United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED ____________ August 16, 2023 No. 22-10103 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Steven Anthony Reinhart,

Defendant—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 2:21-CR-6-1 ______________________________

Before Higginbotham, Graves, and Douglas, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: Steven Anthony Reinhart (“Reinhart”) pleaded guilty, with a plea agreement, to one count of misprision of a felony, 18 U.S.C. § 4, to wit: wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Because of the substantial assistance that he provided the government, the district court sentenced him below the guidelines range to six months of imprisonment. The district court also ordered Reinhart to pay $40,254,297.72 in restitution, jointly and severally with other defendants, pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (“MVRA”). Case: 22-10103 Document: 00516859898 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/15/2023

No. 22-10103

Reinhart now appeals the district court’s restitution order. The government moved to dismiss the appeal as barred by Reinhart’s appeal waiver; that motion was carried with the case, and the case was fully briefed on the merits. We hold that Reinhart’s appeal fits within an exception to his appeal waiver and, on the merits, we VACATE the restitution order and REMAND for the district court to conduct further fact finding and to adjust the award, if necessary. I. Reagor Dykes Auto Group (“RDAG”) owned multiple automobile dealerships in West Texas. In 2014, Reinhart was hired as RDAG’s Legal and Compliance Director. RDAG financed its inventory through a “floor plan,” which is the industry term used to describe a loan taken out by a dealership to purchase its vehicle inventory. Ford Motor Credit Company (“FMCC”) was the floor plan lender for six RDAG dealerships. FMCC became the lender for one dealership beginning in 2008—prior to when Reinhart’s employment began—and became the lender for the other five dealerships in 2014 and 2015, during Reinhart’s period of employment. RDAG was undercapitalized and had financial problems. Under the terms of the floor plan agreement, RDAG had seven days to pay FMCC after a consumer purchased a vehicle financed through the floor plan. At some point, RDAG began to regularly violate the terms of the floor plan agreement by intentionally not paying FMCC within the required seven days, which was referred to as “selling vehicles out of trust.” To cover up the out-of-trust sales, RDAG employees—including Reinhart—created falsified paperwork, referred to as “dummy shucks,” prior to being audited to make it appear that vehicles had only recently been sold and were therefore not “out of trust.” The falsified paperwork was given to auditors hired by FMCC. Providing falsified paperwork to the auditors created a new problem for RDAG,

2 Case: 22-10103 Document: 0051685989