Source: http://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/brief-appellee-united-states-america-16
Timestamp: 2015-11-27 19:22:10
Document Index: 773187942

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 371', '§ 666', '§ 1503', '§ 666', '§ 666', 'art, 70', '§ 201', '§ 201', '§ 215', '§ 666', '§ 3664', '§ 1291', '§ 89', '§ 1', '§ 5', '§ 8', '§ 3231', '§ 1291', '§ 666', '§ 371', '§ 666', '§ 1503', '§ 1341']

U.S. v. Jack W. Swann, et al. Date: Friday, April 10, 2009Document Type: Appellate Briefs - DOJ / ATR
No. 07-11476
(Consolidated with Nos. 07-11644, 08-10428 & 08-10433)
JACK W. SWANN, ET AL.,
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA BRIEF FOR APPELLEE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILLIAM D. DILLON
Nos. 07-11476-E, 07-11644-E, 08-10428-E, 08-10433-EUnited States v. Jack W. Swann, et al.
Appellee, the United States of America, believes that the following persons and entities have an interest in the outcome of this appeal: 1. Alston & Bird LLP 2. Brashier, Keith Edward 3. Brown, Michael L. 4. Clark, William N. 5. Chain, Laura Gibson 6. Coogler, Honorable L. Scott 7. Dillon, William D. 8. Dougherty, Floyd W. Pat 9. Flint, David H. 10. Fonte, John P. 11. Fredricks, James J. 12. F. W. Dougherty Engineering & Associates, Inc. 13. Gale, Fournier J., III 14. The Gardner Firm 15. Gloor, Terry W. 16. Gloor & Strickland, LLP 17. Greene, Honorable Paul W. 18 Hagoad, Sandra Payne 19. Haskell, Slaughter, Young & Rediker, LLC 20. Hammond, Scott D. 21. Heldman, Sam 22. Jefferson County (Alabama) Environmental Services Department 23. Jones, G. Douglas 24. Lee, Natalie C. 25. Limarzi, Kristen C. 26. McNair, Jewell C. 27. Markham, Carrie B. 28. Martin, Alice H. 29. Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. 30. Miller, Gerald L. 31. Mujumdar, Anil Ashok 32. Powers, John J., III 33. Proctor, Honorable R. David 34. Propst, Honorable Robert B. 35. Pugh, Andrew 36. Pugh, Grady Roland, Jr. 37. Pugh, Grady R. Roland 38. Putnam, Honorable T. Michael 39. Rasumussen, Michael 40. Rast, Bobby J. 41. Rast Construction, Inc. 42. Rast, Daniel B. 43. Redden, Mills & Clark, LLP, 44. Rodriguez, Cristina 45. Roland Pugh Construction, Inc. 46. Salter, J. Stephen 47. Schreeder, Wheeler & Flint 48. Singer, Janice 49. Swann, Jack W. 50. Thompson & Singer, P.A. 51. Timberlake-Wiley, Deana 52. United States of America 53. Vreeland, Katie L. 54. Wallace, Kyle G.A. 55. Yessick, Joseph E. ("Eddie") _______________________________
Attorney STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT
Because of the voluminous record in these four consolidated appeals and the numerous issues raised, the United States believes that the Court would benefit from oral argument. STATEMENT OF RELATED CASE On August 26, 2005, a federal grand jury sitting in Birmingham, Alabama returned a 127-count Second Superseding Indictment charging public officials of Jefferson County, Alabama, and various construction and engineering contractors with bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, and related offenses stemming from a scheme to profit illegally at the county's expense. The crimes arose from the $3 billion repair and rehabilitation of the region's sewer and wastewater treatment system, supervised by the Jefferson County Environmental Services Department (JCESD). On December 2, 2005, Senior District Judge Propst severed the Indictment into five separate cases for trial. This appeal is from four of those five trials, consolidated for appeal by the Court on March 13, 2008. The fifth case, 05-543, involved charges that US Infrastructure, Inc. (USI), USI's President and principal owner Sohan Singh, and USI's Vice President Edward Key, Jr. conspired to commit bribery by paying Jefferson County Commissioner Jewell "Chris" McNair approximately $140,000 for work not actually done by McNair (18 U.S.C. § 371) (Count 32); bribed McNair by giving him checks for that bogus work (18 U.S.C. § 666) (Counts 38-49); conspired to commit bribery by giving McNair approximately $335,000 cash drawn from USI funds (Count 50); bribed JCESD Assistant Director Harry Chandler with a $2,000 gift card (Count 73) and an envelope containing $1,500 in cash (Count 74); and obstructed justice by intentionally withholding documents from the grand jury and providing a false letter of compliance with the grand jury's subpoena (18 U.S.C. § 1503) (Count 127). Key and USI were also charged with bribing JCESD Engineer Donald Ellis with an envelope containing $500 cash (Count 88). Finally, while McNair was charged with several offenses in this case, he ultimately entered a conditional plea of guilty to one conspiracy count (Count 32). On December 8, 2006, a jury found all of the remaining defendants guilty on all counts. The appeal by USI, Singh, and Key of their convictions is docketed in this Court as No. 07-14648. The Court heard oral argument on December 12, 2008. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Services, Materials, And Money Provided To McNair
Services, Materials, And Money Provided To Chandler And Ellis
I. DEFENDANTS WERE PROPERLY CHARGED WITH BRIBERY IN VIOLATION OF 18 U.S.C. § 666
Section 666 Does Not Require Proof Of A Specific Quid Pro Quo
Section 666 Has Not Been Interpreted To Require Proof Of A Specific Quid Pro Quo
The Indictment Sufficiently Charged A Violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666 The Jury Was Correctly Instructed On Bribery
II. SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE JURIES' VERDICTS
The Evidence Fully Supports The Bribery Convictions
The Dougherty And Dawson Bribes
The Rast Bribes
The Pugh Bribes
The Evidence Showed Appellants Conspired For The Unlawful Purpose Of Bribing McNair (Count 1) and Swann (Count 51)
The Evidence Established The Conspiratorial Agreements Charged In Counts 75 and 78 The Evidence Supports The General Verdict On Count 1
Substantial Evidence Supports The Convictions For Honest Services Mail Fraud And The Jury Was Properly Instructed Swann, Yessick, And PUGH Engaged In A Scheme To Deprive Jefferson County Of Swann's Honest Services
III. THERE WAS NO MATERIAL VARIANCE FROM THE INDICTMENT
The Evidence Established A Single Conspiracy To Bribe McNair And A Single Conspiracy To Bribe Swann
Appellants Suffered No Prejudice From Any Alleged Variance
No Jury Instruction Regarding Multiple Conspiracies Was Warranted
IV. EVIDENCE OF OTHER BRIBES WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED AND DID NOT RESULT IN UNDUE OR SPILLOVER PREJUDICE
The Contractors' Bribes To Other JCESD Officials Were Inextricably Intertwined With The Charges In McNair And Swann
The Contractors' Other Bribes Were Admissible Under Rule 404(b) As Evidence Of Intent, Plan, And Modus Operandi
Cash Deposit Evidence Was Properly Admitted, And Any Error Was Harmless
