United States v. Sharapka

Oleksiy Sharapka was sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment after he pled guilty to a 13-count information alleging identity theft, counterfeiting, and mail fraud. The charges stemmed from the defendant’s illegal activities in Georgia – a state that he had fled during pretrial custody*fn2 – and in Boston, Massachusetts. At the time of his arrest, Sharapka was found with approximately 315 stolen credit card numbers, “ID kits,” various other PIN and credit card numbers, and equipment valued at over $80,000.*fn3

In this appeal, the defendant challenges his sentence on two grounds. First, he argues as a factual matter that the district court improperly determined that ten or more victims suffered financial losses due to his activities, a finding that increased his sentence by two levels. See U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“Guidelines”) § 2B1.1(b)(2)(A) (2005). And second, he argues that the district court erred in imposing a two-level enhancement for possession of device-making equipment pursuant to § 2B1.1(b)(10)(A) of the Guidelines. The defendant does not raise any Sixth Amendment sentencing issue under the Blakely-Booker-Cunningham line of cases. See Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004); United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005); Cunningham v. California, 549 U.S. 270 (2007).