UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
For the Fifth Circuit
No. 96-20797
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
SARAH TESS UY, also known as Sarah Montebello,
also known as Virginia Gonzaga, also known as
Corinna Marie Kanjanasoon; RAFAEL GONZALEZ,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
(CR-H-95-259-1)
September 15, 1997
Before KING, DAVIS, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
On October 20, 1995, Sarah Tess Uy (“Uy”), a/k/a Sarah
Montbello, a/k/a Virginia Gonzaga, a/k/a Corrinna Marie
Kanjanasoon, was indicted for being the organizer and mastermind of
a scheme and artifice to defraud insurance companies by the filing
of false and fraudulent insurance claims, based primarily upon
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
staged and false automobile accidents and false doctors’ reports.
Rafael Gonzalez, a physical therapist who worked at Prime Care
Rehab and Therapy Clinic in Houston, Texas, was also indicted as
being involved in the fraud.
In an eleven-count indictment, Uy and Gonzalez were both
charged with one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
371 (count one), and five counts of mail fraud in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 1341 (counts two through six). Uy was additionally
charged with five counts of money laundering in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 1956(1)(B) (counts seven through eleven).1
Gonzalez was arraigned on October 24, 1995 and entered a plea
of not guilty. Uy was arraigned on November 3, 1995 and also
entered a plea of not guilty.
On April 8, 1996, the case proceeded to a jury trial. On
April 17, 1996, the district court denied Uy’s motion for judgment
of acquittal, but granted Gonzalez’s motion for acquittal on the
charges alleged in counts three through six.
On April 18, 1996, the jury found Uy guilty on all counts
charged in the indictment, and Gonzalez guilty on counts one, two,
four, and five. Uy was remanded into the custody of the Bureau of
Prisons to serve concurrent 108-month terms of confinement on
counts seven through eleven and concurrent sixty-month terms of
1
Kapp Tiango, the office manager of Prime Care Rehab and
Therapy Center, was also named in all 11 counts of the indictment.
Tiango is not a party to the instant appeal.
2
confinement on counts one through six. The terms of confinement
are to be followed by concurrent three-year and five-year terms of
supervised release. Uy was ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution
and $550 in mandatory special assessments.
Gonzalez was ordered to serve concurrent twenty-seven-month
terms of confinement to be followed by concurrent two-year terms of
supervised release. Gonzalez was ordered to pay mandatory assess-
ments totaling $200.
On appeal, Uy and Gonzalez each argue that the evidence
introduced at trial was insufficient to support their respective
convictions. Additionally, Uy asserts the following arguments: (1)
the district court abused its discretion by failing to submit to
the jury her requested instructions on the defense of “good faith”
and “multiple conspiracies”; (2) the district court erred by
failing to suppress evidence obtained during a search of Uy’s
house; (3) her counsel rendered her ineffective assistance at
trial; and (4) the district court clearly erred in determining her
sentence under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. As to this
last issue, Uy specifically argues that the district court erred in
calculating the amount of loss; adjusting her offense level because
the offense affected a financial institution; determining the
amount of restitution; and, imposing consecutive sentences.
We have carefully reviewed the briefs, the reply brief, the
record excerpts, and relevant portions of the record itself. As to
3
both Sarah Tess Uy, a/k/a Sarah Montbello, a/k/a Virginia Gonzaga,
a/k/a Corrinna Marie Kanjanasoon, and Rafael Gonzalez, we are
satisfied that the judgment of the district court should, in all
things, be AFFIRMED.
4