In U.S. v. Auguste, No, 03-16121 (Dec. 7, 2004), the Court (Hull, Marcus & Mills b.d.), affirmed the imposition of a two-level sentence enhancement, pursuant to USSG § 2B1.1(b)(9)(C)(i), for the "unauthorized transfer or use of any means of identification unlawfully to produce or obtain any other means of identification," to a defendant who added her name to a victim’s line of credit as a purported legitimate secondary holder.
The Court noted that credit card numbers and credit cards both count as "means of identification." The Court noted Auguste’s argument that she used her own name, not someone else’s name, when she used the credit card. But the Court found this point inapposite, because the enhancement applies to a person who unlawfully obtains a "means of identification." Here, Auguste used account numbers to obtain credit cards, and her conduct therefore fell within the plain language of the Guideline.