V. THE DISTRICT COURT PROPERLY DENIED SWANN'S SEVERANCE MOTION
VI. COUNT 75 WAS NOT TIME BARRED
VII. COUNT 15 CHARGES A SINGLE OFFENSE
VIII. WHARTON'S RULE DOES NOT PRECLUDE CONVICTIONS FOR CONSPIRING TO COMMIT SECTION 666 BRIBERY
IX. THERE WAS NO PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT
X. THE SENTENCES WERE PROCEDURALLY AND SUBSTANTIVELY REASONABLE
PUGH's $19.6 Million Fine Was Supported By The Evidence
The Trial Records And Reasonable Inferences Therefrom Fully Justify The Court's Pecuniary-Gain Finding
PUGH Had Notice And Opportunity To Rebut Evidence Concerning Pecuniary Gain From The Offense
The Law And Evidence Fully Support McNair's Restitution Obligation
Swann's Sentencing Was Procedurally And Substantially Sound
The Court Properly Calculated The Guidelines Range
The District Court Properly Considered The Section 3553 Factors
The District Court Did Not Err In Imposing A Fine On Swann
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES * Indicates cases upon which Appellee primarily relies CASES Arthur Anderson, LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696, 125 S.Ct. 2129 (2005)
Clark v. Crosby, 335 F.3d 1303 (11th Cir. 2003) Curtis v. United States, 546 F.2d 1188 (5th Cir. 1977) DeMarco v. United States, 928 F.2d 1074 (11th Cir. 1991) Evans v. United States, 504 U.S. 255, 112 S.Ct. 1881 (1992) Ex parte O'Leary, 56 F.2d 515 (7th Cir. 1931) Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763 (1972) Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46, 112 S.Ct. 466 (1991) Grunewald v. United States, 353 U.S. 391, 77 S.Ct. 963 (1957) Hays v. Alabama, 85 F.3d 1492 (11th Cir. 1996) * Iannelli v. United States, 420 U.S. 770, 95 S.Ct. 1284 (1974) Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 66 S.Ct. 1239 (1946) Liparota v. United States, 471 U.S. 419, 105 S.Ct. 2084 (1985) McCormick v. United States, 500 U.S. 257, 111 S.Ct. 1807 Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 70 S.Ct. 1173 (1959) Peirre v. Rivkind, 825 F.2d 1501 (11th Cir. 1987) Sabri v. United States, 541 U.S. 600, 124 S.Ct. 1941 (2004) Salinas v. United States, 522 U.S. 52, 118 S.Ct. 469 (1997) Spaziano v. Singletary, 36 F.3d 1028 (11th Cir. 1994) * United States v. Abbey, __ F.3d __, No. 07-2278, 2009 WL 874487 (6th Cir. Apr. 3, 2009) * United States v. Agostino, 132 F.3d 1183 (7th Cir. 1997) United States v. Alfisi, 308 F.3d 144 (2d Cir. 2002) United States v. Alzate, 47 F.3d 1103 (11th Cir. 1995) United States v. Anderson, 326 F.3d 1319 (11th Cir. 2003) United States v. Anderson, 509 F.2d 312 (D.C. Cir. 1974) United States v. Antone, 603 F.2d 566 (5th Cir. 1979) United States v. Arias, 431 F.3d 1327 (11th Cir. 2005) United States v. Baker, 432 F.3d 1189 (11th Cir. 2005) United States v. Barham, 595 F.2d 231 (5th Cir. 1979) United States v. Beasley, 2 F.3d 1551 (11th Cir. 1993) United States v. Beechum, 582 F.2d 898 (5th Cir. 1978) United States v. Benter, 457 F.2d 1174 (2d Cir. 1972) United States v. Bernadine, 73 F.3d 1078 (11th Cir. 1996) United States v. Blankenship, 382 F.3d 1110 (11th Cir. 2004) United States v. Bloom, 149 F.3d 649 (7th Cir. 1998) United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738 (2005) * United States v. Bornman, __ F.3d __, No. 07-3447, 2009 WL. 567072 (3d Cir. Mar. 6, 2009) United States v. Brito, 721 F.2d 743 (11th Cir. 1983) United States v. Brown, 415 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2005) United States v. Brown, 634 F.2d 819 (5th Cir. Jan. 19, 1981) United States v. Browne, 505 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2007) * United States v. Calderon, 127 F.3d 1314 (11th Cir. 1997) United States v. Cantellano, 430 F.3d 1142 (11th Cir. 2005) United States v. Caporale, 806 F.2d 1487 (11th Cir. 1986) United States v. Castellanos, 904 F.2d 1490 (11th Cir. 1990) United States v. Castro, 89 F.3d 1443 (11th Cir. 1996) United States v. Chandler, 388 F.3d 796 (11th Cir. 2004) United States v. Chastain, 198 F.3d 1338 (11th Cir. 1999) United States v. Christo, 129 F.3d 578 (11th Cir. 1997) United States v. Cogan, 266 F.Supp. 374 (S.D.N.Y. 1967) United States v. Cole,vNo. 07-4623, 2008 WL 4643361 (2d Cir. Oct. 21, 2008) United States v. Colombo, 909 F.2d 711 (2d Cir. 1990) United States v. Coy, 19 F.3d 629 (11th Cir. 1994) United States v. Cross, 928 F.2d 1030 (11th Cir. 1991) United States v. Cruz-Valdez, 773 F.2d 1541 (11th Cir. 1985) United States v. Cruzado-Laureano, 527 F.3d 231 (1st Cir. 2008) United States v. Day, 418 F.3d 746 (7th Cir. 2005) United States v. Dean, 517 F.3d 1224 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Dekle, 165 F.3d 826 (11th Cir. 1979) United States v. Denny, 939 F.2d 1449 (10th Cir. 1991) United States v. DeVegter, 439 F.3d 1299 (11th Cir. 2006) United States v. deVegter, 198 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 1999) United States v. Deverso, 518 F.3d 1250 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Dial, 757 F.2d 163 (7th Cir. 1985) * United States v. Dickerson, 248 F.3d 1036 (11th Cir. 2001) United States v. Dietrich, 126 F. 664 (C.C.D.Neb. 1904) United States v. Duff, 707 F.2d 1315 (11th Cir. 1983) United States v. Dynalectric Co., 859 F.2d 1559 (11th Cir. 1988) * United States v. Edouard, 485 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2007) United States v. Ellis, 709 F.2d 688 (11th Cir. 1983) United States v. Evans, 344 F.3d 1131 (11th Cir. 2003) United States v. Finazzo, 704 F.2d 300 (6th Cir. 1983) * United States v. Ford, 435 F.3d 204 (2d Cir. 2006) United States v. Foster, 566 F.2d 1045 (6th Cir. 1977) United States v. Futrell, 209 F.3d 1286 (11th Cir. 2000) * United States v. Ganim, 510 F.3d 134 (2d Cir. 2007) United States v. Garey, 546 F.3d 1359 (11th Cir. 2008) * United States v. Gee, 432 F.3d 713 (7th Cir. 2005) United States v. Gibbs, 662 F.2d 728 (11th Cir. 1981) United States v. Giltner, 889 F.2d 1004 (11th Cir. 1989) United States v. Goetz, 746 F.2d 705 (11th Cir. 1984) United States v. Gomez, 927 F.2d 1530 (11th Cir. 1991) United States v. Gonzalez, 541 F.3d 1250 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Goss, 650 F.2d 1336 (5th Cir. 1981) United States v. Griffin, 154 F.3d 762 (8th Cir. 1998) United States v. Guerra, 293 F.3d 1279 (11th Cir. 2002) United States v. Gunn, 369 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2004) United States v. Haddock, 956 F.2d 1534 (10th Cir. 1992) United States v. Hart, 70 F.3d 854 (6th Cir. 1995) United States v. Hess, 691 F.2d 984 (11th Cir. 1982) United States v. Hines, 541 F.3d 833 (8th Cir. 2008) United States v. Holland, 380 F. Supp. 2d 1264 (N.D. Ala. 2005) United States v. Hunt, 521 F.3d 636 (6th Cir. 2008) United States v. Hunt, 794 F.2d 1095 (5th Cir. 1986) United States v. Jenkins, 779 F.2d 606 (11th Cir. 1986) United States v. Jennings, 160 F.3d 1006 (4th Cir. 1998) United States