USA v. Laura and Bruce Wasz, 05-1463 and 1464. Laura and Larry and their “thieving co-defendants” engage in a scheme to sell stolen goods on E-Bay. Laura and Larry are upset with the District Court’s loss calculation. The District Court’s loss calculation is consistent with the government’s and US Probation. Laura and Larry hire forensic accountant’s to fight back.
The 7th Circuit reviews loss calculation for clear error. As stated last week, the 7th Circuit states that competing calculations make clear error impossible. The District Court’s calculation of loss amount must be reasonable. Here, Laura and Larry and their fancy accountant calculate loss as the profit they made by their scheme. Further, the District Court used retail price of the stolen goods rather than the wholesale price. In the end, there is no clear error. Since the “thieving co-defendants” stole from retail establishments, retail is reasonable.
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