| Subject: | [RESOGUIT-L] Boze Update as of 5/14/07 - watch for sentencing letter | | Date: | Monday, May 14, 2007 12:00:18 (-0700) | | From: | Betty Wheeler <bettywheeler @.....com>
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I spoke with the prosecutor and postal inspector (agent) today to get more
information on the status of the Boze case. First, there is no plea
agreement; Boze has agreed to plead guilty to the same charge, felony mail
fraud, that was originally filed against him. So there will be no reduction
in the charge. He will enter this plea before the magistrate judge on
Wednesday, and the judge will order a presentence report (PSR) to be
prepared for use in the judge's sentencing decision, which will be due in a
couple of months.
We can anticipate a sentencing date to be set for approx. 3 months from
now. The federal sentencing guidelines are built around a type of point
system, with a base offense level of a certain number, and then the
potential for the addition or subtraction of points based on a lot of
different factors. Boze will receive a 3 point reduction as a result of his
guilty plea.
Neither the prosecutor nor the agent could give me a read at this point as
to where Boze would likely end up with respect to sentencing. Two of the
biggest factors in addition to the base offense level (7 points, if I'm
reading the guidelines correctly) are the total losses resulting from Boze's
conduct (6 points if more than $30,000; 8 points if more than $70,000; the
next level if $120K, which I don't believe is likely to apply here), and the
number of victims involved in the offense (2 points if 10 or more; 4 points
if 50 or more, with the next jump occurring at 250 or more). There are
other factors as well, with the main one applying to this case, as I
understand it, being the 3-point reduction because of the guilty plea. So a
semi-educated guess on my part would be that, depending on the total amount
of losses and victims documented in this case, Boze could end up with
something in the range of 15-19 points before the 3 point reduction; that
would put him in this sentencing range: if 15 points, 18-24 months; if 19
points, 30-37 months. The three point reduction would affect that as
follows: if 12 points, 10-16 months; if 16 points, 21-27 months. I
emphasize, however, that this is just a quick, informal estimate, not
anything from any of the officials involved.
The PSR is done by an office called the probation office, even though that's
a sort of misnomer with respect to this work, since probation isn't what is
at issue. All of the victims who are documented in the case -- those of you
who have been getting the letters notifying you of the trial date and the
rearraignment and plea date -- should be receiving a letter from the
probation office, giving you the opportunity to "tell your story" as part of
the preparation of the PSR. I would encourage each of you to PLEASE respond
when you get this letter, and send in your story, so that the PSR will be as
strong as possible in terms of representing the full range of victim
experience. A restitution order is also typically seen in this type of
case, so I would also encourage victims to mention restitution in their
communication to the probation office with respect to the PSR.
Meanwhile, it is likely that Boze will continue to be held in federal
custody pending the sentencing date, since if anything, the entry of a
guilty plea is considered to make him more of a flight risk.
Bottom line: Boze will end up with a felony mail fraud conviction on his
record; he will likely be sentenced to prison for some period of time
(possibly in the 21-27 months range, but that's a guess) and will likely be
ordered to make restitution to his victims.
I'd like to thank all the victims who persevered through this case and took
the actions necessary to support this prosecution. I also thanked the
prosecutor and agent for their work on this case, because I believe they
have done a good job and are getting a good result.
--Betty
|
Boze Update as of 
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