v. Johnson, 541 F.3d 1064 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Jones, 913 F.2d 1552 (11th Cir. 1990) United States v. Keene, 470 F.3d 1347 (11th Cir. 2006) United States v. Kinter, 235 F.3d 192 (4th Cir. 2000) United States v. Knight, No. 06-12421, 2007 WL 30041 (11th Cir. Jan. 5, 2007) United States v. Knowles, 66 F.3d 1146 (11th Cir. 1995) United States v. Lattimore, 902 F.2d 902 (11th Cir. 1990) United States v. LeCroy, 441 F.3d 914 (11th Cir. 2006) United States v. Lezcano, No. 07-10964, 2008 WL 4605918 (11th Cir. Oct. 17, 2008) United States v. Lindsey, 482 F.3d 1285 (11th Cir. 2007) United States v. Livesay, 525 F.3d 1081 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Livoti, 196 F.3d 322 (2d Cir. 1999) United States v. Loe, 248 F.3d 449 (5th Cir. 2001) United States v. Lombardo, 35 F.3d 526 (11th Cir. 1994) United States v. Long, No. 06-13332, 2008 WL 4997057 (11th Cir. Nov. 25, 2008) United States v. Lopez-Lukis, 102 F.3d 1164 (11th Cir. 1997) United States v. Lopreato, 83 F.3d 571 (11th Cir. 1996) United States v. Lyons, 53 F.3d 1198 (11th Cir. 1995) United States v. Macko, 994 F.2d 1526 (11th Cir.1993) United States v. Martinelli, 454 F.3d 1300 (11th Cir. 2006) United States v. Massey, 89 F.3d 1433 (11th Cir. 1996) United States v. McCarter, No. 05-11121, 2007 WL 708979 (11th Cir. Mar. 9, 2007) United States v. McClung, 483 F.3d 273 (4th Cir. 2007) United States v. McCord, 33 F.3d 1434 (5th Cir. 1994) United States v. Meester, 762 F.2d 867 (11th Cir. 1985) United States v. Medley, 913 F.2d 1248 (7th Cir. 1990) United States v. Mercer, 165 F.3d 1331 (11th Cir. 1999) United States v. Michael, 17 F.3d 1383 (11th Cir. 1994) United States v. Miller, 959 F.2d 1535 (11th Cir. 1992) United States v. Moore, 525 F.3d 1033 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Muhammad, 120 F.3d 688 (7th Cir. 1997) United States v. Muscarello, 524 U.S. 125, 118 S.Ct. 1911 (1998) United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 113 S.Ct. 1770 (1993) United States v. Paradies, 98 F.3d 1266 (11th Cir. 1996) United States v. Pendergraft, 297 F.3d 1198 (11th Cir. 2002) United States v. Perez, 648 F.2d 219 (5th Cir. 1981) United States v. Perez, 489 F.2d 51 (5th Cir. 1974) United States v. Perez-Tosta, 36 F.3d 1552 (11th Cir. 1994) United States v. Poole, 878 F.2d 1389 (11th Cir. 1989) United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 105 S.Ct. 471 (1984) United States v. Previte, 648 F.2d 73 (1st Cir. 1981) United States v. Prince, 883 F.2d 953 (11th Cir. 1989) United States v. Prosperi, 201 F.3d 1335 (11th Cir. 2000) United States v. Regueiro, 240 F.3d 1321 (11th Cir. 2001) United States v. Richardson, 532 F.3d 1279 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Rivera, 77 F.3d 1348 (11th Cir. 1996) United States v. Rivera Pedin, 861 F.2d 1522 (11th Cir. 1988) United States v. Rodriguez, 765 F.2d 1546 (11th Cir. 1985) United States v. Rooney, 37 F.3d 847 (2d Cir. 1994) United States v. Rosner, 352 F.Supp. 915 (S.D.N.Y. 1972) aff'd and remanded for resentencing, 485 F.2d 1213 (2d Cir. 1973) United States v. Sager, 49 F.2d 725 (2d Cir. 1931) United States v. Saget, 991 F.2d 702 (11th Cir. 1993) United States v. Sanfilippo, 564 F.2d 176 (5th Cir. 1977) United States v. Sawyer, 85 F.3d 713 (1st Cir. 1996) * United States v. Schlei, 122 F.3d 944 (11th Cir. 1997) United States v. Sharpe, 438 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2006) United States v. Siegelman, ___F.3d ___, No. 07-1316, 2009 WL 564659 (11th Cir. Mar. 5, 2009) United States v. Smith, 918 F.2d 1551 (11th Cir. 1990) United States v. Starke, 62 F.3d 1374 (11th Cir. 1995) United States v. Steele, 178 F.3d 1230 (11th Cir. 1999) United States v. Steele, 147 F.3d 1316 (11th Cir.1998) United States v. Suba, 132 F.3d 662 (11th Cir. 1998) United States v. Sun-Diamond Growers, 526 U.S. 398, 119 S.Ct. 1402 (1999) United States v. Sutherland, 656 F.2d 1181 (5th Cir. Sept. 25, 1981) United States v. Svete, 556 F.3d 1157 (11th Cir. 2009) United States v. Tilton, 610 F.2d 302 (5th Cir. 1980) United States v. Toler, 144 F.3d 1423 (11th Cir. 1998) United States v. Valladares, 544 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Vera, 701 F.2d 1349 (11th Cir. 1983) United States v. Walker, 490 F.3d 1282 (11th Cir. 2007) United States v. Walker, 26 F.3d 108 (11th Cir. 1994) United States v. Walser, 3 F.3d 380 (11th Cir. 1993) United States v. Westry, 524 F.3d 1198 (11th Cir. 2008) United States v. Williams, 445 F.3d 1302 (11th Cir. 2006) United States v. Williams, 390 F.3d 1319 (11th Cir. 2004) United States v. Woodall, No. 05-13836, 2006 WL 700933 (11th Cir. Mar. 21, 2006) United States v. Wright, 392 F.3d 1269 (11th Cir. 2004) United States v. Yeager, 331 F.3d 1216 (11th Cir. 2003) Williams v. United States, 503 U.S. 193, 112 S.Ct. 1112 (1992) Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298, 77 S.Ct. 1064 (1957) FEDERAL STATUTES AND RULES 18 U.S.C.:
§ 201 (1976)
§ 201 (1970)
§ 215 (Supp. II 1984)
§ 666 (Supp. II 1984)
§ 3664 28 U.S.C. § 1291 Fed. R. Crim. P.:
12(e) Fed. R. Evid.:
1101(d)(3) MISCELLANEOUS 1 R. Anderson, Wharton's Criminal Law and Procedure § 89 (1957) 2 E. Devitt & C. Blackman, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (3d ed. 1977) Brief of Appellee, United States v. Woodall, No. 05-13836, 2005 WL 4798529 (11th Cir. Nov. 14, 2005) E. Tamashasky, The Lewis Carroll Offense, 313 J. Legis. 129 (2004) Eleventh Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal Cases) (2003) H.R. Rep. No. 99-797 (1986), reprinted in 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6138 H.R. Rep. No. 99-335 (1984), reprinted in 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1782 S. Rep. No. 98-225 (1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182 S. Rep. No. 97-307 (1981) United States Sentencing Comm'n, Guidelines Manual
§ 1B1.8
United States Sentencing Comm'n, Guidelines Manual (2003)
§ 5E1.2
United States Sentencing Comm'n, Guidelines Manual (2001)
§ 8C2.4 TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS
This brief refers to the records by the last three digits of the district court docket number followed by R then the document number and, where applicable, the page number preceded by a colon (e.g., 061R934:1543 refers to page 1543 of the document entered as number 934 on the 05-061 docket). Similarly, government exhibits are referred to by the last three digits of the district court docket number followed by GX then the exhibit number and, where applicable, the page number preceded by a colon (e.g., 544GX28M:2 refers to page 2 of government exhibit 28M admitted during the trial of the 05-544 case). This brief also uses the following abbreviations: Appellants' Briefs
FWDE-Br. Brief of Appellants Floyd W. "Pat" Dougherty and F.W. Dougherty Engineering & Associates, Inc.
