Sentencing Memorandum as to Amanda Christian filed by Amanda Christian — USA v. Thomas et al. (Dkt. 563, N.D. Ga.)

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U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia · No. 1:20-cr-00296-JPB-CMS · Doc. 563 · 2022-09-06 · Docket on CourtListener

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1 | P a g e  
BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA 
ATLANTA DIVISION 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA      ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
INDICTMENT NO.   
v. 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
1:20-cr-00296-JPB-CMS-9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
AMANDA CHRISTIAN, 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
 
Defendant.  
) 
 
 
DEFENDANT AMANDA CHRISTIAN’S SENTENCING 
MEMORANDUM AND MOTION FOR DOWNWARD VARIANCE  
__________________________________________________________________ 
 
COMES NOW Defendant Amanda Christian (hereinafter referred to as “Ms. 
Christian”), by and through undersigned counsel, Gabe Banks, and here by files this 
Sentencing Memorandum and Motion for Downward Variance.  In support thereof, 
Ms. Christian would show this Honorable Court as follows: 
INTRODUCTION 
 
On March 23, 2022, Ms. Christian appeared before this Honorable Court and 
entered a plea of guilty to Count 34 of the First Superseding Indictment. See Docket 
Entry No. 447. In doing so, she accepted complete responsibility for her actions 
without requiring the government to expend unnecessary resources and time to 
establish her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.   
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
Ms. Christian now comes before this Honorable Court as a 34-year-old, loving 
fiancé, sister, lifelong entrepreneur, and someone who has given back to, and served, 
her community. Ms. Christian has readily admitted that her conduct in this case was 
unacceptable and realizes such conduct was more than simply a lapse in judgment 
that can be brushed under the rug without any consequences. As she reflects back on 
her conduct in this case, she continues to be extremely remorseful and has 
acknowledged that she took advantage of an opportunity designed to help businesses 
and people across the country during the time of a global crisis and pandemic. Daily 
she continues to struggle with why she made these horrible decisions to engage in 
this fraudulent scheme. And, while she in no way seeks to diminish what she did 
and/or the role she played, her conduct is an aberration and not at all indicative of 
her character.     
 
For the above reasons and the reasons set forth in more detail below, Ms. 
Christian respectfully requests that this Honorable Court grant a 3-Level downward 
variance and sentence her to a term of imprisonment of no greater than 33 months.  
PSR Calculations: 
 
As a result of Ms. Christian’s plea of guilty to Count 34, Probation concluded 
that Ms. Christian’s Base Offense Level is Seven (7). See PSR at ¶120. Probation 
also concluded that the following specific offense characteristics and/or adjustments 
apply: (1) a 16-Level increase because the loss amount exceeded $1.5 million but 
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
not more than $3.5 million; and (2) a 3-Level increase because defendant was 
allegedly a manager/supervisor and that the criminal activity involved five (5) or 
more participants. See PSR at ¶¶121, 123. This results in an Adjusted Offense Level 
of 26. See PSR at ¶124. Rightfully so (and without objection from the government), 
Probation awarded Ms. Christian a 3-point reduction for acceptance of 
responsibility, resulting in a Total Offense Level of 23. See PSR at ¶¶127-128.  
As it concerns Ms. Christian’s criminal history, Probation assessed one (1) 
criminal history point for a purported conviction of driving with an Open Container 
based out of Springfield, South Carolina, see PSR at ¶131, resulting in a Custody 
Guideline Range sentence of 46-to-57 months.   
Defendant Withdraws Objections to the PSR 
Ms. Christian filed several objections to her PSR but concedes that only one 
of those objections, i.e., aggravating role, would impact the above-reference 
guidelines calculations. As it concerns that sole objection related to the role she 
played in the offense, Ms. Christian withdraws that objection. Moreover, because 
none of the other objections impact the above-reference guidelines calculations, Ms. 
Christian withdraws1 all remaining objections as well.    
 
