OBJECTION TO PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION REPORT filed by Plaintiff USA as to… — USA v. Ayvazyan et al (Dkt. 1041)

Record facts

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · No. 2:20-cr-00579-SVW · Doc. 1041 · 2021-10-07 · Docket on CourtListener

Summary

The government's objection to the Presentence Investigation Report for Artur Ayvazyan in United States v. Ayvazyan, No. 2:20-cr-00579-SVW, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, filed October 7, 2021 as Doc. 1041 under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(f). The government concurs with a criminal history category of I but asks that the report add a two-level vulnerable-victim adjustment under U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(1), arguing that foreign exchange students and deceased individuals were targeted. It states this would yield a total offense level of 37 and an advisory range of 210 to 262 months, plus a mandatory consecutive 24 month sentence on count 24. The filing then lists corrections to the report, including verdict dates of June 25, 2021, release-status details and loan figures of $21,911,962.20. Sentencing is set for November 15, 2021.

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TRACY L. WILKISON 
Acting United States Attorney 
SCOTT M. GARRINGER 
Assistant United States Attorney 
Chief, Criminal Division 
SCOTT PAETTY (Cal. Bar No. 274719) 
CATHERINE AHN (Cal. Bar No. 248286) 
BRIAN FAERSTEIN (Cal. Bar No. 274850) 
Assistant United States Attorneys 
Major Frauds/Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Sections 
1100/1300 United States Courthouse 
312 North Spring Street 
Los Angeles, California 90012 
Telephone: (213) 894-6527/2424/3819 
Facsimile: (213) 894-6269/0141 
E-mail: 
Scott.Paetty@usdoj.gov 
 
Catherine.S.Ahn@usdoj.gov 
 
Brian.Faerstein@usdoj.gov 
 
JOSEPH S. BEEMSTERBOER 
Acting Chief, Fraud Section 
Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice 
CHRISTOPHER FENTON 
Trial Attorney, Fraud Section 
Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice 
1400 New York Avenue NW, 3rd Floor 
Washington, DC 20530 
Telephone: (202) 320-0539 
Facsimile: (202) 514-0152 
 
E-mail: 
Christopher.Fenton@usdoj.gov 
 
Attorneys for Plaintiff 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
 
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
Plaintiff, 
v. 
ARTUR AYVAZYAN, 
 
Defendant. 
No. 2:20-cr-579(A)-SVW-4 
GOVERNMENT’S OBJECTION TO THE 
PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION REPORT  
FOR ARTUR AYVAZYAN 
Sentencing: November 15, 2021 
Time:       11:00 a.m.  
Location:   Courtroom of the       
           Hon. Stephen V. Wilson 
 
 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW   Document 1041   Filed 10/07/21   Page 1 of 6   Page ID #:17216

 
 
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Plaintiff United States of America, by and through its counsel 
of record, the Acting United States Attorney for the Central District 
of California, Assistant United States Attorneys Catherine Ahn, Scott 
Paetty, and Brian Faerstein, and Department of Justice Trial Attorney 
Christopher Fenton, hereby files its initial response, pursuant to 
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(f), to the Presentence 
Investigation Report (“PSR”), prepared by the United States Probation 
and Pretrial Services Office (“Probation”), for defendant ARTUR 
AYVAYZAN (“defendant”) (ECF 994).  
The government concurs with the United States Probation Office’s 
(“USPO’s”) calculation of defendant’s criminal history category as I, 
but respectfully submits that the PSR should be amended to include 
the following enhancement necessary to reflect the scope of 
defendant’s crimes and conduct for which he was convicted:  a two-
level victim-related adjustment based on the fact that many of the 
victims were vulnerable and could not protect against defendant and 
his co-conspirators’ use of their names, in accordance with U.S.S.G. 
§ 3A1.1(b)(1).  This would result in a total offense level of 37, 
which yields an advisory Guidelines sentencing range of 210 to 262 
months, plus the mandatory consecutive 24 month sentence required for 
his conviction for count 24 (violating 18 U.S.C. § 1028(A)(a)(1)). 
The PSR Should Apply a Two-Level Victim-related Adjustment  
The government recommends that defendant’s offense level be 
increased by two because he “knew or should have known that a victim 
of the offense was a vulnerable victim.”  U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(1).  As 
discussed in detail in the Government’s Response to the Presentence 
Investigation Report for Tamara Dadyan (ECF 1001 at 3-11), the 
evidence found at defendant’s Weddington residence and evidence found 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW   Document 1041   Filed 10/07/21   Page 2 of 6   Page ID #:17217

 
 
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on his phone, as well as his wife and co-defendant Tamara Dadyan’s 
phone, show that he and his co-conspirators deliberately targeted 
individuals who were vulnerable to their information being exploited 
for use in the fraud.  This included foreign exchange students who 
had left the United States years before COVID-19 and were therefore 
unable to protect their identities from exploitation, as well as the 
deceased.   
This enhancement applies to individuals that are “unusually 
vulnerable due to age, physical or mental condition, or who is 
otherwise particularly susceptible to the criminal conduct.”  
U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(1) App. Note 2.  The purpose of the adjustment is 
to punish and deter criminals like defendant from victimizing those 
who cannot protect themselves: 
The “vulnerable victim” sentencing enhancement is intended 
to reflect the fact that some potential crime victims have 
a lower than average ability to protect themselves from the 
criminal.  Because criminals incur reduced risks and costs 
in victimizing such people, a higher than average 
punishment is necessary to deter the crimes against them. . 
. . Defrauders who direct their activities not against 
banks, insurance companies, or large investors, but instead 
against people [with] . . . mental or educational 
deficiencies, . . . do not need to take as many precautions 
against the discovery of their scheme by the intended 
victims and in any event are less likely to be prosecuted, 
because the victims are less  likely to know that they have 
been defrauded or if they know to have the know-how and 
initiative required to press a criminal complaint or bring 
a civil suit. 
 