McN-Br. Brief of Appellant Jewell "Chris" McNair
PUGH-Br. Brief of Appellant Roland Pugh Construction, Inc.
Rasts-Br. Brief of Appellants Bobby J. Rast and Daniel B. (Danny) Rast
RP-Br. Brief of Appellant Grady Roland Pugh, Sr.
Swn-Br. Brief of Appellant Jack W. Swann
Barber Clarence R. Barber, Chief Construction Maintenance Supervisor for JCESD (witness)
Bill Bailey William R. Bailey, Inspector for FWDE (witness)
Besco Besco Steel Supply, Inc.
Bechtel David Bechtel, Second in command at FWDE Bobby Rast Bobby J. Rast, President of RAST (defendant-appellant)
Chandler Harry T. Chandler, Assistant Director of JCESD (witness)
Creel Larry P. Creel, Field Supervisor for JCESD (witness)
Danny Bailey Danny Baily, Owner of Bailey & Sons Danny Rast Daniel B. Rast, Vice President of RAST (defendant-appellant)
Dawson William H. Dawson, Owner of Dawson Engineering, Inc. (witness)
Dougherty Floyd W. "Pat" Dougherty, President of FWDE (defendant-appellant)
Dougherty defendants Floyd W. "Pat" Dougherty and F.W. Dougherty Engineering & Associates, Inc.
Ellis Donald R. Ellis, Engineer for JCESD and Chairman of the PRC (witness)
FWDE F.W. Dougherty Engineering & Associates, Inc. (defendant-appellant)
Guthrie Paul Guthrie, owner of Guthrie Landscaping (witness)
Grady Pugh or Grady Grady Roland Pugh, Jr., CEO of PUGH (witness)
Hendon Wayne Hendon, Field Director for FWDE (witness)
Hale Tom Hale, Manager for PUGH (witness)
Janice Kuykendall Janice Kuykendall, Secretary for Roland Pugh (witness)
Kim McNair Kimberly McNair Brock, Daughter of Chris McNair (witness)
McNair Jewell "Chris" McNair, Jefferson County Commissioner (defendant-appellant)
Mosely Barry Mosely, Owner of Mosley Construction (witness)
PUGH Roland Pugh Construction, Inc. (defendant-appellant)
Pugh defendants Roland Pugh Construction, Inc., Grady Roland Pugh, Sr., and Joseph E. "Eddie" Yessick
RAST Rast Construction, Inc. (defendant-appellant)
Rast defendants Rast Construction, Inc., Bobby J. Rast, and Daniel B. (Danny) Rast
Roland Pugh or Roland Grady Roland Pugh, Sr., Chairman of the Board of PUGH (defendant-appellant)
Stanger John Stanger, Resident Observer for FWDE (witness)
Swann Jack W. Swann, JCESD Director (defendant-appellant)
Tammy Hughes Tammy Johnson Hughes, PUGH Project Administrator/Safety Manager (witness)
USI US Infrastructure, Inc.
Wilson Ronald K. Wilson, Chief Engineer for JCESD (witness)
Yessick Joseph E. "Eddie" Yessick, President of PUGH (defendant, witness)
JCESD Jefferson County Environmental Services Department
PRC Product Review Committee
PSR Presentence Investigation Report
UAB University of Alabama at Birmingham STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION
The district court's jurisdiction rested on 18 U.S.C. § 3231. This Court's jurisdiction rests on 28 U.S.C. § 1291. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES
1. Whether conviction under the federal funds bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. § 666, requires proof of a specific quid pro quo as an element of the offense. 2. Whether the Indictment was defective for failure to allege a specific quid pro quo. 3. Whether the district court erred in instructing the juries. 4. Whether the juries' guilty verdicts lack sufficient evidentiary support. 5. Whether the evidence established a material variance from the Indictment. 6. Whether the district court abused its discretion in admitting certain evidence. 7. Whether the district court abused its discretion in denying Swann's motion to sever. 8. Whether Count 75 was time barred. 9. Whether Count 15 was duplicitous. 10. Whether Wharton's Rule precludes conviction for conspiracy to commit bribery. 11. Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct by knowingly permitting false testimony. 12. Whether the sentences imposed were unreasonable. COURSE OF PROCEEDINGS
In 1996, Jefferson County, Alabama, settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit by county residents and the EPA with a consent decree requiring the county to repair and rehabilitate its sewers and wastewater treatment plants. 061R931:736.(1) The Jefferson County Environmental Services Department (JCESD) supervised the project. Jefferson County Commissioner Jewell "Chris" McNair oversaw operation of the JCESD, which included Director Jack Swann, Assistant Director Harry Chandler, Chief Engineer Ronald Wilson, Chief Construction Maintenance Supervisor Clarence Barber, Engineer Donald Ellis, and Field Supervisor Larry Creel.
On August 26, 2005, a federal grand jury sitting in Birmingham, Alabama, returned a 127-count Second Superseding Indictment (Indictment), 061R293, charging Roland Pugh Construction, Inc. (PUGH) and two of its principals, Grady Roland Pugh Sr. (Roland Pugh or Roland) and Joseph "Eddie" Yessick (collectively the Pugh defendants); Rast Construction (RAST) and its principals, brothers Bobby and Danny Rast (collectively the Rast defendants); F.W. Dougherty Engineering & Associates, Inc. (FWDE) and its principal Floyd "Pat" Dougherty (collectively the Dougherty defendants); McNair; Swann; and other contractors and JCESD employees with various conspiracies to give and accept bribes (18 U.S.C. § 371) and giving and accepting bribes (18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(A), (a)(2)).(2) The Indictment also charged PUGH, RAST, and Bobby Rast with obstruction of justice (18 U.S.C. § 1503) and PUGH, Yessick, and Swann with mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341).
On December 6, 2005, Judge Propst, on the motions of four JCESD defendants, severed the Indictment into five separate cases. 061R455; 061R457; 061R458; 061R460. Four of those cases, as well as issues preserved by McNair's conditional plea of guilty in the fifth case,(3) are addressed in this brief. This brief refers to each of the four tried cases in this consolidated appeal by the name of the principal JCESD defendant in the case: McNair (05-061), Swann (05-544), Barber (05-542), and Wilson (05-545).
