In United States v. Barrogo, --- F.4th ---, No. 21-10228 (9th Cir. 2023), the Court affirmed the sentence in a case in which the defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire, alter or possess Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits without authorization, in violation of 7 U.S.C. § 2024 and 18 U.S.C. § 371.
The principal issue was "whether the district court properly imposed a two-level sentencing enhancement for the defendant’s misuse of an 'authentication feature.' U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(11)(A)(ii)." The Court held, "a personal identification number (PIN) associated with a debit-type card is an 'authentication feature' under the Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory provisions they reference." Thus, it concluded the enhancement was correctly applied.
