Sentencing

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Daniel Spitzer

Case No: 15-1278

Officials: POSNER, EASTERBROOK, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing

Sentencing court properly administered appellant sentence according to his actions fitting squarely within the guidelines

“At sentencing, Spitzer’s lawyer contested this calculation by asking that the loss be reduced to account for the fact that more than $70 million was returned to investors, some of whom were made whole, and $30 million of the $106 million was invested (at least for a time). But as $34 million represents investors’ net loss, it is hard to see how any further reduction could be taken. See United States v. Walsh, 723 F.3d 802, 807–09 (7th Cir. 2013). The loss for Guidelines purposes might have been reduced if some of the $34 million had been attributable to financial markets, rather than fraud, but Spitzer did not attempt to show how investors would have fared if the funds had been operated as he promised. Some investors got out without injury, and redemption requests were honored until near the end when the funds ran out of money, but Spitzer conceded that he owes restitution of some $34 million to 458 specific persons, which made it hard to contest the enhancement for 250 or more victims. He also conceded drawing more than $1 million for himself and claiming to be an investment adviser, and the elaborate details through which the scheme was operated attest to sophisticated means. The district judge stated that he agreed with the calculation in the PSR and sentenced Spitzer to 300 months’ imprisonment.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.