United States v. Barrington

Defendant appealed his convictions for conspiracy to commit wire fraud using a computer, accessing a protected computer without authorization with intent to defraud, and three counts of aggravated identify theft where defendant's convictions arose from a scheme he and his co-conspirators concocted to access Florida A&M University's internet-based grading system. Defendant also appealed his sentence, contending that his 84 month prison sentence was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the challenged Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) evidence; by preventing cross-examination on his pending state burglary charges; and by giving instructions to the jury regarding two distinct statutory conspiracies. The court also held that the evidence was sufficient to support his convictions on Counts Three, Four, and Five for aggravated identity theft and any error in the jury instructions did not adversely affect the outcome of the trial or the substantial rights of defendant. The court further held that, upon consideration of the parties' briefs and review of the record, based on the totality of the circumstances, defendant's low-end Guidelines range sentence was consistent with the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors and was therefore reasonable. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.