United States v. Anthony Michael D'Amico ( 2022 )


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  • USCA11 Case: 20-13320      Date Filed: 08/01/2022   Page: 1 of 11
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eleventh Circuit
    ____________________
    No. 20-13320
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ____________________
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    ANTHONY MICHAEL D'AMICO,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ____________________
    Appeals from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Florida
    D.C. Docket No. 9:18-cr-80179-JIC-1
    ____________________
    USCA11 Case: 20-13320       Date Filed: 08/01/2022   Page: 2 of 11
    2                     Opinion of the Court                20-13320
    ____________________
    No. 21-10752
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ____________________
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    ANTHONY MICHAEL D'AMICO,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ____________________
    Appeals from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Florida
    D.C. Docket No. 9:18-cr-80179-JIC-1
    ____________________
    Before WILSON, NEWSOM, and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Anthony D’Amico appeals (1) the district court’s denial of
    his motion for a new trial and an evidentiary hearing following his
    USCA11 Case: 20-13320           Date Filed: 08/01/2022        Page: 3 of 11
    20-13320                  Opinion of the Court                              3
    convictions for wire fraud and money laundering, based on Giglio
    and Brady 1 violations and on newly discovered evidence that a
    Government witness was under investigation for fraud, under Fed.
    R. Crim. P. 33; (2) the court’s determination the loss amount ex-
    ceeded $2,700,000; (3) the court’s failure to sua sponte order a mis-
    trial because a juror might have seen a defense witness get arrested
    after testifying; and (4) the court’s order of restitution without a
    jury finding. After review, we affirm the district court.
    I. MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL
    A. Giglio
    To prove a Giglio violation—which is a subset of Brady vio-
    lations—the defendant must show: “(1) the prosecutor knowingly
    used perjured testimony or failed to correct what he subsequently
    learned was false testimony; and (2) such use was material i.e., that
    there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could
    have affected the judgment.” United States v. Stein, 
    846 F.3d 1135
    ,
    1147 (11th Cir. 2017) (quotation marks omitted).
    D’Amico’s Giglio claim fails because, regardless of material-
    ity, D’Amico’s motion for a new trial did not explain how Fernando
    Mendez’s fraud resulted in Mendez’s testimony being false, and he
    did not identify any specific statements by Mendez that were alleg-
    edly false. See 
    id.
     Based on the argument D’Amico made to the
    1 Giglio v. United States, 
    405 U.S. 150
     (1972); Brady v. Maryland, 
    373 U.S. 83
    (1963).
    USCA11 Case: 20-13320       Date Filed: 08/01/2022     Page: 4 of 11
    4                      Opinion of the Court                20-13320
    district court in his motion for a new trial, the court did not abuse
    its discretion by denying his Giglio claim. See United States v. Val-
    lejo, 
    297 F.3d 1154
    , 1163 (11th Cir. 2002) (reviewing a district
    court’s denial of a Rule 33 motion for a new trial, including those
    where the motion is based on a Brady or Giglio violation or newly
    discovered evidence, for an abuse of discretion).
    B. Brady
    In a criminal proceeding, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth
    Amendment requires the government to produce all evidence,
    upon request, that is favorable to the accused. Brady, 
    373 U.S. at 87
    . To establish a Brady claim, a defendant must show: (1) the gov-
    ernment possessed evidence favorable to the defendant, including
    impeachment evidence; (2) the defendant did not possess the evi-
    dence, nor could he have obtained it himself with any reasonable
    diligence; (3) the government suppressed the favorable evidence;
    and (4) had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, a reasonable
    probability exists the outcome of the proceedings would have been
    different. United States v. Hansen, 
    262 F.3d 1217
    , 1234 (11th Cir.
    2001). Evidence is material if there is a reasonable probability that
    a different result would have occurred had the evidence been dis-
    closed. Kyles v. Whitley, 
    514 U.S. 419
    , 433 (1995).
    The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying
    D’Amico’s Brady claim. When Mendez testified and the jury re-
    turned its verdict on November 7, 2019, the only information that
    could have been known to the Government about Mendez was
    that a subpoena had been drafted, but had not been served, for
    USCA11 Case: 20-13320        Date Filed: 08/01/2022      Page: 5 of 11
    20-13320                Opinion of the Court                         5
    Mendez Digital as part of the McNeal case. Thus, the only thing
    the Government could have disclosed to D’Amico would have
    been that Mendez’s company was somehow related to the McNeal
    case. D’Amico would not have been able to cross-examine Mendez
    about the subpoena, or the health care fraud, because Mendez
    would not have known about either at the time he testified.
