Hoang Ai Le and a team of co-conspirators planned to steal computer chips from a Sacramento business called Diamond Flower Electric Instruments. The plan involved two teams: an entry team to break into the home of the business owner to extract alarm codes, and a transport team led by Le to use those codes to rob the business. The entry team instead broke into the home of Zhou Shi Wen, a handyman, and brutally tortured him for hours to get the codes. When they realized Wen did not have the codes, they abandoned the plan to rob the business. Le was convicted of Hobbs Act conspiracy and a firearm offense. On appeal, Le argued he was entitled to a three-level sentencing reduction for an incomplete conspiracy, claiming the district court erred in denying the reduction under U.S.S.G. § 2X1.1(b)(2).
The panel, writing for the majority, analyzed U.S.S.G. § 2X1.1(b)(2), which allows a three-level reduction for conspiracies unless the conspirators completed all necessary acts or were 'about to complete' them but for an event beyond their control. The court found the district court did not clearly err in concluding the conspirators were 'about to complete' the offense. The majority reasoned that the home invasion, torture, and interrogation were the most significant tasks required to secure the codes. Once the codes were obtained, the remaining steps—driving to the business and stealing the chips—were straightforward. The court distinguished this case from United States v. Martinez-Martinez, noting that here the decision to commit the crime was final and the preparatory acts were extensive. Regarding the second prong, the court held that the failure of the robbery was due to circumstances beyond the conspirators' control. While the conspirators chose the wrong victim, the fact that the victim did not possess the codes was an external event, not a result of the conspirators' own actions. The court rejected the argument that poor planning made the failure internal, stating that such logic would recharacterize almost any unforeseen interruption as within the defendant's control.
Le's sentence of 240 months remains in effect. The decision clarifies that for sentencing reductions under § 2X1.1(b)(2), a conspiracy is considered 'about to complete' when the most significant preparatory acts are finished and the remaining steps are relatively minor, even if the final substantive act has not occurred. It also establishes that a failure caused by a third party's lack of knowledge, even if the conspirators targeted the wrong person, counts as an event beyond the conspirators' control.
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