## Facts

- Charles Lowell Kentz operated fraudulent prize-promotion telemarketing schemes aimed at elderly victims.
- Victims were told they had won a large cash prize but had to send money upfront for taxes or fees; reluctant victims were threatened with lawsuits, IRS collection actions, or loss of Social Security benefits.
- Kentz worked in one operation that collected more than $500,000, then started additional operations, including one begun in October 1998.
- Kentz was arrested on December 18, 1998, and released on bond the same day under a written release order.
- The release order barred “any form of telemarketing activities,” required that he not commit any crime while on release, and warned that violations could lead to revocation, detention, and new prosecution with potential imprisonment or fines.
- While on pretrial release, Kentz continued telemarketing fraud and began another fraudulent business.
- He was convicted of defrauding more than 300 elderly victims, including offenses committed while on pretrial release.

## Issues

1. Whether a sentencing court may apply the enhancement for committing an offense while on pretrial release under 18 U.S.C. § 3147 and U.S.S.G. § 2J1.7 when the release order did not specifically warn of that enhancement.
2. Whether the district court properly applied the two-level enhancement for a “large number of vulnerable victims” under U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(2), and whether applying it along with other enhancements constituted impermissible double counting.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed the sentence.
- The court held that specific notice in the release order referencing § 3147 or § 2J1.7 was not required to apply the on-release enhancement.
- The court upheld the “large number of vulnerable victims” enhancement where the offense involved more than 300 elderly victims.
- The court rejected the claim of impermissible double counting because the enhancements addressed different aspects of harm and culpability.

## Legal Principles

- A § 3147 enhancement (implemented by U.S.S.G. § 2J1.7) may be imposed for crimes committed while on pretrial release even absent an explicit warning in the release order identifying § 3147 or the guideline provision.
- General release conditions prohibiting new crimes and warning of serious consequences are sufficient; due process does not require courts to list all potential sentencing effects in a release order.
- Under U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(2), “a large number of vulnerable victims” may be found where the offense targets and harms hundreds of victims within a vulnerable class, including elderly victims in telemarketing fraud.
- Applying enhancements for loss amount, vulnerable victims, and a large number of vulnerable victims is permissible when each adjustment measures a distinct feature of the offense.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit affirmed Kentz’s guideline sentence, holding that § 3147 applies without specific release-order notice and that targeting more than 300 elderly victims supports the additional enhancement for a large number of vulnerable victims without improper double counting.


United States v. Kentz, 251 F.3d 835 (9th Cir. 2001)