United States v. Schiller
United States v. Schiller
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Scott A. Schiller appeals a judgment convicting him of embezzlement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 656 and sentencing him principally to thirty-four months’ imprisonment. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts, proceedings below, and specification of issues on appeal.
Schiller contends that evidence of his cocaine purchases was improperly admitted because the prejudice to him resulting from its admission substantially outweighed its probative value. We will reverse and direct a new trial based on the admission of evidence of prior bad acts only if the district court abused its discretion by “rul[ing] in an arbitrary and irrational fashion.” United States v. Germosen, 139 F.3d 120, 127 (2d Cir. 1998) (quoting United States v. Pipola, 83 F.3d 556, 566 (2d Cir. 1996)) (internal quotation mark omitted). In determining whether prior-bad-acts evidence was properly admitted pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), we consider
whether (1) it was offered for a proper purpose; (2) it was relevant to a material issue in dispute; (3) its probative value is substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect; and (4) the trial court gave an appropriate limiting instruction to the jury if so requested by the defendant.
We also reject Schiller’s contention that the district court improperly enhanced his offense level by two levels for abuse of a position of trust. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3. Such an enhancement is proper if the defendant’s position involves “professional or managerial discretion” and his position “contribute^ in some significant way to facilitating the commission or concealment of the offense.” Id. cmt. n. 1. Schiller’s position as branch manager involved managerial discretion and significantly facilitated his concealment of his offense because he supervised the person whose responsibility it was to audit cash boxes and who, because of Schiller’s position, did not adequately audit his box. Cf. United States v. Barrett, 178 F.3d 643, 646-47 (2d Cir. 1999) (upholding an enhancement for abuse of position of trust despite the defendant’s inability to authorize the checks that were the vehicle for the embezzlement scheme because his authority as vice president for sales caused the accounting department not to question his requests for checks).
We therefore affirm the judgment below.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Scott A. SCHILLER
- Status
- Published