United States v. Sedore

Paul Sedore (defendant) filed false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using the names and Social Security numbers of real people to steal tax refunds. Sedore obtained some names and Social Security numbers from friends and acquaintances for whom Sedore prepared legitimate returns. For example, Sedore prepared a legitimate return for Thaddeus Taylor but used the information he received from doing so to file false returns in the names of Taylor’s children. Sedore and his accomplice requested more than $150,000 in fraudulent refunds, receiving more than $50,000 from the IRS. Sedore was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 286 and one count of identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). In August 2004, the district court sentenced Sedore to 84 months’ imprisonment based on, among other things, the court’s agreement with Sedore that Sedore had only 31 victims (as opposed to the United States’ claimed 50 to 200 victims). Sedore successfully appealed this sentence. However, on this appeal, Sedore did not change his position that he had 31 victims. On remand, the district court resentenced Sedore to 84 months’ imprisonment. In doing so, the district court applied an enhancement regarding the identity-theft count pursuant to United States Sentencing Guideline (USSG) § 3B1.3, ruling that Sedore abused his position of trust with Taylor and Taylor’s family and that § 3B1.3 did not require a finding of pecuniary loss. The district court did not address Sedore’s new argument that, pursuant to USSG § 2B1.1, Sedore had only one victim because only the IRS suffered pecuniary loss. Sedore appealed, arguing that he did not abuse Taylor’s trust because (1) Sedore only victimized Taylor’s children and (2) Taylor’s children suffered no pecuniary loss. Sedore also reiterated his new argument that the IRS was his only victim.