United States v. Binkley

Type

Opinion of the Court

Author

Thomas L. Ambro

Filed

June 27, 2002

Case

United States v. Binkley

Case status

Decided

The first passage of the document, as extracted by the source provider.

OPINION AMBRO, Circuit Judge. Lollie J. Binkley appeals her sentencing Under the money laundering guideline, *815 U.S.S.G. § 2S1.2, rather than the fraud guideline, U.S.S.G. § 2F1.1. She argues that because she merely spent the money obtained by fraudulent means, rather than concealing its illicit origins, her conduct does not fall within the heartland of the money laundering guideline, and instead she should be sentenced under the less punitive fraud guideline. We reverse. I. Because we write for the benefit of the parties, we include only the barest facts necessary for analysis. Binkley and Ruth Streeval, her co-defendant and sister, created false inheritance documents that purported to show that Binkley was the beneficiary of George Earl Markham’s estate. On two separate occasions Binkley and Streeval, posing as her attorney, borrowed money on the strength of these false documents. Upon receipt of the loans, Binkley obtained cash as well as a total of ten bank checks and money orders made payable to several of her creditors. Binkley pled guilty to an indictment charging her with wire fraud, mail fraud, and one count of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 . At sente…

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