United States v. Thurlee Belfrey
Opinion
Thurlee Belfrey pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of failure truthfully to account for and pay over withheld taxes. The district court 1 varied below the United States Sentencing Guidelines range and sentenced him to 96 months of imprisonment. Belfrey challenges his sentence as procedurally and substantively unreasonable. Having carefully considered the issues, we affirm.
I
From 1994 until at least the end of 2013, Belfrey and his brother, Roylee Belfrey, controlled several home healthcare businesses providing personal care attendant (PCA) services. These PCA services are reimbursable by the Medicare and Medicaid programs funded jointly by the U.S. government and the state of Minnesota. Reimbursable PCA services include light housework, personal hygiene assistance, and food preparation.
In 2000, the Minnesota Attorney General opened an investigation into fraudulent billing by one of Belfrey's companies. Criminal charges in state court followed, and in 2003 Belfrey pleaded guilty to felony-level fraud against the Medicaid program. He was sentenced to 60 days confinement and 20 years of supervised probation. The following year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) ordered Belfrey's indefinite exclusion from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs as a result of his conviction.
Despite his exclusion, Belfrey continued to control at least one PCA business receiving government funds for almost a decade. Belfrey's unauthorized role within the company was extensive. He hired and fired employees; issued policies; directed the spending of money; controlled bank accounts; covertly directed communications with state agencies; and dealt with vendors, banks, and payroll processors. From the time of his exclusion until the end of 2013, the state of Minnesota paid Belfrey's business more than $18 million for PCA services. Belfrey's personal profit was more than $4.3 million.
As part of his control of the company, Belfrey, along with his brother, who managed a separate healthcare entity, hired Kenneth Harycki, who would then assist the Belfrey brothers in committing tax fraud. Beginning in 2007, Harycki repeatedly prepared and filed tax forms falsely stating that the Belfreys' businesses were tax-compliant. In reality, between 2007 and 2013, the Belfreys failed to pay to the federal government more than $4 million in withheld taxes.
In 2014, Belfrey and his brother were indicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government and one count of healthcare fraud. In February 2017, the fourth and final superseding indictment
charged the Belfrey brothers and Belfrey's wife with 43 counts of conspiracy to defraud, tax fraud, and money laundering. Belfrey pleaded guilty to two counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, in violation of
At sentencing, the district court calculated a Guidelines range of 151 to 180 months of imprisonment-driven by Belfrey's conspiracy conviction-and sentenced him to 96 months for the conspiracy and 60 months for the tax offense, to be served concurrently. It also ordered three years of supervised release and restitution of $4,592,593.74 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the tax offense and $4,351,443.08 to the Minnesota DHS for the conspiracy, comprising the amount of Belfrey's personal profit derived from that offense. Belfrey appeals, challenging his sentence as procedurally and substantively unreasonable.
II
When reviewing a challenge to a sentence, we first ensure that the district court committed no procedural error, such as improperly calculating the Guidelines range.
United States v. Feemster
,
A
The first sentencing issue that Belfrey challenges is a 20-level increase under Guidelines § 2B1.1(b)(1)(K), which applies if the total loss amount is more than $9.5 million but not more than $25 million.
2
Under the Guidelines applicable to fraud convictions, the district court is required to "make a reasonable estimate of the loss" that resulted from the offense. § 2B1.1 cmt. (n.3(C)). Generally speaking, "loss is the greater of actual loss or intended loss."
As recommended by the presentence investigation report (PSR) and urged by the government, the district court found an actual loss amount of $18,319,436, which comprises the gross revenues that Belfrey's company received from Medicaid after Belfrey's exclusion. The court reasoned that Medicaid never would have made those payments had it known an excluded individual was behind the business. On appeal, Belfrey renews his argument that Medicaid was not "harmed" in the amount of $18 million because, despite his exclusion, his company rendered legitimate PCA services to Medicaid-eligible patients and thus provided a benefit to Medicaid for which he should have received credit under the net loss approach. And, he contends, because the record evidence did not establish the net economic harm to Medicaid that his offense caused, the district court should have used the amount of his personal profit-$4,351,443.08, which the district court used for restitution purposes-as an alternative measure of loss.
The issue of how to calculate loss in this case is a challenging one. We need not resolve it, however, because we conclude that the government has carried its burden of demonstrating that any error in calculating loss was harmless.
See
Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a). Had the district court calculated loss to be approximately $4 million, as Belfrey urged, Belfrey's offense level would have been two levels lower, resulting in a lower Guidelines range.
See
§ 2B1.1(b)(1)(J). But an "[i]ncorrect application of the Guidelines is harmless error where the district court specifies the resolution of a particular issue did not affect the ultimate determination of a sentence."
United States v. Straw
,
B
Next, Belfrey challenges the four-level aggravating role enhancement under § 3B1.1(a). To justify that enhancement, the government must prove two elements by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) that "the defendant organized or led at least one other participant in the criminal activity," and (2) that "the criminal activity involved at least five participants or was 'otherwise extensive.' "
United States v. Musa
,
"A scheme may be 'otherwise extensive' if it involves a large loss amount and covers a period of years."
United States v. Sethi
,
C
Belfrey next argues that the district court engaged in impermissible "double counting" by applying a two-level enhancement under § 2B1.1(b)(9)(C) for "a violation of a[ ] prior, specific ... administrative order," namely, the order excluding him from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs. We review questions of double counting de novo.
United States v. Clark
,
Belfrey contends that the court double counted when it applied the enhancement because his violation of the administrative order had already been accounted for in his criminal history score, which included four points related to the state conviction that led to the exclusion order. But those criminal history points accounted for his state conviction and commission of the federal offense while on probation for the state conviction, not for his subsequent conduct constituting the violation of the exclusion order. Accordingly, "precisely the same aspect of [Belfrey's] conduct" did not "factor into his sentence in two separate ways," and no double counting occurred.
United States v. Bryant
,
D
The last procedural error Belfrey asserts is the district court's application of a two-level enhancement under § 2B1.1(b)(10)(C) for conduct constituting "sophisticated means ... the defendant intentionally engaged in or caused." Whether an offense involved "sophisticated means" is a factual finding that we review for clear error.
United States v. Meadows
,
III
Having found no reversible procedural error, we review the substantive reasonableness of Belfrey's sentence for an abuse of discretion.
Feemster
,
We affirm the judgment of the district court.
The Honorable Ann D. Montgomery, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.
All citations to the Guidelines are to the November 1, 2006 version, which was in effect at the time of Belfrey's sentencing and was used to calculate his Guidelines range.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Thurlee BELFREY Defendant - Appellant
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published