How have courts determined whether multiple payments constitute more than one bribe?

A second factor used by courts to determine whether multiple payments constitute more than one bribe or related payments toward a single bribe, although not addressed by the district court in this case, is derived from the reference in Application Note 6 to "installment payments" as distinguishable from multiple bribes. Taking their cue from that language, courts have looked to whether the pattern and amount of payments bear the hallmarks of installment payments, such as a regular schedule of payments over a finite period of time toward a fixed final sum, rather than a series of intermittent and varied bribes. See Middlemiss, 217 F.3d at 124 (upholding imposition of two-level enhancement under 2C1.1(b)(1) for multiple extortions, one consisting of regular monthly payments and the other of a lump sum payment); United States v. Morales, 11 F.3d 915, 917 (9th Cir. 1993) (rejecting

Page 282