United States of America v. Sash, 396 F. 3d 515 - Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit 2005

Defendant-appellant, Eliot S. Sash ( Sash ), appeals from a judgment of conviction and sentence entered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Casey, J.) on January 23, 2004, following his guilty plea. Sash pled guilty to two felony counts: (i) possession of fifteen or more counterfeit UPC bar codes for the purpose of fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(3), (b)(1), (c)(1)(A)(i); and (ii) unlawful production of identification documents of a type intended and commonly accepted for the purpose of identifying an individual as an officer of the New York City Police Department, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(1), (b)(1)(B). The District Court sentenced Sash to a twenty-seven-month term of imprisonment. In reaching the sentence imposed, the court applied a two-level sentencing enhancement, pursuant to section 2B1.1(b)(9)(C)(ii) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines ( U.S.S.G. or Guidelines ),[1] based upon the court\u27s determination that Sash possessed five or more means of identification that were produced unlawfully from another means of identification. The District Court also imposed an eight-year term of supervised release and ordered restitution in the amount of $2,000 and a special assessment of $200. On appeal, Sash challenges the two-level sentencing enhancement and the term of supervised release. For the reasons that follow, we agree with the District Court\u27s imposition of the two-level sentencing enhancement. We conclude, however, in accordance with the Government\u27s concession, that the District Court erred in imposing supervised release for a term of eight years