USA v. GARRO
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in USA v. GARRO, No. 06-50513, a criminal appeal. The panel consisted of J. Clifford Wallace, Sandra S. Ikuta, and N. Randy Smith, Circuit Judges.
WALLACE, Senior Circuit Judge:
Garro appeals from his 135-month prison sentence after a jury conviction of eight counts of wire fraud, see 18 U.S.C. § 1343, eleven counts of money laundering, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 (a)(1)(A)(i), (a)(1)(B)(i), and one count of tax evasion, see 26 U.S.C. § 7201. He argues that the district court erroneously applied the Sentencing Guidelines and imposed an unreasonable sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742 and we affirm Garro’s sentence. I. In September and October of 1999, Garro, holding himself out to be a self-employed financial consultant for foreign countries wanting to stimulate their economies, raised $37.5 million dollars from five investors: (1) TLC America ($20 million); (2) Child’s Hope ($10 million); (3) Kelldeer & Carrington ($3.5 million); (4) Veronica Disabello ($2 million); and (5) Curtis Martin ($2 million). The money was for the purpose of entering what Garro called a “Leveraged Investment Program,” which would buy and resell “medium term bank notes” in foreign markets. Each investor entered into a written contract with Garro’s business entity, Sienna Financial, Ltd., and was promised at least double his or her investment in fifteen days. . . .