United States v. Etoty, 679 F.3d 292, 296 (2012) (quoting United 
States v. Grimes, 173 F.3d 634, 637 (7th Cir.1999)).   
The number of J-1 visa-related documents found at the Weddington 
residence shows that defendant and his co-conspirators deliberately 
targeted foreign visitors who, once they left the United States, 
would have little to no capacity to identify and protect their name 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW   Document 1041   Filed 10/07/21   Page 3 of 6   Page ID #:17218

 
 
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from use in a U.S. government supported disaster relief loan program.  
In United States v. Cuellar, 165 F.3d 918 (9th Cir. 1998) 
(unpublished), the Court affirmed the district court’s application of 
a two-level “vulnerable victim” enhancement where defendant used the 
identity of a deceased individual to fraudulently obtain a credit 
card in the deceased’s name.  “In determining whether a victim is 
‘particularly susceptible’ within the meaning of section 3A1.1(b), a 
sentencing court must consider the characteristics of the defendant's 
chosen victim, the victim's reaction to the criminal conduct, the 
circumstances surrounding the criminal act, and whether the defendant 
could reasonably have anticipated the victim's reaction.”  Id. at 918 
(citing United States v. Peters, 962 F.2d 1410, 1417 (9th Cir.1992)).  
In the instant case, the foreign exchange students targeted by 
defendant and his coconspirators were particularly susceptible to the 
fraudulent use of their identities.  They had prior legal status in 
the United States, with valid identification documents and activity.  
However, these victims had departed years prior to the onset of 
COVID-19 to return to their countries of origin, with that time and 
distance making it particularly difficult to detect and address the 
theft and use of their names in a crisis-induced federal loan 
program.  Given the length of time since the victims were in the U.S.  
and their immigrant status, defendant could have anticipated their 
reasonably reaction to the use of their identities – or, in this 
case, the lack thereof.  The two-level enhancement should be applied. 
Corrections and Clarifications 
The government provides the following corrections to the PSR: 
• In paragraph 6, the description of Count 24 should be 
amended to state that, “A. Ayvazyan and co-defendant Tamara 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW   Document 1041   Filed 10/07/21   Page 4 of 6   Page ID #:17219

 
 
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Dadyan (T. Dadyan), each aiding and abetting the other, 
knowingly transferred, possessed, and used, and willfully 
caused to be transferred, possessed, and used, without 
lawful authority means of identification . . .” (underline 
added to emphasize revision).  
• On page 2 under “release status” and in paragraph 9 under 
“Adjustment under Pretrial Supervision,” the description of 
defendant’s terms of pretrial release should be revised to 
reflect that defendant’s $100,000 bond, which was initially 
supported by signature bonds of $50,000 each provided by 
Lilit Malyan and Greta Akopyan, was replaced by the deeding 
of property located on Lemac Street in Van Nuys, California 
by Abraham Tatoyan.  (See ECF 5, 112.) 
• Paragraph 2 should be amended to reflect that Artur 
Ayvazyan was found guilty by jury trial on June 25, 2021, 
not June 28, 2021.  Similarly, paragraphs 11 and 18 under 
the section titled “Status of Co-Defendants” should be 
corrected to state that co-defendants Richard Ayvazyan and 
Vahe Dadyan were found guilty by jury trial on June 25, 
2021, not June 28, 2021. 
• Paragraph 17 under the section titled “Status of Co-
Defendants” should be revised to reflect that codefendant 
Edvard Paronyan was sentenced to 30 months in prison on 
September 27, 2021. 
• In footnote 2 appended to paragraph 29, the last sentence 
should be revised to read, “On May 12, 2020, T. Dadyan 
texted R. Ayvazyan that they ‘need to do the max’ now as 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW   Document 1041   Filed 10/07/21   Page 5 of 6   Page ID #:17220

 
 
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the market was going to crash” (underline added to 
emphasize revision, removing the word “stock”).  
• In the discussion of the offense conduct, the description 
of the defendant’s and his co-conspirator’s submission of 
applications should generally be amended to state that 
defendant his co-conspirators submitted and caused to be 
submitted the referenced applications (underline added to 
emphasize revision). 
• In paragraph 94, the paragraph should be amended to state 
“As established at trial and through additional 
documentation, A. Ayvazyan and the codefendants submitted 
loans in the amount of $21,911,962.20 and obtained 
18,016,141.26.”  (underline added to emphasize revision) 
Dated: October 7, 2021 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
TRACY L. WILKISON 
Acting United States Attorney 
 
SCOTT M. GARRINGER 
Assistant United States Attorney 
Chief, Criminal Division 
 
    /s/ 
 
CATHERINE AHN 
SCOTT PAETTY 
BRIAN FAERSTEIN 
Assistant United States Attorneys 
CHRISTOPHER FENTON 
Department of Justice Trial Attorney 
 
Attorneys for Plaintiff 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
Case 2:20-cr-00579-SVW   Document 1041   Filed 10/07/21   Page 6 of 6   Page ID #:17221

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