Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-03-02762/USCOURTS-ca8-03-02762-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Raymond Claude Leatham
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 03-2688

___________

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff-Appellee, *

*

v. *

*

George Edward Dobbs, *

*

Defendant-Appellant. *

Appeals from the United States

___________ District Court for the

 District of Minnesota.

No. 03-2762

___________ [UNPUBLISHED]

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff-Appellee, *

*

v. *

*

Raymond Claude Leatham, *

*

Defendant-Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: May 10, 2004

Filed: August 2, 2004

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The Honorable Richard H. Kyle, United States District Judge for the District

of Minnesota. 

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Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, BRIGHT, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

___________

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge.

George Dobbs and Raymond Leatham appeal their jury convictions for two

counts of mail fraud. The district court1

 sentenced both to thirty-four months of

imprisonment and restitution. On appeal, they assert that substantial evidence does

not exist to support the jury's verdict. We affirm. 

Dobbs and Leatham formed a corporation to build assisted living housing for

the elderly. While their first facility in New Mexico was still under construction, they

moved forward on the plans for facilities in Minnesota. To fund these projects they

obtained money from a Minnesota investor. The parties negotiated an investment

agreement in May 1996, which stated that the Minnesota investor's money would only

be used for the development of the Minnesota facilities. Dobbs and Leatham

produced false financial documents stating that their corporation, Assisted Care

Corporation, was financially stable. In addition, they provided the investor with false

updates as to the status of the Minnesota facilities. The New Mexico project ran

behind and was drastically over budget. Dobbs and Leatham used the Minnesota

investor's money for their own use and to pay for costs other than those associated

with any Minnesota assisted care facilities. In fact, Assisted Care Corporation took

very few steps to build such facilities in Minnesota. 

On March 14, 2002, a grand jury indicted Dobbs and Leatham on three counts

of mail fraud. In January 2003 after hearing the evidence, the jury found Dobbs and

Leatham guilty of two of the three counts of mail fraud. Two letters written in March

Appellate Case: 03-2762 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/02/2004 Entry ID: 1794408 
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1997 served the basis for the convictions. The letters misrepresented the status of the

Minnesota facilities and the use of the investor's money. The district court sentenced

Dobbs and Leatham to thirty-four months on each count to run concurrently, three

years supervised release, and jointly payable restitution. 

Dobbs and Leatham appeal their convictions on both counts, arguing that the

government presented insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude that

they had engaged in mail fraud. We review a sufficiency of the evidence challenge

in a jury trial strictly, viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the

verdict, and overturning a conviction "only if no reasonable jury could have

concluded that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on each essential

element of the charge." United States v. Jimenez-Villasenor, 270 F.3d 554, 558 (8th

Cir. 2001). 

In order to sustain the charges of conducting a scheme to defraud using the

mail, the government need only prove the existence of a scheme to defraud and the

use of the mail for the purpose of executing the scheme. United States v. Manzer, 69

F.3d 222, 226 (8th Cir. 1995). Dobbs and Leatham argue that the evidence presented

at trial did not prove that they had an intent to defraud the investor, rather the

evidence suggested a mere breach of contract over the investment agreement. They

try to narrow the fraud issue to just the fraudulent statements used to induce the

investor to contribute money. However, the alleged mail fraud was not that narrow.

The government demonstrated that Dobbs and Leatham used the mail by sending

letters that misrepresented the status and investment in the Minnesota facilities. 

After reviewing the record, we conclude that a jury could reasonably infer from

the evidence that Dobbs and Leatham used the mail to further their scheme to defraud

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No Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. ___, 2004 WL 1402697 (June 24, 2004),

issue has been raised or considered in this opinion.

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the Minnesota investor. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is

AFFIRMED.2

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