Government's Sentencing Memorandum — United States v. Aaron Ashcraft (E.D. Cal.)

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U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California · No. 2:22-cr-00087-KJM · Doc. 21 · 2022-12-05 · Docket on CourtListener

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 GOVERNMENT’S SENTENCING MEMORANDUM 
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PHILLIP A. TALBERT 
United States Attorney 
MATTHEW THUESEN 
Assistant United States Attorney 
501 I Street, Suite 10-100 
Sacramento, CA 95814 
Telephone:  (916) 554-2700 
Facsimile:   (916) 554-2900  
 
Attorneys for Plaintiff 
United States of America 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
                                               Plaintiff, 
 
                                     v. 
 
AARON ASHCRAFT, 
 
                                              Defendant. 
 
 
 
CASE NO. 2:22-cr-87 KJM 
 
UNITED STATES’ SENTENCING 
MEMORANDUM 
 
DATE: December 12, 2022 
TIME: 9:00 a.m. 
COURT: Hon. Kimberly J. Mueller 
 
 Sentencing in this matter is scheduled for December 12, 2022. For the reasons that follow, the 
United States requests that this Court sentence the defendant to a custodial term of 41 months, impose a 
three-year term of supervised release, and order the defendant to pay restitution as outlined in the 
restitution attachment to the Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”). 
I. 
BACKGROUND 
On April 25, 2022, the United States filed an Information charging the defendant with two 
counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and five counts of bank fraud, in violation of 18 
U.S.C. § 1344. Pursuant to a plea agreement, on May 9, 2022, the defendant pled guilty to one count of 
wire fraud and one count of bank fraud.  
II. 
SENTENCING GUIDELINES 
In the PSR, the Probation Officer calculated the defendant’s sentencing range as follows: 
1. Base Offense Level of 7, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(a)(1). 
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 GOVERNMENT’S SENTENCING MEMORANDUM 
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2. 16 levels are added under U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(1)(I), because the intended loss—
approximately $1.98 million—was over $1.5 million. 
 
3. 2 levels are added under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3, because the defendant abused a position of trust. 
 
4. 3 levels are subtracted under U.S.S.G. §§ 3E1.1, because the defendant accepted 
responsibility and assisted in the prosecution of his own misconduct.   
The resulting total offense level is 22, which corresponds to a sentencing range of 41 to 51 
months, when considering the defendant’s criminal history category of I. The United States agrees with 
the Probation Officer’s calculation of the applicable sentencing range and requests that this Court adopt 
it.  
III. 
SENTENCING RECOMMENDATION  
Title 18, United States Code, Section 3553(a) provides multiple factors this Court is to consider 
in fashioning a sentence. In addition to the applicable guideline sentencing range, those factors include, 
among others, (a) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the defendant’s history and 
characteristics; (b) the need for the sentence imposed to (i) reflect the seriousness of the offense,  
(ii) promote respect for the law and provide just punishment for the offense, (iii) afford adequate 
deterrence to criminal conduct, i.e., general deterrence, and (iv) protect the public from further crimes of 
the defendant, i.e., specific deterrence. Considering the Section 3553(a) factors, a custodial sentence of 
41 months is justified. 
As detailed in the PSR and the factual basis attached to the defendant’s plea agreement, the 
defendant’s fraudulent conduct was serious. It was extensive, protracted, and involved stealing from a 
pandemic-relief program and his former employer.   
During the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the defendant defrauded the Small Business 
Administration and its affiliated lenders. Through the use of shell companies, falsified tax documents, 
and falsified financial records, the defendant fraudulently obtained almost $1 million in federal disaster 
relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). He tried to get more. Specifically, from 
approximately May 2020 through April 2021, the defendant submitted seven fraudulent PPP loan 
applications, seeking a total of over $1.2 million. The PPP funds the defendant sought and obtained were 
meant to provide relief to small businesses, many of which were struggling to keep their doors open. 
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Every dollar he took from the program was a dollar that could have and should have been used to keep 
real businesses afloat.  
Not only did the defendant defraud the PPP program, he also embezzled from his former 
employer, Company 1. Over a period of almost three years—September 2017 through June 2020—the 
defendant made more than 300 fraudulent charges to Company 1’s credit card accounts. Those charges 
totaled approximately $780,000. The defendant carried out the embezzlement while holding multiple 
positions at Company 1, including chief financial officer. Company 1 entrusted the defendant with its 
finances. He exploited that trust for his own gain. 
In addition to stealing federal disaster relief funds and embezzling from Company 1, the 
defendant also defrauded the State of Maine. Specifically, in approximately July 2020, the defendant 
submitted with the Maine Department of Labor a falsified application for Pandemic Unemployment 
Assistance. As with the PPP loan applications, the defendant provided falsified information and tax 
forms. By doing so, he fraudulently obtained almost $60,000.  
The government recognizes that the defendant fully accepted responsibility for his criminal 
conduct when he first met with law enforcement, including by providing agents a signed confession 
letter. Given the extensive nature of his schemes, however, the United States submits that a guideline 
sentence is warranted to protect the public from future crimes of the defendant.  
A significant sentence also is needed to further the goal of general deterrence. While the PPP 
program currently is not in effect, society likely will face another crisis in the future that will require a 
similar response. Government programs designed to alleviate the impacts of such crises must be 
protected. A substantial sentence will send a message that taking advantage of a national emergency will 
not be tolerated.   
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IV. 
CONCLUSION 
Based on the foregoing, the government respectfully requests that this Court sentence the 
defendant to 41 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release. The government also 
requests that this Court order that the defendant pay restitution as described in the restitution attachment.  
 
 
Dated:  December 5, 2022 
By: 
PHILLIP A. TALBERT 
United States Attorney 
 
 
 
 
MATTHEW THUESEN 
Assistant United States Attorney 
 
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