, 2026).unpublished
    We allow district courts to reach some conclusions at sentencing “based on common sense and ordinary human experience.” United States v. Matthews, 3 F.4th 1286, 1289 (11th Cir. 2021) (quoting United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (1…
  • United States v. Albert Ayala, No. 24-13745 (11th Cir. Mar. 10, 2026).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Christian Isaiah Carter, No. 24-13951 (11th Cir. Jan. 14, 2026).unpublished
    United States v. Matthews, 3 F.4th 1286, 1289 (11th Cir. 2021); United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Devontae Jammell Morris, No. 24-12270 (11th Cir. Oct. 2, 2025).unpublished
    Additionally, the district court was permitted to “rely on undisputed facts contained in the PSI in determining [Morris’s] sentence.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Jacob Elijah Groover, No. 24-13068 (11th Cir. Sept. 26, 2025).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Rodrigo Maldonado-Arce, No. 24-12306 (11th Cir. July 28, 2025).unpublished 2 cites
    “A fact finding is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all the evidence, the court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013) (citatio…
  • United States v. Hoobesh Kumar Dookhy, No. 24-10467 (11th Cir. Dec. 13, 2024).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Adam Owens, 96 F.4th 1316 (11th Cir. 2024).published
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
Show 44 more citing cases
  • United States v. Cole Allan Peacock, No. 22-13782 (11th Cir. Jan. 17, 2024).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • Taylor v. United States, No. 8:21-cv-02326 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 29, 2023). 2 cites
    “In cases involving means of identification, such as a Social Security number, ‘victim’ . . . includes ‘any individual whose means of identification was used unlawfully or without authority.’” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (…
  • United States v. Karen Munroe, No. 21-13717 (11th Cir. Dec. 21, 2022).unpublished
    When a defendant challenges the factual basis for an enhancement, the government must prove the disputed fact by a preponderance of the evidence—the proposition must be “more likely true than not true.” United States v. Philador, 717 F.3d…
  • United States v. Jesus Lopez-Garza, No. 22-10501 (11th Cir. Dec. 7, 2022).unpublished
    A district court may, however, make reasonable inferences “based on common sense and ordinary human experience.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Jairo Rodriguez-Cuero, No. 20-13085 (11th Cir. June 3, 2022).unpublished
    But a district court may make reasonable inferences “based on common sense and ordinary human experience.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013); see also United States v. Chavez, 584 F.3d 1354, 1367 (11th Cir. 2009…
  • United States v. Jesus Bolanos Rodriguez, No. 20-10629 (11th Cir. Apr. 21, 2021).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Mauricio Alvarez, 809 F. App'x 562 (11th Cir. 2020).unpublished
    The district court here could apply its “common sense and ordinary human experience” to draw inferences from the testimony, United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013), and to conclude that Alvarez’s conduct, which result…
  • United States v. Jermaine Courtney Brown, No. 19-10469 (11th Cir. Mar. 11, 2020).unpublished
    A factual finding is clearly erroneous when a review of all the evidence 3 We note that Brown did not appeal whether his sentence is substantively reasonable. 7 Case: 19-10469 Date Filed: 03/11/2020 Page: 8 of 13 leaves us “with the defini…
  • United States v. Rodney Blythe, 795 F. App'x 667 (11th Cir. 2019).unpublished
    And the district court’s statement that someone with two DUI convictions probably has driven drunk more than twice was a reasonable inference “based on common sense and ordinary human experience.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 8…
  • Lee v. Saul, No. 1:18-cv-01551 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 8, 2019).
    See, e.g., Jones, 623 F.3d at 1161 (Symptom exaggeration); Getch, 539 F.3d at 483 (same); Hall v. 15 Berryhill, 906 F.3d 640, 644 (7th Cir. 2018)(inconsistent statements can be a valid reason for finding claimant not fully credible); Murph…
  • United States v. Daniel John Pye, No. 18-10277 (11th Cir. June 21, 2019).unpublished
    A finding of fact is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all of the evidence before it, we are “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013…