A. McNair This trial involved bribes paid to McNair, Chandler, and Ellis, by the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants. Trial began on April 6, 2006.(4) On April 21, the jury convicted all of the defendants (McNair, PUGH, Roland Pugh, Yessick, RAST, Bobby Rast, Danny Rast, FWDE, and Dougherty) of conspiring to give and accept bribes (Count 1).
McNair was also convicted for accepting the following bribes in connection with the JCESD's sewer rehabilitation:
From PUGH, Roland Pugh, Grady Pugh, and Yessick
hand railings ($5,500)
hand railings ($11,700)
From RAST, Bobby Rast, and Danny Rast
Construction work provided by Barry Mosley ($52,990)
Master Access Controls security gate installation ($5,866)
Carpet installation by Clint Gilley ($5,300)
Landscaping by Bailey and Sons ($5,500)
Stairs construction (several thousand dollars)
Concrete deck construction (several thousand dollars)
From FWDE and Dougherty
Supervision/project management by Bill Bailey ($27,434)
Installation of audio-video system ($16,400)
061R634.
The contractors were convicted for giving the following bribes:
Things Given to McNair
Installation of hand railings worth $17,200
RAST, Bobby & Danny Rast
RAST, Bobby Rast
Supervision/project management by Bailey ($27,434)
FWDE, Dougherty
Things Given to Chandler
Pelican Beach condo rental ($610)
PUGH, Yessick
Things Given to Ellis
061R626-31; 061R633.(5)
B. Swann This trial concerned the bribery of Swann by the Rast and Dougherty defendants, PUGH, and Yessick.(6) Trial began on September 19, 2006,(7) and the jury returned a verdict on October 2, 2006. All defendants except Danny Rast were convicted of conspiring to give and accept bribes (Count 51).
Swann was also convicted of accepting the following bribes:
From PUGH and Yessick
Landscaping from Guthrie Landscaping ($100,000)
Waterfall/pond installation by Aquatic Gardens ($7,422)
Alabama Booksmith gift certificates ($1,000)
Painting by Kimro Painting ($9,733)
Plumbing by Brown Mechanical Contractors ($8,940)
Supervision of construction by John Stanger ($24,176)
544R126.
Things Given to Swann
Landscaping from Guthrie Landscaping ($140,680)
Waterfall/pond installation by Aquatic Gardens ($7,433)
Painting by Kimro Painting ($9,722)
Supervision of construction by Stanger ($24,176)
544R127-29; 544R131-33. Swann, PUGH, and Yessick were also convicted on eleven counts of honest services mail fraud in connection with the landscaping by Guthrie Landscaping that PUGH and Yessick gave Swann (Counts 90-100).(8) 544R126-28.
C. Barber JCESD Construction Maintenance Supervisor Clarence Barber and the Pugh defendants were charged with conspiring to commit bribery (Count 78). The Pugh defendants were also charged with bribing Barber by giving him a parcel of land worth about $48,000 (Count 83) and paying nearly $1,200 for Barber's lodging at three different resorts during an October 2001 vacation (Counts 84-86), and Barber was charged with accepting those bribes (Counts 79-82). Before trial Barber and Yessick pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge, and the government dismissed the other charges against them. On January 17, 2007, a jury found PUGH guilty on all charges and Roland Pugh not guilty on all charges. 542R109-10. D. Wilson JCESD Chief Engineer Ron Wilson and PUGH were charged with conspiring to commit bribery (Count 75). Wilson was charged with accepting from PUGH a bribe in the form of a "scholarship" for his son to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (Count 76).(9) On June 13, 2006, the jury convicted on all charges. 545R89-91.
E. Sentencing Appellants were sentenced based on all counts of conviction: Defendant
Coogler, J.
60 months probation;
$3,830,760 fine;
$225,149 restitution.
51 months imprisonment;
$750,000 fine;
$2,500,000 fine;
$141,000 restitution.
41 months imprisonment;
$1,702,500 fine;
$141,000 restitution
102 months imprisonment
$250,000 fine;
$355,533 restitution.
45 months imprisonment;
60 months imprisonment;
$851,927.43 restitution.(10)
$19,400,000 fine;
$239,652 restitution.
061R826; 061R823; 061R829; 061R837; 061R840; 544R184; 061R897; 061R956; 061R996. PUGH, Roland Pugh, RAST, Bobby and Danny Rast, FWDE, Dougherty, McNair, and Swann filed timely notices of appeal. Individual appellants remain free on bond, and all fines have been stayed pending appeal. STATEMENT OF FACTS
A. Background After entry of the 1996 consent decree, JCESD was responsible for ensuring that the work required by the decree was completed. 061R931:736; 061R932:884. The decade-long effort was by far the largest public works project ever done in Jefferson County and, under the consent decree, had a mandatory time schedule. 061R931:735-36; 061R932:887. The cost of compliance was estimated to be $1.2 to $1.5 billion, but it ultimately cost approximately $3 billion. 061R932:884-87. Jefferson County had five commissioners. 061R931:734. From 1996 through March 2001, Commissioner McNair, nicknamed "big man" by the contractors, was the commissioner in charge of JCESD. 061R929:309-10; 061R932:884; 061R933:1351. Jack Swann, nicknamed "little big man," was the Director of JCESD and reported directly to McNair and, after McNair retired in March 2001, to McNair's successor. 061R929:309-10; 061R932:884; 061R933:1351. Harry Chandler was the Assistant Director of JCESD, reporting to Swann, and was in charge of organizing the construction program for the consent decree. 061R929:310, 061R932:883-84. Chandler and Swann were two of the primary negotiators for the County on the consent decree. 061R932:1095. JCESD also employed Ron Wilson as chief engineer and Don Ellis as an engineer, both of whom worked under Chandler, and Clarence Barber, the department's construction maintenance supervisor, who oversaw twenty-six county inspectors. 061R932:887, 932-34; 542R127:520-22. Chandler, Wilson, Ellis, Barber, and Creel were also members of the Product Review Committee (PRC), a technical committee that reviewed materials, specified the products that could be used on the sewer project, and qualified contractors for certain kinds of work on the project. 061R932:924-26. Jefferson County hired outside consulting engineers, like the Dougherty defendants, to help perform the work on the consent decree, including designing plans and deploying inspectors to make sure construction contractors performed the work according to the specifications. 061R929:264-65; 061R932:888. Outside engineers were paid under no-bid professional services contracts and were selected initially on the recommendation of Chandler, Swann, or McNair. 061R932:888, 914, 1027. McNair ultimately selected the consulting engineer for each sewer project; the full commission then voted to approve.(11) 061R932:888, 061R934:1542.
Appellant FWDE and Dawson Engineering were outside engineers chosen by McNair. 061R932:889, 1065; 061R934:1542. Pat Dougherty was the owner and president of FWDE and hand-signed all of his company's checks. 061R934:1492. His second-in-command was David Bechtel, and under Bechtel was Wayne Hendon who supervised the inspectors, including Bill Bailey and John Stanger. 061R929:263. During the time relevant here, a "good portion" of FWDE's work was on JCESD jobs from which it made millions of dollars per year. 061R928:230; 061GX33C. Likewise, the vast majority, "[e]ighty percent or . . . more" of Dawson Engineering's work, generating millions of dollars in revenues per year, was on JCESD jobs. 061R934:1542-43, 1554-55; 061R931:727; 061GX33D.