1 Ms. Christians believes she was not convicted of driving with an open container; rather, 
she believes she was convicted of driving with a suspended license. See Exhibit A attached hereto. 
Again, Ms. Christian withdraws this objection as it does not impact her criminal history category, 
although she believes that her criminal history points would be zero, not one (1).      
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
LEGAL ARGUMENTS – 18 U.S.C. § 3553 
Imposition of a Reasonable Sentence: 
As this Honorable Court is aware, when imposing a sentence, it is required to 
engage in a 2-step process. First, the Court must properly calculate the sentencing 
guidelines. United States v. Talley, 431 F.3d 784, 786 (11th Cir. 2005), abrogated 
on other grounds, Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338 (2007). In other words, the 
Guidelines are no longer “the only consideration” at sentencing. Gall v. United 
States, 522 U.S. 38, 49 (2007). Rather, the Guidelines merely provide a “starting 
point” for the Court’s sentencing considerations. Id.; accord Cunningham v. 
California, 549 U.S. 270 (2007). Notably, as one district court judge has stated: the 
Guidelines’ “most fundamental flaw is the notion that the complexity of human 
character and conduct can be rationally reduced to some arithmetic formula.” See 
Terry Carter, Rakoff’s Stance on the SEC Draws Fire, Praise—and Change:  The 
Judge Who Said No, ABA Journal, Oct. 2013, at 53. While Congress has delegated 
substantial responsibility to the Sentencing Commission, the United States Supreme 
Court has emphasized that the interpretation of regulations ultimately “remains in 
the hands of the courts.” See United States v. Malik Nasir, No. 18-2888, 2021 U.S. 
App. LEXIS 33109, at *24 (3d Cir. Nov. 8, 2021) (citing Kisor v. Wilkie, 139 S. Ct. 
2400 (2019)).       
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
Second, the Court must consider the statutory factors outlined in 18 U.S.C. 
§3553 to determine a reasonable sentence.  Id.  These factors include: (1) the nature 
and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant; 
(2) the need to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, 
and to provide just punishment to the offense; (3) the need for deterrence; (4) the 
need to protect the public; (5) the need to provide the defendant with needed 
educational or vocational training or medical care; (6) the kinds of sentences 
available; (7) the Sentencing Guidelines range; (8) pertinent policy statements of the 
Sentencing Commissions; (9) the need to avoid unwanted sentencing disparities; and 
(10) the need to provide restitution to victims.  Id.; see also, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).  18 
U.S.C. § 3553 requires the court to consider the need to reflect the seriousness of the 
offense, promote respect for the law, provide just punishment of the offense, deter 
criminal conduct, protect the public from the defendant's future criminal conduct, 
and provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training or medical 
care. Id. § 3553(a)(2). To be sure, when imposing a reasonable sentence, the Court 
is required to impose a sentence that is “sufficient, but not greater than necessary.”  
See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2).   
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
In considering all of the facts and circumstances of the instant offense, as well 
as the 3553 factors, this Court should grant a 3-Level downward variance2 and 
sentence Ms. Christian to a term of imprisonment of not greater than 33 months.   
Instant Offense:  
 
Prior to the commencement of any fraudulent scheme, Ms. Christian met Mr. 
Charles Petty through Facebook when he publicly advertised opportunities for 
“Business Funding” on his page. As a small businessowner, this peaked Ms. 
Christian’s interests. After meeting Mr. Petty via Facebook, Mr. Petty then 
introduced Ms. Christian telephonically to co-defendants Darrell Thomas and 
Denesseria Slaton. Shortly thereafter, the four (4) of them began working together 
to process PPP loans. Importantly, Ms. Christian never created and/or devised the 
scheme to defraud the government and/or the lending institutions. In fact, for the 
three (3) loans for which she is being held responsible, namely: (1) Transportation 
Management Services Inc.; (2) Mickies Auto and Tires LLC; and (3) Advertising 
and Then Some, Inc., she never filled out the loan application and/or submitted said 
application for processing. This is true even for the loan that she applied for on behalf 
of her own business, i.e., Advertisement and Then Some, Inc. Instead, it was co-
 
2 Of course, a district court's reasons for not applying the properly calculated guideline 
range must be based on factors outlined in § 3553(a). See United States v. Green, 436 F.3d 449, 
455-56 (4th Cir. 2006). 
 