  • United States v. Roman Humberto Guevar Funez, No. 17-15352 (11th Cir. Nov. 6, 2018).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013). 4 Case: 17-15352 Date Filed: 11/06/2018 Page: 5 of 12 In Ramirez-Florez, we held that a defendant did not sufficiently object to the facts in a PSI when he made only a “general…
  • United States v. Lawrence W. Blessinger, No. 17-12805 (11th Cir. Oct. 2, 2018).unpublished
    “A fact finding is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all the evidence, the court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013) (per cur…
  • Loretta Fergerson v. United States, 694 F. App'x 685 (11th Cir. 2017).unpublished 2 cites
    When a defendant disputes a fact underlying his sentence, the government must prove that “disputed fact by a preponderance of the evidence.” See United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013) (per curiam).
  • United States v. Roberto Roque-Reyes, 679 F. App'x 890 (11th Cir. 2017).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Paul R. Bloom, 661 F. App'x 1001 (11th Cir. 2016).unpublished
    To draw such inferences, the court may rely on “common sense and ordinary human experience,” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013), as well as the court’s “day-today experience in criminal sentencing,” United States…
  • United States v. Jaime Tovar-Montoya, 652 F. App'x 882 (11th Cir. 2016).unpublished
    Furthermore, we have found that, “in the context of government-issued identification ... it is reasonable to conclude ... that the government routinely obtains an applicant’s identity to verify the authenticity of that identity.” See Unite…
  • United States v. Brandon K. Jenkins, 646 F. App'x 826 (11th Cir. 2016).unpublished
    “In cases involving means of identification, such as a Social Security number, ‘victim’ also includes ‘any individual whose means of identification was used unlawfully or without authority.’ ” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (…
  • United States v. Willie McCloud, 818 F.3d 591 (11th Cir. 2016).published
    United States v. *596 Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013) (per curiam); United States v. Bennett, 472 F.3d 825, 832 (11th Cir.2006) (per curiam).
  • United States v. Stanley, 644 F. App'x 935 (11th Cir. 2016).unpublished
    The district court’s factual findings are clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all of the evidence, we are “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11t…
  • United States v. Estrada, 643 F. App'x 912 (11th Cir. 2016).unpublished
    (indicating that a factual finding is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing the evidence, we are “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” (quotation omitted))
  • United States v. Arturo Sanchez-Ruiz, 618 F. App'x 638 (11th Cir. 2015).unpublished 4 cites
    A finding of fact “is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all the evidence, the court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013) (inter…
  • United States v. Trevayne D. Jones, 608 F. App'x 748 (11th Cir. 2015).unpublished
    In particular, we have held that a jury can “reasonably [infer]” that when federal and state governments “routinely obtain an applicant’s identity,” they use processes to “verify the authenticity of that identity.” United States v. Gomez-C…
  • United States v. Behrmann Desenclos, 604 F. App'x 867 (11th Cir. 2015).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013) (quotation marks omitted).
  • United States v. Brantley, 596 F. App'x 780 (11th Cir. 2015).unpublished
    Findings of fact are clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all of the evidence, we are “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013).
  • United States v. Larry Brooks, 582 F. App'x 824 (11th Cir. 2014).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013) (per curiam).
  • United States v. Dyson Onnie McCray, 563 F. App'x 705 (11th Cir. 2014).unpublished
    A factual finding is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all the evidence, we are “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013) (internal qu…
  • United States v. Adrian Ortiz, 560 F. App'x 894 (11th Cir. 2014).unpublished
    United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013).
  • United States v. Jonathan Torres-Bonilla, 556 F. App'x 875 (11th Cir. 2014).unpublished 2 cites
