U.S. v. Turner

Summarized by Gaston Loomis , McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP
13 years 3 weeks ago

Citation:

U.S. v. Turner, No. 12-14354 (11th Cir. Feb. 12, 2013)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Under the sentencing guidelines, a higher loss led to a higher sentence. The Debtor argued that the loss here was $28,500 because he actually used some of the $40,000 to satisfy the mortgagee. While the criminal statute did contain a credit-against-loss provision which reduced the actual or intended loss in certain circumstances, the 11th Circuit found this provision was not applicable as he actually concealed the entire $40,000 and not just a portion of it. Had the Debtor disclosed the payment to the mortgage company and noted that the property was now unencumbered, the result may have been different.

Procedural context:

Debtor filed an appeal after the district court sentenced him to 27 months for certain bankruptcy crimes namely bankruptcy fraud and falsification of records

Facts:

Prior to the Petition Date, the Debtor's rental property was destroyed in a fire. The insurance company sent him a check for $40,000 about 4 months prior to the bankruptcy filing. Of this amount, he used $11,500 to satisfy the remaining mortgage on the property. The rest was deposited in a checking account. During the bankruptcy, the Debtor did not disclose this insurance payment nor any payments made to the mortgage company. Instead, the Debtor indicated in his bankruptcy schedules that the mortgage remaining on the property was actually $50,000. During the trial held for these crimes, the district court based his sentence on a total loss of $40,000.

Judge(s):

Circuit Judges Tjoflat, Wilson and Pryor

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