U.S. v. Malone

Dist. Ct. did not err in ordering defendant to pay $285,000 in restitution as part of his sentence on charges of bank fraud and money laundering arising out of scheme to sell victim $400,000 in non-existent cattle. Said order represented difference between what defendant had received from victim and $115,000 that defendant had refunded to victim, which was appropriate calculation under Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA). Fact that defendant and victim were also involved in dispute to determine ownership of certain cattle that victim had taken from defendant’s feedlot in self-help attempt to obtain what was owed to victim did not require different result. Ct. also rejected defendant’s claim that complexity exemption under MVRA applied so as to preclude imposition of any restitution award, where Dist. Ct. properly concluded that instant calculation was not complicated.