    In cases involving means of identification, the term “victim” includes “any individual whose means of identification was used unlawfully or without authority.” Id. § 2B1.1, cmt. n. 4(E)(ii); United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885-86…
  • United States v. Kevin Lamont Green, 554 F. App'x 895 (11th Cir. 2014).unpublished
    Accordingly, we will reverse the district court’s application of the aggravating-role enhancement only if we are “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (…
  • United States v. James E. Atiabi, 554 F. App'x 858 (11th Cir. 2014).unpublished
    United States v. Phi-lidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir.2013).
  • United States v. Shawn Ruark, No. 24-11672 (11th Cir. Sept. 2, 2025).unpublished
    (explaining that a district court at sentencing can make inferences “based on common sense and ordinary human experience)
  • United States v. Darrell Michael Britt, No. 23-10829 (11th Cir. May 21, 2024).unpublished
    (explaining a fact finding is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all of the evidence before us, we are “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed” (quotation marks omitted))
  • United States v. Edward Treisback, No. 23-12218 (11th Cir. Mar. 21, 2024).unpublished
    See United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • United States v. Daniel Posey, III, No. 21-11253 (11th Cir. Nov. 17, 2022).unpublished 2 cites
    (explaining that a sentencing court may make inferences “based on common sense and ordinary human experience)
  • United States v. James Michael Thomas Criscoe, No. 19-11785 (11th Cir. Jan. 21, 2020).unpublished
    See United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (11th Cir. 2013) (per curiam).
  • United States v. Alex Little, 552 F. App'x 937 (11th Cir. 2014).unpublished
  • United States v. Lineten Belizaire, 774 F.3d 711 (11th Cir. 2014).published
  • United States v. Anthony Roberts, 778 F.3d 942 (11th Cir. 2015).published
  • United States v. Freddie Wilson, 788 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir. 2015).published
  • United States v. Tanyo M. Fox, 626 F. App'x 841 (11th Cir. 2015).unpublished
  • United States v. Hugo Margenat-Castro, No. 17-14453 (11th Cir. Nov. 6, 2018).unpublished
  • United States v. Joseph Capello, No. 18-10310 (11th Cir. Oct. 25, 2019).unpublished
  • United States v. Dean Matthews, 3 F.4th 1286 (11th Cir. 2021).published
At page 886 Defining "actual person" under sentencing guidelines5 citing cases“[b]ecause ‘i.e.’ is an abbreviation for ‘that is,’ the plain meaning of the language used by Congress was that [‘not' fictitious’] was the exclusive definition for ‘actual”1 citing court quotes it
  • Taylor v. United States, No. 8:21-cv-02326 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 29, 2023). 2 cites
    “In cases involving means of identification, such as a Social Security number, ‘victim’ . . . includes ‘any individual whose means of identification was used unlawfully or without authority.’” United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 885 (…
  • United States v. Ivan Suchowolski, 838 F.3d 530 (5th Cir. 2016).published
    “[b]ecause ‘i.e.’ is an abbreviation for ‘that is,’ the plain meaning of the language used by Congress was that [‘not' fictitious’] was the exclusive definition for ‘actual”
  • Howell v. United States, No. 8:20-cv-00476 (M.D. Fla. July 13, 2020).
    See United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 886 (11th Cir. 2013).
  • Simmons v. United States, No. 8:18-cv-00583 (M.D. Fla. June 4, 2020).
    See United States v. Philidor, 717 F.3d 883, 886 (11th Cir. 2013). 4 The wire fraud conviction carried a base offense level of 7, with a 20-level increase because the intended loss exceeded $7 million. (cr Dkt. 113 ¶¶ 30-31).
  • United States v. Nael Sammour, 816 F.3d 1328 (11th Cir. 2016).published
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Alland PHILIDOR, Defendant-Appellant; United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Willman Philidor, Defendant-Appellant
12-13679, 12-13724.
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
May 29, 2013.
Published opinion
717 F.3d 883
2013 WL 2321689
Emily M. Smachetti, Jonathan Colan, Wifredo A. Ferrer, Anne Ruth Schultz, Karen Olivia-Marie Stewart, Arimentha R. Walkins, U.S. Attys., Miami, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee., Michael G. Smith (Courk-Appointed), The Law Offices of Michael G. Smith, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Paul D. Petruzzi, Law Offices of Paul Petruzzi, PA, Miami, FL, for Defendants-Appellants.
Tjoflat, Wilson, Anderson.
Cited by 60 opinions  |  Published
PER CURIAM:

