In United States v. Delva, No. 16-12947 (Apr. 29,
2019) (Hull, Marcus, Grant), the Court affirmed the defendants'
identity-theft and tax fraud convictions and sentences.
First, the Court upheld the denial of a suppression motion under
the automobile exception because probable cause existed to search the
defendant's automobile and, in any event, the evidence would have been
inevitably discovered.
Second, the Court found
the evidence sufficient to support that the defendant knowingly participated in
the criminal activities--including that the defendant knew that the PII
belonged to real people, since the fraud was successfully using that
information to obtain tax refunds.
Third, the Court found no abuse of discretion in permitting
an experienced detective to testify as an expert about the meaning of jargon
used in stolen identity refund fraud.
Fourth, the Court upheld the application of a 2-level
enhancement under 2B1.1(b)(15)(B) for possession of a firearm in connection
with the offenses. Amidst all the
defendants' fraud-related materials and money, they had a rifle leaning up against
the wall in the same room and at the same time as they were conducting their
fraudulent activities. One of the
defendants also admitted in a post-Miranda statement that firearms were kept in
the house to protect them from being robbed.
Lastly, the Court found the defendant's 84-month guideline-range
sentence to be substantially reasonable.