    D’Amico’s arguments that Mendez somehow knew about the
    McNeal case and would have understood he was under investiga-
    tion for health care fraud at the time of his testimony is speculative,
    and this speculation is not enough to support his arguments that
    he would have presented a more robust defense and attacked Men-
    dez’s credibility.
    Additionally, the Government had a strong case against
    D’Amico. For example, Alan Redmond testified D’Amico got him
    to switch from buying leads from Exact Media Match (EMM) to
    Fuel Avenue. Soyoung Ham testified that D’Amico’s Invoca log-
    in credentials were logged in at the time and on the page where the
    direct inward dial (DID) numbers for eHealth, VelaPoint, and HII
    were changed. Nicholas Karabetsos testified that D’Amico paid
    and registered the ehealthinsuranceservice.com e-mail domain,
    which was listed in Invoca as eHealth’s contact information despite
    Brian Taylor’s testimony that it had a different e-mail domain.
    These examples, among many others, combined with the jury’s
    ability to believe that the opposite of D’Amico’s own testimony
    was true, shows the court did not abuse its discretion by determin-
    ing the information about Mendez was not material. See United
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    6                      Opinion of the Court               20-13320
    States v. Brown, 
    53 F.3d 312
    , 314 (11th Cir. 1995) (stating when a
    defendant takes the stand and testifies in his own defense, the jury
    may disbelieve his testimony, and he runs the risk that if disbe-
    lieved the jury might conclude the opposite of his testimony is
    true).
    Next, D’Amico cannot show that, had the Government dis-
    closed information about Mendez, the result of his sentencing
    would have been different. When D’Amico was sentenced on Au-
    gust 25, 2020, the only thing the Government would have known
    about Mendez was that a criminal information alleging health care
    fraud was filed against him a month prior. D’Amico argues this
    information would have somehow affected the court’s calculation
    of the loss amount and its decision to impose an enhancement for
    obstructing justice but does not explain how it would have affected
    it, and he did not explain how in his motion for a new trial. Thus,
    D’Amico does not show the court abused its discretion by deter-
    mining the result of his sentencing would not have been different
    if he had known that Mendez had been indicted for health care
    fraud.
    C. Rule 33
    To justify the grant of a new trial under Fed R. Crim. P. 33
    based on newly discovered evidence, a movant must satisfy four
    elements: “(1) the evidence must be newly discovered and have
    been unknown to the defendant at the time of trial; (2) the evidence
    must be material, and not merely cumulative or impeaching;
    (3) the evidence must be such that it will probably produce an
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    20-13320               Opinion of the Court                       7
    acquittal; and (4) the failure to learn of such evidence must be due
    to no lack of due diligence on the part of the defendant.” United
    States v. Sjeklocha, 
    843 F.2d 485
    , 487 (11th Cir. 1988).
    D’Amico cannot satisfy the materiality element of his Brady
    claim, which means he also cannot satisfy Rule 33’s materiality el-
    ement. These tests share a common materiality element that ad-
    dresses what effect the withheld exculpatory evidence or newly dis-
    covered evidence had on the defendant’s case. In order of the dif-
    ficulty of meeting these materiality elements, Rule 33’s materiality
    standard is more difficult to prove than Brady’s. Compare
    Sjeklocha, 
    843 F.2d at 487
     (stating Rule 33 evidence must probably
    produce an acquittal), with Hansen, 
    262 F.3d at 1234
     (stating Brady
    standard is whether a reasonable probability exists that the out-
    come of the proceedings would have been different).
    D. Evidentiary Hearing
    Lastly, the district court did not abuse its discretion by
    denying D’Amico’s motion for an evidentiary hearing. See United
    States v. Isaacson, 
    752 F.3d 1291
    , 1308 (11th Cir. 2014) (reviewing
    the denial of a motion for an evidentiary hearing for an abuse of
    discretion). Motions for a new trial are typically decided without
    an evidentiary hearing, and D’Amico’s allegations did not require
    an evidentiary hearing. See United States v. Hamilton, 559 F.2d
    USCA11 Case: 20-13320            Date Filed: 08/01/2022        Page: 8 of 11
    8                         Opinion of the Court                      20-13320
    1370, 1373 (5th Cir. 1977) 2 (explaining motions for new trial are
    ordinarily decided without an evidentiary hearing, but hearings are
    appropriate for allegations of jury tampering, prosecutorial mis-
    conduct, or a third-party confession); United States v. Espinosa-
    Hernandez, 
    918 F.2d 911
    , 913-14 (11th Cir. 1990) (allowing an evi-
    dentiary hearing where it was discovered that a government agent
    who testified was indicted for making false statements and distrib-
    uting cocaine because it involved “serious and disturbing breaches
    of the public trust”).
    Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of
    D’Amico’s motion for a new trial based on Rule 33, Brady, and Gi-
    glio, and its denial of D’Amico’s motion for an evidentiary hearing.
    II. LOSS AMOUNT
    The government has the burden to prove the losses at-
    tributed to the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence. See
    United States v. Cavallo, 
    790 F.3d 1202
    , 1232 (11th Cir. 2015). Loss
    is calculated as the greater of actual loss or intended loss. U.S.S.G.
    § 2B1.1, comment. (n.3(A)). Actual loss is the “reasonably foresee-
    able pecuniary harm that resulted from the offense.” Id. § 2B1.1,
    comment. (n.3(A)(i)).
    2 In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 
    661 F.2d 1206
    , 1209 (11th Cir. 1981)(en banc),
    this Court adopted as binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Cir-
    cuit handed down prior to close of business on September 30, 1981.
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    20-13320               Opinion of the Court                        9
    The court did not clearly err by determining D’Amico
    caused a loss amount of $2,700,000. See Cavallo, 790 F.3d at 1232
    (reviewing a district court’s determination of the loss amount for
    clear error). Jeremy Attick, All Web Leads’ (AWL) vice president
    of business development and former vice president of sales, testi-
    fied that EMM lost approximately $3,000,000 in business based on
    the rerouted leads, and Jessica Lopez, AWL’s director of finance
    and CPA, testified that during her due diligence of AWL’s acquisi-
    tion of EMM she discovered eHealth, VelaPoint, and HII each had
    outstanding invoices and the total amount lost was $2,767,000. Be-
    cause the court stated it relied on Lopez’s testimony when deter-
    mining the loss amount, it did not clearly err by finding the Gov-
    ernment proved the loss amount by a preponderance of the evi-
    dence.
    Even if these figures are hypothetical, the guidelines permit
    the actual loss amount to be a reasonable estimate of the loss. See
    id. (stating the guidelines do not require that the sentencing court
    make a precise determination of loss, and a sentencing court need
    only make a reasonable estimate of the loss, given the available in-
    formation). Accordingly, the district court did not clearly err by
    determining the Government proved the loss amount by a prepon-
    derance, and we affirm.
    III. MISTRIAL
    Plain error review applies because D’Amico did not object
    on this basis in the district court. See United States v.
    Nash, 
    438 F.3d 1302
    , 1304 (11th Cir. 2006) (explaining issues raised
    USCA11 Case: 20-13320       Date Filed: 08/01/2022     Page: 10 of 11
    10                     Opinion of the Court                 20-13320
    for the first time on appeal are reviewed for plain error). Even if it
    was erroneous for the court to not sua sponte grant a mistrial be-
    cause one juror might have seen Steven Harbison get arrested, that
    error would not be plain because no precedent supports that prop-
    osition. See United States v. Lange, 
    862 F.3d 1290
    , 1296 (11th Cir.
    2017) (stating “there can be no plain error where there is no prece-
    dent from the Supreme Court or this Court directly resolving it”).
    Thus D’Amico cannot meet the plain error standard, and we af-
    firm.
    IV. RESTITUTION
    Apprendi held that “any fact that increases the penalty for a
    crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submit-
    ted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Apprendi v.
    New Jersey, 
    530 U.S. 466
    , 490 (2000). Apprendi does not apply to
    restitution orders because the restitution statute, 
    18 U.S.C. § 3663
    ,
    does not have a prescribed statutory maximum. Dohrmann v.
    United States, 
    442 F.3d 1279
    , 1281 (11th Cir. 2006). Southern Un-
    ion held that Apprendi applies to criminal fines, but did not address
    restitution. Southern Union Co. v. United States, 
    567 U.S. 343
    , 350
    (2012).
    Plain error applies because D’Amico did not raise an Ap-
    prendi issue when he objected to the restitution amount. Even if
    it was erroneous for the court to order restitution without a jury
    finding, any error would not be plain. Under Dohrmann, Apprendi
    does not apply to restitution orders. The court would have had no
    indication that Southern Union abrogated Dohrmann because
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    20-13320             Opinion of the Court                    11
    Southern Union did not address restitution. Thus, D’Amico can-
    not meet the plain error standard and we affirm. See Lange, 862
    F.3d at 1296.
    AFFIRMED.