Alland Philidor and his brother Willman Philidor (collectively, the “Philidors”) each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal government funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and one count of theft of government funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641, for their participation in a scheme that involved submitting fraudulent tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service using stolen Social Security numbers, receiving refund checks from the federal government, and depositing these proceeds in various bank accounts of corporate entities controlled by them. The presentence investigation reports (“PSI”) indicated that there were thousands of victims whose Social Security numbers were fraudulently used by the Philidors. Accordingly, the PSI recommended that a six-level enhancement be applied to their base offense level because the offense involved 250 or more victims. United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, § 2Bl.l(b)(2)(C) (Nov. 1, 2012). The PSI also noted that the government had only positively identified twenty-six of the taxpayer victims.

The Philidors objected to the statements in the PSI concerning the number of victims and the six-level enhancement. Although they conceded that the government’s discovery materials identified more than 250 Social Security numbers that were used to file over 250 fraudulent tax returns for which they received proceeds,[*885] the Philidors argued that the government failed to meet its burden to show that the offense involved 250 actual, living victims. The District Court overruled the objection and imposed a sentence incorporating the six-level enhancement.

The Philidors appealed their sentence, each raising the same issue, and we consolidated their appeals. They argue that the District Court erred in imposing the § 2Bl.l(b)(2)(C) enhancement because the government did not show by a preponderance of the evidence that 250 of the listed Social Security numbers were authentic and belonged to living people. Upon review of the record and consideration of the parties’ briefs, we affirm the District Court.

We review a district court’s factual findings for clear error. United States v. Gupta, 572 F.3d 878, 887 (11th Cir.2009). The district court may rely on undisputed facts contained in the PSI in determining a sentence. United States v. Bennett, 472 F.3d 825, 832 (11th Cir.2006). But when a defendant challenges one of the factual bases of his sentence, the government has the burden of proving the disputed fact by a preponderance of the evidence. Gupta, 572 F.3d at 887. A fact finding is clearly erroneous when, after reviewing all the evidence, the court “is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” Id.

The Sentencing Guidelines provide for a six-level increase to a base offense level if the crime involves 250 or more victims. U.S.S.G. § 2Bl.l(b)(2)(C). For the purposes of § 2B1.1, “victim” means “any person who sustained any part of the actual loss” attributed to the crime. Id. comment. (n. 1) (application note). In cases involving means of identification, such as a Social Security number, “victim” also includes “any individual whose means of identification was used unlawfully or without authority.” Id. comment, (n. 4(E)) (application note). A means of identification must be of an “actual (i.e., not fictitious) individual.” Id. comment, (n. 1); see 18 U.S.C. § 1028(d)(7) (a means of identification must be able to be used “to identify a specific individual”).

The District Court did not clearly err in finding that there were 250 or more victims affected by the Philidors’ crime. The undisputed portions of the PSI indicate that the Philidors’ bank statements list over 250 Social Security numbers and that these numbers correspond to tax refunds issued based on fraudulently submitted tax returns. Based on the fact that the Internal Revenue Service issued refunds for tax returns listing those numbers, the District Court made the legitimate inference that the Social Security numbers corresponded to actual persons. See United States v. Chavez, 584 F.3d 1354, 1367 (11th Cir.2009) (stating that the district court is “free to make” reasonable inferences but cannot rely on an inference that is “speculative to the point of being clearly erroneous”). As we have said in the context of government-issued identification, it is not necessary to present proof that the government verifies an individual’s identity before it issues a driver’s license or passport, because it is reasonable to conclude, “based on ordinary human experience,” that the government “routinely obtain[s] an applicant’s identity to verify the authenticity of that identity.” United States v. Doe, 661 F.3d 550, 563 (11th Cir.2011) (internal quotation marks omitted); see United States v. Gomez-Castro, 605 F.3d 1245, 1249 (11th Cir.2010) (stating that, to infer that governments verify the identity information they require applicants to provide, “no special proof is required; a trier of fact can rely on common sense”). Here, likewise, the District Court could infer, based on common sense and ordinary human experience, that the Inter[*886] nal Revenue Service verifies identifying information, like Social Security numbers, before issuing a tax refund. Accordingly, the fact that the Internal Revenue Service paid the refunds to the Philidors indicates that the Social Security numbers used to procure those refunds are associated with real people. The District Court’s conclusion was not clearly erroneous.

Finally, the District Court did not err in applying the § 2B1.1(b)(2)(C) enhancement without first finding that the victims were living. The language in the sentencing guidelines is to be given its plain and ordinary meaning. United States v. Pompey, 17 F.3d 351, 354 (11th Cir.1994). A victim in this context is a person whose means of identification was used unlawfully. A “means of identification” is limited to “an actual (i.e., not fictitious) individual.” U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 comment, (n.l). Because “i.e.” is an abbreviation for “that is,” the plain meaning of the language used by Congress was that not fictitious was the exclusive definition for “actual.” See Black’s Law Dictionary 749 (7th ed. 1999). We recently came to a similar conclusion in the context of the aggravated identity theft statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(l). See United States v. Zuniga-Arteaga, 681 F.3d 1220, 1223 (11th Cir.2012) (concluding that 18 U.S.C. 1028A(a)(l) “punishes theft of the identity of an actual person, regardless of whether that person is still alive”). Accordingly, the plain meaning of the phrase “actual” does not distinguish between living and deceased persons.

We find no error in the District Court’s application of the § 2Bl.l(b)(2)(C) enhancement. The sentence imposed by the District Court is

AFFIRMED.