The rehabilitation work itself was done by construction companies including appellants PUGH and RAST. Roland Pugh, the founder and chairman of PUGH, owned 70% of the company.(12) The remaining 30% was held in three equal portions by (1) its CEO and Roland's son, Grady Roland Pugh Jr. (Grady Pugh or Grady); (2) its president Eddie Yessick; and (3) Roland's other son, Andy Pugh. 061R929:304, 308-09; 061R931:859; 061R933:1363. Brothers Bobby and Danny Rast owned 85% of RAST, split equally between them, and worked closely together. 061R933:1212-13. Bobby Rast was the company president and oversaw its field, administrative, and financial operations. 061R933:1212. Danny Rast was executive vice-president and acted as a field superintendent. 061R933:1212.
Jefferson County awarded construction projects through a bidding process. After a contract was awarded, however, any changes and additions to the project were made without further bidding. Additional work, in the form of a "field directive," was approved by the outside engineer in charge of the project and the county's project engineers, including Chandler and Ellis. 061R932:892-894. If the field directives exceeded the amount of the contract, then a "change order" or contract modification for additional funds was needed, which required first the approval of the project engineer and then approval by Swann and McNair. 061R932:890-95. McNair then placed it on the commission's agenda for its approval. 061R932:890-95. Such no-bid work along with the no-bid professional service contracts amounted to tens of millions of dollars.
In addition to no-bid change orders on projects that originally were bid, JCESD awarded millions of dollars per year in "emergency" work to contractors, including RAST and PUGH, on a no-bid basis. 061R932:932, 935-36. Barber, as construction maintenance supervisor, typically awarded this emergency work. 061R932:932. When an emergency arose, he found a contractor for the job and negotiated the price. 061R932:933. He initially approved the contractors' pay requests on that work and then sent them to Chandler, Swann, and McNair for their approval. 061R931:749-50; 061R932:934-35.
B. McNair The evidence in McNair established that McNair was approving hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to the contractor-appellants, millions of dollars of change orders benefitting PUGH and RAST, and millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to FWDE, all while these companies were contributing workers, material, and cash amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars to expand and renovate McNair's photography studio. PUGH's CEO admitted the "general benefit" of giving McNair "envelopes of cash" was that "Jefferson County treated us real well. We had an opportunity to do a tremendous amount of work there. The work that we did there generated huge profits . . . . [I]t took our company from a normal struggling contracting company in mid to late '90s, to a thriving, wealthy, strong construction company." 061R930:566-67. During the relevant period, about 70% of PUGH's work was on the Jefferson County sewer rehabilitation. 061R929:310; 061GX42A. In 1996 and 1997, at the sewer rehabilitation's outset, PUGH made gross profits of 10%, but as the project continued and payments were made to JCESD officials, the company's sewer rehabilitation profits increased to 50% in 1999, 40% in 2000, and 45% in 2001, making PUGH tens of millions of dollars each of these years. 061GX42A. Similarly, RAST received tens of millions of dollars per year, and the engineering firms millions of dollars per year from their work on the sewer rehabilitation. 061GX33C-D. Every time FWDE or Dawson was selected as the outside consulting engineer and awarded a professional service contract, McNair made the decision. 061R932:888, 917; 061R934:1542. JCESD payments received by the contractor-appellants were approved by McNair and Swann.(13) 061R932:920; 061R930:705. And each item requiring commission approval, such as contract awards or modifications, needed McNair first to approve them and then to put them on the commission's agenda for its approval.(14) 061R932:889-91, 910-18.
Likewise, Chandler and project engineers, like Ellis, reviewed and approved the contractors' pay requests and issued field directives.(15) 061R932:894-96, 919. In addition, Chandler and Ellis were members of the PRC, which decided initially to qualify only three contractors to do "cured-in-place" work: W.L. Hailey, Insituform, and Reynolds. 061R932:925-26. Because the traditional "dig-and-replace" work was grouped with "cured-in-place" work for all the major construction contracts,(16) this PRC decision essentially limited the "big jobs" to only three bidders: the RAST-Hailey joint venture, the PUGH-Insituform joint venture, and Reynolds, which did its own dig-and-replace work. 061R932:925-27; 061R930:572, 591-92. In late 1999, the PRC changed the criteria making it more difficult for other contractors to qualify for "cured-in-place" work and thus potentially delaying by two years the qualification of otherwise qualified contractors. 061R932:928-932; 061R934:1462-63.
In total, from August 1999 to January 2002, Jefferson County paid $178 million to PUGH, $100 million to RAST, $11.4 million to FWDE, and $8 million to Dawson. 061GX33A-D.
1. Services, Materials, And Money Provided To McNair McNair undertook a major renovation and expansion of his photography studio in 1999, at least doubling its size and adding an apartment for his daughter. 061R928:153-57; 061R930:610-11. The contractor-appellants' contribution and coordination to make the renovation a reality was impressive. In 1999, Dougherty sent Bill Bailey, an employee he initially hired as an inspector for county jobs, to work as the construction superintendent for the studio's renovation. 061R928:152-54. FWDE paid Bailey for the approximately eighteen months he spent working at the studio. 061R928:153-54, 170; 061R929:255-56; 061R934:1493-94; 061GX25A, C. Bailey did not track his hours as he did for a paying county job, and while some of his time was charged to administration, Dougherty charged some of Bailey's studio time to a JCESD sewer project.(17) 061R928:170-71; 061R929:259-62, 266-67; 061GX25E.
As superintendent, Bailey oversaw construction by numerous contractors, including PUGH and RAST. 061R928:159, 166-68, 170; 061R933:1357. RAST excavated for the expansion's footings. 061R928:159-60. And in July 1999, PUGH ordered concrete and for four weeks had a four-man crew pour concrete walls and do other work. 061R928:139-41, 144-48, 158-59; 061GX26A. PUGH's crew supervisor talked to McNair while the concrete work was in progress, but McNair did not question why he was there or where he was from, or offer to pay. 061R928:148-49.
In late 1999, Bailey asked Mosley Construction to do the wood framing and other finish work at the studio. 061R928:108-09, 111, 114-15. Initially, McNair paid Mosley, first with a check and then with cash, but eventually McNair stopped paying. 061R928:110-12, 161-62; 061GX1W. Bobby Rast then told Bailey that "McNair was running out of funds" and that RAST would begin paying Mosley. 061R928:112, 161-62. From July 2000 to December 2000, RAST wrote twenty checks totaling $52,990 to Mosley as his work at the studio progressed and, at Bobby Rast's direction, coded these payments as expenses on a JCESD sewer project. 061R928:114-18; 061R933:1219-24, 1257-58; 061GX1A-1T, 2A-2T, 24A. Either Bailey or someone from RAST's office, such as Danny Rast, brought Mosley the checks. 061R928:137-38.
In January 2002, RAST gave Mosley two more checks totaling $7,200 for work he and his crew did on the studio's "guard shack," a two-story, 12 x 12 building designed by Pat Dougherty, built, in part, by RAST and FWDE, and depicted on the left in the following photograph, 061GX21F. 061R928:120-23, 168-70; 061R933:1357-58; 061GX19.
Bobby Rast had these payments coded as expenses on the "Upper Valley Rehab" or Kilsby contract, a JCESD sewer project. 061R933:1224-27; 061GX1U-V, 2U-V. For tax purposes, all the payments to Mosley were deducted as business expenses on sewer projects. 061R933:1223-24, 1245-55; 061GX2W. Mosley never did any work on those projects. 061R928:125. And once a local newspaper reported RAST's construction work at JCESD Director Swann's house, RAST decided to amend its tax returns for 1998-2000 and 2002 to eliminate these and other deductions. The deductions, which totaled over $140,000, were based on contributions toward McNair's studio and Swann's house that had been cost-coded to sewer projects and treated as business expenses. 061R928:125; 061R933:1247-57, 1271-72; 061GX24B-E.
