An excerpt from yesterday's decision by Judge Edward Davila (N.D. Cal.) in U.S. v. Holmes:
On November 1, 2023, after the Court sentenced Holmes [to 11¼ years in prison], the Sentencing Commission amended the Guidelines … by add[ing] U.S.S.G. § 4C1.1, which provides a … retroactive two-level offense level reduction for defendants who meet certain criteria, including that "The defendant did not personally cause substantial financial hardship." …
Holmes contends that she meets each criterion. The government does not dispute this as to most criteria but contends that {Holmes's offense caused a massive amount of financial harm to several people}…. At sentencing, the Court found—and the Ninth Circuit affirmed—that … [Holmes] owed $452,047,268 in restitution to 12 investor-victims….
To determine whether a defendant caused "substantial financial hardship" under Section 4C1.1, the Guidelines instructs courts to "consider, among other things, the non-exhaustive list of factors provided in Application Note 4(F) of the Commentary to § 2B1.1." These factors are "whether the offense resulted in the victim—
