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Page Number: 10.0

6 

SNYDER v. UNITED STATES 

Opinion of the Court 

five trucks. 

In 2014, Peterbilt cut a $13,000 check to James Snyder,
who was the mayor of Portage (and had been at the time of
the contracts).  The FBI and federal prosecutors suspected
that the payment was a gratuity for the City’s trash truck 
contracts.  But Snyder said that he had also agreed to be a 
contractor  for  Peterbilt,  providing  consulting  services.
(Like  many  jurisdictions  around  the  country,  neither 
Indiana  nor  Portage  apparently  prohibited  local  officials 
from obtaining outside employment.)  Snyder said that the 
payment was for his consulting services.

Snyder has never been charged by state prosecutors for 
bribery.  And he has never been charged or disciplined by
Portage  for  violating  the  City’s  gift  rules.    The  Federal 
Government charged and a federal jury convicted Snyder of
accepting  an  illegal  gratuity  (the  $13,000  check  from 
Peterbilt)  in  violation  of  18  U. S. C.  §666(a)(1)(B).    The 
Government asked for about a 4- to 5-year prison sentence. 
The District Court sentenced Snyder to 1 year and 9 months 
in prison.  App. to Pet. for Cert. 47a. 

On  appeal,  Snyder  argued  that  §666  criminalizes  only 
bribes, not gratuities.  The U. S.  Court of Appeals for the 
Seventh Circuit disagreed based on that court’s precedent 
interpreting  §666  to  cover  both  bribes  and  gratuities.    71 
F. 4th  555,  578–580  (2023).  So  the  Court  of  Appeals 
affirmed the conviction. 

In light of a split in the Courts of Appeals over whether 
§666  criminalizes  gratuities  as  well  as  bribes,  this  Court 
granted certiorari.  601 U. S. ___ (2023).  Compare United 
States v. Hamilton, 46 F. 4th 389, 397 (CA5 2022); United 
States  v.  Fernandez,  722  F. 3d  1,  26  (CA1  2013),  with 
United  States  v.  Abbey,  560  F. 3d  513,  520  (CA6  2009); 
United  States  v.  Zimmermann,  509  F. 3d  920,  927  (CA8 
2007); United States v. Agostino, 132 F. 3d 1183, 1190 (CA7 
1997);  United  States  v.  Bonito,  57  F. 3d  167,  171  (CA2 
1995).