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
defendant Thomas (and/or perhaps co-defendant Slaton3) who took all necessary 
steps to falsify documents for the submission and processing of various loans.    
Ms. Christian essentially served as a middle-woman between the 
businessowners and co-defendants Slaton and Thomas and took her direction from 
them. As it concern the loans for Transportation Management Services Inc. and 
Mickies Auto and Tires LLC, Ms. Christian received the following documents from 
Charles Petty and Rick McDuffie, respectively: a picture of the owner’s driver’s 
license, a social security card of the business owner, six months of bank records, a 
voided check of the business, articles of incorporations, and an IRS letter with the 
business’s EIN. Upon receipt of that documentation, Ms. Christian would then 
forward said documentation to co-defendant Slaton. The above-referenced 
documentation for these loans was submitted to co-defendant Slaton in 
February/March 2020. While Ms. Christian does not deny that she was involved in 
a fraudulent scheme, the fraud associated with that scheme did not become readily 
apparent to her until she was approved for her loan, realizing that her loan 
application4 contained false information, i.e., the number of employees and payroll 
 
3 Ms. Christian contends that she submitted the above-referenced documents to co-
defendant Slaton, but she is uncertain whether co-defendant Slaton falsified any of the documents 
and/or loan paperwork.    
 
4  It is worth noting that Ms. Christian did not fill out the paperwork associated with the 
loan application for her business.   
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
information. Upon learning of the false information, she contacted and questioned 
co-defendants Slaton and Thomas who both advised her not to worry about it. At 
this time, Ms. Christian definitely knew she was involved with a fraudulent scheme 
and unfortunately executed the loan application anyway. 
The total loan amount for the three (3) loans for which she is being held 
responsible is $2,377.784. The breakdown for each loan is: (1) $830,417.00 
(Transportation Management Services Inc.); (2) $787,160.00 (Mickies Auto and 
Tires LLC); and (3) $760,207.00 (Advertising and Then Some Inc.). While she 
accepts responsibility for her role in each of these loans, Ms. Christian only walked 
away from the fraudulent scheme associated with these three (3) loans with 
$20,000.00, i.e., less than 1% of the total value of said loans.  Even if this Court were 
to calculate the percentage Ms. Christian walked away with based upon the loan 
obtained on behalf of Transportation Management Services Inc., that percentage 
would be less than 2.5% of that particular loan. Yet, no matter how you slice it, Ms. 
Christian only walked away with between less than 1% and 2.5% of the loan amounts 
for which she is being held responsible. Clearly, Ms. Christian was not the 
mastermind behind this fraudulent scheme.        
Ms. Christian’s Background: 
Ms. Christian is 34 years old and a lifelong resident of South Carolina.  See 
PSR at ¶145. Her mother abandoned her and her siblings at a young age due to an 
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
alcohol/drug addiction, causing child protective services to become involved. See 
PSR at ¶¶140, 142. Eventually, Ms. Christian was raised by her great aunt and uncle, 
Russell and Elizabeth Williams. See PSR at ¶142. During her childhood, she had no 
contact with her biological mother until she was 16 years old and had to attend a 
family funeral; at that funeral, her biological mother merely said: “Hello Amanda.” 
Ms. Christian had little or no contact with her biological father throughout her 
childhood and has not seen him in over 20 years and is currently unaware of his 
whereabouts. See PSR at ¶140.  While she was raised in a loving environment, there 
is not doubt that throughout her entire childhood (and now even adulthood) she has 
lived with the void of not having a relationship with either of her biological parents. 
Despite this tremendous void that no child should have to experience, Ms. 
Christian graduated from High School and attained Bachelor of Science in Public 
Affairs and Political Science in 2010. See PSR at ¶150. Tragically, during her college 
years, she was in a physically and mentally abusive relationship where she suffered 
a near death experience. See PSR at ¶143. While she has never been married and 
does not have any children, she is currently engaged to her fiancé, Lyles Knox. See 
PSR at ¶144.   
Since graduating from college, she has always maintained employment. See 
PSR at ¶¶152-155. Currently, she is self-employed and provides a credit counseling 
service to assist individuals repair their credit. See PSR at ¶153. Although not noted 
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
in the PSR, in 2020 Ms. Christian formed a non-profit organization, namely, Feeding 
Everyone Daily, aimed at serving the underprivileged, including the homeless and 
at-risk youth in her community. See Exhibits B through F.  Through this non-profit 
organization, she has spearheaded back-to-school drives for at-risk youth, provided 
food for the homeless, and adopted families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas 
holidays. Id. To her credit, she has always given back to, and served, her community.  
The true nature of who she is can be found in the many letters of support that 
undersigned counsel has provided for this Court’s consideration and review. See 
Exhibit G attached hereto. In sum, these letters describe Ms. Christian as: 
dependable, supportive, compassionate and caring of others (even strangers), giving, 
inspiring, smart, talented, honest, and trustworthy. All of these letters speak to the 
fact that Ms. Christian’s conduct in this case is an aberration for which she remains 
apologetic and extremely remorseful.   
Cooperation with the government: 
 
