U.S. v. White

In prosecution on three counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, to all of which defendant had pleaded guilty, Dist. Ct. committed plain error in sentencing defendant to one of four concurrent sentences of 108-months on defendant’s bank robbery conspiracy count, where said sentence exceeded 60-month statutory maximum sentence under general federal conspiracy statute, 18 USC section 371. Ct. of Appeals rejected government’s argument that said error was harmless. As such, Dist. Ct. is required on remand to conduct new sentencing hearing on said count and, although not required, may restructure entire sentence on remand. Dist. Ct. did not err, though, in applying physical restraint enhancement with respect to one robbery conspiracy count, where record showed that one of defendant’s accomplices wielded handgun, grabbed bank manager by his shirt and led him to lobby at gunpoint. Dist. Ct. erred, though, in applying same enhancement to different robbery-conspiracy charge, where accomplice’s wielding of gun and ordering store employee to another area of store did not constitute required form of physical restraint to support said enhancement. Said error, though, was harmless, where it did not alter applicable Guideline range.