Likewise, after the newspaper publicity, Bobby Rast told his bookkeeper in "effect that we really didn't need any document invoices in the files with Jack Swann's or Chris McNair's shipping address on them." 061R933:1247-48. She then found and discarded several invoices related to work at McNair's studio and Swann's house. 061R933:1248.
RAST furnished the labor and PUGH furnished the materials to construct a second-story deck for the rear of the studio. 061R928:219-20; 061GX21H. Bailey handwrote a list of materials and ordered the necessary steel. 061R928:165-66; 061GX29C. When Besco Steel Supply, Inc. (Besco) delivered the steel, its delivery tickets identified PUGH and Yessick as its customer and indicated that some of the steel was for the Valley Creek Treatment Plant, a JCESD sewer job on which PUGH was the contractor and FWDE the consulting engineer. 061R928:166-68, 203-04; 061GX29D-E. PUGH paid Besco and charged JCESD for the steel with FWDE's approval, and RAST poured the concrete deck and stairs and fabricated the metal steps. 061R933:1348-49; 061R935:1840-42; 061GX29A, 29L:3, 6-9.
Two sets of aluminum handrails for the deck and its staircase were ordered by Dave Bechtel, another FWDE employee, from Thompson Fabricating, which was told to bill PUGH. 061R931:797-98, 805. A $5,500 invoice for the first set made the work look like a change order for additional work on the Valley Creek Treatment Plant and falsely indicated that the handrails were shipped there. 061R931:800-04, 806-07, 826-29; 061GX10C. An $11,700 invoice for the second set referenced "CHRIS MC." as the customer, but also falsely indicated that the handrails were shipped to Valley Creek when in fact they went to the McNair studio. 061R931:801, 806, 810-12, 822, 837; 061GX10F. PUGH paid both invoices and billed the county for the first set after adding a markup and charges for labor and equipment. 061R931:801-03, 847-49; 061R935:1837; 061GX10B, 10D, 29L:4-5. RAST installed the handrails. 061R933:1348-49. The completed deck and staircase are depicted in the following photograph, 061GX21H.
In May 2000, at McNair's request to Roland Pugh, Grady Pugh flew McNair's daughter and Bailey on PUGH's airplane to Georgia, where they picked out carpet for the studio. 061R928:162-63; 061R929:327-30; 061R930:635-37; 061GX3A. Before take-off, Roland told Grady that "McNair has called [again] and says that he's broke and he doesn't have enough money to leave for the deposit on the carpet" and "[s]o, if you would, write a check for the deposit." 061R929:328. Grady paid the deposit with a $4,820 PUGH check and had it treated on the company's books as an expense on the "last rehab contract." 061R928:163-64; 061R929:328-30; 061R930:637; 061R931:863-64; 061GX3A-B.
Bailey hired Clint Gilley to install the carpet at the studio and, in October 2000, called RAST, requesting checks for Gilley, but RAST's bookkeeper refused because FWDE's Bailey could not authorize issuance of RAST checks. 061R930:665-69; 061R933:1235-36; 061GX9C-D. After Bobby Rast was consulted, however, RAST gave Gilley two checks totaling $5,301 for his work at the studio. 061R930:668; 061R933:1234-36; 061GX9A-B.
Paying for materials and providing work crews were not PUGH's only contributions to the studio. When the project began, Roland Pugh told PUGH's other three owners, Grady, Andy, and Yessick, that they had to give money to McNair because he was building a studio and, as ten percent owners, they had to "kick in" their ten percent. 061R929:311. Grady gave approximately $1,500 in cash to Roland's secretary that time. 061R929:311-13.
On another occasion, Roland again collected money from the other owners to give to McNair for his studio. 061R929:313-14. On July 18 and 19, 2000, three of them wrote checks to cash in proportion to their ownership interests. 061R929:316-17; 061R930:601-05; 061GX4A-C (Roland: $7,000, Andy: $1,000, Yessick: $1,000). Roland gave Grady an envelope of money and asked him to give it to McNair. 061R929:313-14. Grady took it to the studio where he saw Bailey and told him he was there to help McNair, and it was "financial help" that McNair needed at that time. 061R928:164; 061R929:314. Grady then visited with McNair for a few minutes and gave him the envelope by setting it down between the seats of the van they were in as McNair watched. 061R929:314.
McNair also wanted a security gate for the studio. In August 2000, Danny Rast hired Master Access Controls (MAC) to install an electronic gate and agreed that RAST would provide the electrical conduit, wiring, and concrete pad for the gate's motor. 061R933:1189-93; 061GX8A-B. MAC met with Bailey at the site, installed the gate, and sent its invoices to the attention of Danny Rast. 061R933:1193-95, 1233. RAST paid the contractor $5,866.92. 062R933:1193-95, 1233; 061GX8C-D.
When the studio needed an air conditioning system, McNair again called Roland wanting PUGH to pay for it. 061R929:324. Roland told Grady that McNair needed $40,000, but that "y'all don't have to put up any money this time, I'm going to do it in a different way." 061R929:324, 327. Roland gave a $10,000 check dated December 22, 2000 to Grady's wife, Genae Pugh, who cashed it and handed the money to Roland. 061R929:324-25; 061GX4G. The same day, Roland also wrote a $10,000 check to Angie Pugh (Andy's wife) and a $9,750 check to cash; a week earlier he had written a $9,000 check to cash. 061R929:325-26; 061GX4F, 4H-I. Around Christmas 2000, at Roland's request, Grady picked up another envelope containing cash from Roland's secretary, went to McNair's house, chatted with him for a few minutes, and set the money down on the couch as McNair watched. 061R929:326-27.
Also in December 2000, at Danny Rast's request, RAST gave Danny Bailey's company, Bailey & Sons, a $5,500 check for landscaping at the studio. 061R933:1174-79, 1238-39; 061GX12A-C. RAST's records falsely indicated that Danny Bailey was working on a JCESD sewer project. 061R933:1239-40, 061GX12B. While Danny Bailey had done work for RAST before, he did not send the invoice for the studio work through regular billing, as he normally would, but instead sent it "attention of Dan Rast."(18) 061R933:1176-77; 061GX12D.
In November 2000, McNair asked Dawson Engineering to contribute to the studio's renovation. 061R934:1542-43, 1554-55. McNair called William Dawson, the company's founder, and said they needed to talk. 061R934:1542-43, 1554-55. At McNair's studio, the commissioner handed Dawson a brochure for an audio-video system and told him that, while he had never asked Dawson for anything before, he needed to ask Dawson to help with something. 061R934:1543. McNair had opened it to a specific page, showed it to Dawson, and indicated he wanted Dawson to pay for the equipment and its installation. 061R934:1543. Dawson went to Holt Audio Video (Holt) and purchased the equipment for $16,400, something he would not have done if McNair, the man who decided whether or not Dawson Engineering got a contract, was not part of the sewer rehabilitation process. 061R934:1542, 1544, 1555-56; 061GX11A. Dawson, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery, 061R934:1556, was "uncomfortable with the whole situation," and when he saw that the invoice said bill to Dawson Engineering but ship to McNair's studio, he asked Holt to cover-up the ship to information, which the store did. 061R934:1546-48; 061GX11B-C.
