United States v. Tywin Bender

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's resentence after he was convicted of conspiring to retaliate against a federal witness. The court held that the district court did not err by applying an eight-level sentencing enhancement under USSG 2J1.2(b)(1)(B) to defendant's offense level for the witness-retaliation charge where he triggered the enhancement the moment he sent a threat by way of his friend. The court rejected defendant's contention that, under Burrage v. United States, 571 U.S. 204 (2014), the government had to prove defendant's efforts were the singular cause of the threats, as opposed to incidental, tangential, or even contributing causes. In this case, the action required to apply the enhancement occurred when defendant dispatched his friend with the threatening message. View "United States v. Tywin Bender" on Justia Law