UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 21-50291

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 2:20-cr-00579- v. SVW-2 MARIETTA TERABELIAN, AKA Marietta Abelian, AKA Viktoria OPINION Kauichko,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Stephen V. Wilson, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted May 13, 2024 Pasadena, California

Filed June 27, 2024

Before: Ronald Lee Gilman, * Ronald M. Gould, and Salvador Mendoza, Jr., Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Gilman

* The Honorable Ronald Lee Gilman, United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation. 2 USA V. TERABELIAN

SUMMARY **

Criminal Law

The panel dismissed under the fugitive-disentitlement doctrine Marietta Terabelian’s appeal in a case in which Terabelian removed her location-monitoring device and fled to Montenegro while awaiting sentencing. During the time that she was a fugitive and before the FBI located her, Terabelian’s attorneys filed the present appeal on her behalf. The panel concluded that, on balance, the policy rationales underlying the fugitive-disentitlement doctrine weigh in favor of applying the doctrine on these unique facts. The panel wrote that although any concerns regarding the enforceability of the district court’s judgment are obviated because of Terabelian’s recapture, the justifications of deterrence, dignity of the courts, and efficiency all support dismissal of the appeal.

COUNSEL David M. Lieberman (argued), Christopher Fenton, and Jeremy R. Sanders, Trial Attorneys, Appellate & Fraud Sections, Criminal Division; Lisa H. Miller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General; Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General; ; United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; Bram M. Alden, Assistant United ** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. USA V. TERABELIAN 3

States Attorney Chief; Scott Paetty, United States Attorney Deputy Chief, Major Frauds Section; Daniel G. Boyle, Assistant United States Attorney; E. Martin Estrada, United States Attorney; Office of the United States Attorney, Los Angeles, California; for Plaintiff-Appellee. Narai Sugino (argued) and Ethan A. Balogh, Balogh & Co. APC, San Francisco, California; Jerry Kaplan (argued), Kaplan Kenegos & Kadin, Beverly Hills, California; for Defendants-Appellants.

OPINION GILMAN, Circuit Judge:

Marietta Terabelian, while awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and numerous individual bank-and-wire-fraud violations, removed her location-monitoring device and fled to Montenegro. During the time that she was a fugitive and before the FBI located her, her attorneys filed the present appeal on her behalf. Terabelian argues on appeal that the district court erroneously applied a sentencing enhancement and relied on tainted information when calculating her restitution amount. The government avers that Terabelian’s appeal should be dismissed under the fugitive-disentitlement doctrine. It also disputes, in the alternative, the merits of her appeal. For the reasons set forth below, we DISMISS Terabelian’s appeal under the fugitive-disentitlement doctrine. Endeavoring to be comprehensive, however, we also conclude that Terabelian’s claims on appeal are withou