Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/198-f-3d-1324-597004086
Timestamp: 2020-08-12 09:40:04
Document Index: 650662957

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 371', '§ 1343', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1346', '§ 1343', '§ 1346', '§ 1346']

198 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 1999), 99-8142, United States v Devegter - Federal Cases - Case Law - VLEX 597004086
Docket Nº: 99-8142
Party Name: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MICHAEL DEVEGTER and RICHARD POIRIER, JR., Defendants-Appellees.
The Government appeals the district court's partial dismissal of the indictment against Appellees, Michael deVegter and Richard Poirier, Jr. The indictment charged Appellees with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and wire fraud and honest services fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 & 1346. Appellees moved to dismiss the indictment. The district court granted the motion in part, dismissing the § 1346 counts on the ground that the allegations in the indictment were insufficient to charge violations of that section. The Government argues the district court erred in
interpreting § 1346 and that the allegations were sufficient to sustain the § 1346 charges. We agree with the Government that the allegations of the indictment were sufficient to survive the motion to dismiss, and therefore reverse and remand.
Appellees deVegter and Poirier were indicted for conspiracy and wire fraud, including the honest services fraud theory of § 1346. The district court sustained the conspiracy and wire fraud counts of the indictment against Appellees' motion to dismiss. The court granted part of the motion, however, concluding that the allegations of the indictment were insufficient on the § 1346 charges. The court held that § 1346 can be applied to private sector honest services fraud only when the defendant breached a "clear fiduciary duty." The court found that the indictment failed to allege such a duty and therefore dismissed the § 1346 charges.
This court reviews de novo the dismissal of an indictment. See United States v. Dabbs, 134 F.3d 1071, 1079 (11th Cir. 1998). "Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(b) an indictment may be dismissed where there is an infirmity of law in the prosecution; a court may not dismiss an indictment, however, on a determination of facts that
should have been developed at trial." United States v. Torkington, 812 F.2d 1347, 1354 (11th Cir. 1987). "[T]his court must reverse a dismissal if it concludes that the factual allegations in the indictment, when viewed in the light most favorable to the government, were sufficient to charge the offense as a matter of law." Id.
The Government appeals the district court's dismissal of the § 1346 counts on two grounds. First, the Government argues that the district court erred in its interpretation of private sector honest services fraud under § 1346. Second, the Government asserts that the allegations of the indictment relating to the § 1346 charges were sufficient to survive the motion to dismiss.
A. Application of § 1346 to Private Sector "Honest Services" Fraud.
The federal wire fraud statute prohibits the use of the interstate wires to carry out a fraudulent scheme. The statute provides that "[w]hoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud . . . transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire . . . communication in interstate or foreign commerce, . . . for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice," commits a federal offense. 18 U.S.C. § 1343. In addition, "the term `scheme or artifice to defraud' includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services." 18 U.S.C. § 1346.
The § 1346 honest services fraud provision...