Ms. Christian also cooperated with the government.  While the government 
concluded that the information provided did not give rise to substantial assistance 
that warranted a 5K motion, the fact that she willingly provided information to the 
government should be taken into consideration by this Court when fashioning an 
appropriate sentence. It is also worth noting that while on pretrial release, Ms. 
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BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
Christian has complied with all of the terms and conditions of her release, as well as 
the plea agreement she entered into with the government in this case.      
In short, Ms. Christian has demonstrated that she can lead a productive, law-
abiding life and has every reason to do so moving forward. While she understands 
that she will be required to go to prison, Ms. Christian respectfully requests that this 
Honorable Court grant a 3-Level downward variance in this case and sentence her 
to a term of imprisonment of not greater than 33 months.      
Respectfully submitted this the _6TH_ day of September, 2022. 
 
BANKS WEAVER LLC  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Gabe Banks 
  
 
 
 
 
 
____________________________________  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gabe Banks 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Georgia Bar No. 721945 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tennessee Bar No. 021377 
Attorney for Amanda Christian  
100 Peachtree Street, NW 
Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
(404) 891-9280 (ofc.) 
(404) 891-9283 (fax) 
gabe@banksweaver.com 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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12 | P a g e  
BANKS WEAVER LLC | 100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA 
ATLANTA DIVISION 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA      ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
INDICTMENT NO.   
v. 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
1:20-cr-00296-JPB-CMS-9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
AMANDA CHRISTIAN, 
 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
) 
 
 
 
Defendant.  
) 
 
 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 
 
 
This is to certify that a copy of the foregoing document was formatted in 
Times New Roman 14 pt., in accordance with Local Rule 5.1B, and was 
electronically filed this day with the Clerk of Court using the CM/ECF system which 
will automatically send email notification of such filing to all parties of record.  
Dated: September 6, 2022. 
 
 
BANKS WEAVER, LLC 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Gabe Banks 
_____________________________ 
 
 
Gabe Banks 
 
 
Georgia Bar No.:  721945 
 
 
Counsel For Amanda Christian  
100 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 260 
Atlanta, GA 30303 
gabe@banksweaver.com 
404.891.9280 (ofc) | 404.891.9283 (fax) 
Case 1:20-cr-00296-JPB-CMS     Document 563     Filed 09/06/22     Page 12 of 12

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