FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 20 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 13-50554
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 2:06-cr-00909-R
v.
MEMORANDUM*
STEVEN M. FERGUSON,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted October 14, 2014**
Before: LEAVY, GOULD, and BERZON, Circuit Judges.
Steven M. Ferguson appeals from the district court’s judgment and
challenges the 121-month sentence and $15,000 fine imposed on resentencing
following his jury-trial convictions for various fraud, tax, obstruction, and financial
offenses under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1341, 1503, 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1957, and 2314; and
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
26 U.S.C. § 7201. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm in
part and vacate in part.
Ferguson contends that the district court violated Federal Rule of Criminal
Procedure Rule 32(i)(3)(B) by failing to resolve alleged factual disputes at
sentencing. This claim fails. Because the arguments that Ferguson raised at
sentencing did not contradict any factual assertions in the presentence report, they
did not invoke the district court’s fact-finding responsibility under Rule 32. See
United States v. Petri, 731 F.3d 833, 840-41 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 134 S. Ct. 681
(2013). Moreover, any error was harmless because the record reflects that the
disputed facts had no effect on the sentence imposed. See United States v.
Saeteurn, 504 F.3d 1175, 1179 (9th Cir. 2007) (Rule 32(i)(3)(B) claims “are
confined to factual disputes which affected the temporal prison term of the
sentence the district court imposed.”).
Ferguson next contends that the court erred by orally imposing a $15,000
fine despite its finding that Ferguson was unable to pay a fine. The government
concedes that no fine should be imposed in this case. See U.S.S.G. § 5E1.2(a).
Accordingly, we vacate the fine as orally imposed and hold that the corrected
written judgment, which waives all fines, shall control.
AFFIRMED in part; VACATED in part.
2 13-50554