## Facts

- Paul M. Sedore, a tax-return preparer, ran a tax-refund fraud and identity-theft scheme from about 1999 to 2002, including filing false returns using stolen names and Social Security numbers.
- Sedore and a co-participant claimed roughly $155,869.39 in refunds and received $51,950.33 from the IRS.
- Some identifying information used in false returns came from legitimate returns Sedore prepared for clients and acquaintances.
- Sedore prepared a legitimate return for Thaddeus Taylor and obtained Social Security numbers for Taylor’s children during that work.
- Sedore then filed false returns using Taylor’s children’s names and Social Security numbers without Taylor’s involvement or knowledge.
- A grand jury charged Sedore with conspiracy to defraud the IRS (18 U.S.C. § 286), making false claims (18 U.S.C. § 287), and identity theft (18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7)); Sedore pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft.
- The district court initially sentenced Sedore to 84 months, using 31 victims for the Guidelines calculation; Sedore advocated that 31-victim figure against the government’s higher estimate.
- After a remand, the district court again imposed an 84-month sentence, applying a U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3 abuse-of-trust enhancement to the identity-theft count; Sedore newly argued at resentencing that only the IRS was a “victim” under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1 because it suffered the pecuniary loss.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court properly applied the U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3 enhancement for abuse of a position of trust based on Sedore’s tax-preparer relationship with Taylor and the misuse of Taylor’s children’s identifying information.
2. Whether Sedore could challenge the Guidelines’ victim-count calculation on resentencing, or whether he waived that argument by previously asserting there were 31 victims.
3. Whether the 84-month sentence was substantively unreasonable under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

## Decision

- The Sixth Circuit affirmed the sentence.
- The court upheld the § 3B1.3 abuse-of-trust enhancement, finding Sedore used a trust relationship arising from tax preparation to obtain and misuse confidential identifying information.
- The court held Sedore waived his victim-count challenge by previously taking the position that there were 31 victims and maintaining that position through the first appeal.
- The court rejected the substantive-reasonableness challenge and concluded the within-Guidelines sentence remained reasonable.

## Legal Principles

- U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3 applies when a defendant abuses a position of public or private trust in a way that significantly facilitates the offense or its concealment.
- Abuse of trust may be found where a defendant in a professional or quasi-professional role obtains confidential personal information through a trust relationship and exploits it to commit identity theft or related fraud.
- The § 3B1.3 enhancement does not require proof that the person whose trust was abused suffered pecuniary loss; the focus is whether the trust relationship significantly facilitated the crime.
- A defendant who intentionally adopts a factual or legal position at sentencing and maintains it through an appeal may waive a later contrary position on remand; waived claims are not reviewed for plain error.
- A within-Guidelines sentence is afforded a rebuttable presumption of substantive reasonableness on appeal, and the defendant bears the burden to rebut it with reference to the § 3553(a) factors.

## Conclusion

The Sixth Circuit affirmed Sedore’s 84-month sentence, holding that his misuse of client-obtained identifying information supported the abuse-of-trust enhancement, that his new attempt to redefine the victim count was waived, and that the resulting within-Guidelines sentence was substantively reasonable.


United States v. Sedore, 512 F.3d 819 (6th Cir. 2008)