Even after McNair retired in March 2001, he continued to ask for, and the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants continued to give him, things of significant value. Work at the studio continued after McNair retired.(19) In addition, Roland Pugh told Grady that "that GD McNair has called again, and he wants us to do some work over in Arkansas" and that "surely this is the last time we'll have to do anything for him since he's out of office." 061R929:330-31. Grady flew McNair to Arkansas to look at the site and plans, and Yessick hired George Word, an Arkansas building contractor, in August 2001 to build the 3000-square-foot retirement home for McNair depicted in 061GX21P below. 061R933:1152-58; 061GX15B.
Both PUGH and FWDE paid for its construction.(20)
2. Services, Materials, And Money Provided To Chandler And Ellis The Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants also paid off JCESD staffers below the "big man" and "little big man," though the payments got smaller as the recipient's rank decreased. Over lunch, Yessick offered to landscape Chandler's home. 061R932:941-42. Chandler at first refused, but at lunch weeks later Yessick offered again, and Chandler agreed to consider it and later called to accept.(21) 061R932:942-43. PUGH provided crews and paid for the materials for the extensive landscaping, including grading, drainage work, and new sod, as well as construction of a patio, walkway, and retaining walls. 061R932:942-46; 061R929:342; 061GX41A-H.
Yessick also invited Chandler on an all-expenses-paid-by-PUGH fishing trip to Bienville Plantation in Florida. 061R932:947; 061R929:342-43. In April 2000, Grady flew them down in the company's airplane. 061R932:947; 061R929:342-43; 061GX27A-B. When Chandler asked PUGH for a load of sand for his house, PUGH delivered. 061R932:951. And in October 2001, Yessick arranged and paid for a $610 condo rental for the Chandler family vacation at the Pelican Beach Resort in Destin, Florida. 061R932:948-50; 061GX27C. In spring 2002, Chandler asked Bobby Rast to help with his expenses for a trip to Europe to attend technical conferences, which Ellis was also planning to attend. 061R932:951-52, 955; 061R933:1399. At RAST's office, Bobby Rast gave Chandler a thick envelope of cash containing $5,000 and told him to split it with Ellis. 061R932:952-53. Chandler had expected $250-$500 and was "uncomfortable and thought about giving it back, but [he] didn't"; instead, he "eventually gave half" to Ellis.(22) 061R932:954; 061R933:1401-02; see also 061R932:1117-18 (Chandler given Disney World tickets and San Antonio trip by Dougherty defendants). C. Swann The evidence in Swann also proved that while Swann was recommending and approving JCESD actions worth millions of dollars to the contractor-appellants, they were providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in materials and services to renovate and expand Swann's home. Swann was tasked with implementing the EPA consent decree, 544R232:1604, and, among other things, recommended engineering firms to McNair and negotiated the scope and price of engineering contracts. 544R232:1286-88. Swann also had authority unilaterally to approve or disallow certain field directives that altered the nature or amount of work under construction contracts and, ultimately, the amount paid to the construction companies. 544R232:1618-19. Swann also approved all payments to construction companies under these contracts. 544R232:1621. Over a period of three years during the sewer rehabilitation, FWDE, RAST, and PUGH gave Swann more than $300,000 in home remodeling and landscaping work. Throughout this extensive endeavor, Swann lived next door to the house being remodeled, and he periodically came over to observe the progress. 544R232:105, 140, 146, 510, 512-16. The extent of the remodeling is shown in the following before and after photographs, 544GX30A-B. In the fall of 1998, Dougherty sent FWDE Superintendents Wayne Hendon and Bill Bailey to meet with Jack Swann and his wife, Nila Swann, about plans to enlarge and remodel the house next door to the Swann's home, which the Swannshad purchased. 544R232:136-38, 206-07. During the entire three-year project, FWDE employees supervised the expansion and complete remodeling of the home. 544R232:139-46, 148-53, 160; 544GX25A; 544GX25C. Hendon spent approximately half of every day at the site for two years supervising subcontractors. 544R232:148, 160. FWDE also hired a framing subcontractor to frame the addition, altering the roof line and extending the back of the house, at a cost of more than $28,000. 544R232:144-46; 544GX80A-L. Dougherty periodically visited the site to observe the work of his crew. 544R232:146-47. Hendon understood that this work for Swann was not a "paying job" for FWDE. 544R232:135, 159. Swann admitted that he did not reimburse FWDE or Dougherty for the payments to the framing subcontractor. 544R232:1734. Hendon was supervising work at the Swann home when Bobby Rast sent RAST superintendent Luke Cobb and his crew to do demolition work and pour concrete for the basement, walls, stairs, and elevator pit. 544R232:506-16. See also 544R232:140-43, 150-51. Later in 1999, RAST's Derek Houston began working at the site and served as a point of contact for suppliers and subcontractors provided by RAST. 544R232:542-43, 545-46. For example, RAST purchased concrete and bricks and hired subcontractors to repair plumbing and to paint. 544R232:239-48, 252-59, 816-18, 821-22; 544GX81A-D, 84A-D, 83A-D, 83H, 85A, 85C. RAST also paid Don's Carpet One to install hardwood floors and stairs, including an inset of Brazilian cherry wood in the dining room floor designed to look like an area rug. 544R232:265-66, 269-73; 544GX82A, 82C-D. Don's Carpet One was initially hired by Mrs. Swann, but she directed the company to invoice RAST because "they would be paying for it." 544R232:268. RAST avoided using Swann's name on invoices, delivery tickets, and internal accounting reports. For example, the delivery ticket for ready-mix concrete RAST purchased directed delivery to the Swann address but identified it as the "Rast Residence." 544GX81C-D. When RAST paid for plumbing, floor installation, and painting at Swann's home, Bobby Rast directed that the payments be coded in RAST's accounting system to "Annual Rehab" and "Minor Pump Station," jobs that RAST was performing for Jefferson County. 544R232:709-11, 714-15; 544GX85B, 24A. Only after the government investigation began did RAST's bookkeeper learn that these expenses actually reflected work done at the Swann home, and that other payments coded to county jobs on Bobby or Danny Rast's instructions reflected work done at McNair's studio. 544R232:714-17, 722-24. At that time, RAST amended its 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002 tax returns to reflect that these were not actually business expenses incurred on county jobs, as RAST had originally claimed. 544R232:713, 716-17, 722-28; 544GX24B-E. In the summer of 2000, PUGH began contributing to the Swann remodel. PUGH President Yessick hired Aquatic Gardens to install a waterfall and koi pond at a cost of $7,422. 544R232:92-105; 544GX29A-E. Yessick directed Aquatic Gardens to send the invoices directly to PUGH and not to include any reference to the Swann residence on the invoice. 544R232:99. After Swann told Yessick that he had overspent renovating his home, Yessick offered to send a PUGH crew over to plant some grass. 544R232:1828. When that was not enough to "please" Mrs. Swann, Yessick hired Guthrie Landscaping to plant tress and shrubs, lay sod and ground cover, and do grading and drainage work. 544R232:571-75, 1828; 544GX30F. Guthrie's initial estimate in July 2000 totaled nearly $40,000. 544GX30F. Beginning in 2001, PUGH paid Guthrie approximately $1,200 a month for lawn maintenance at Swann's properties. 544R232:587-88; 544GX30S-Z, 30AA-CC. At Yessick's request, Guthrie identified his work at Swann's property by job number, rather than Swann's name. 544R232:578-80; 544GX30G, I, K, M, Q, S, U, W, Y, AA. Yessick directed PUGH's controller to accrue the expense to "Metro Park Roadway" — a county job, 544R232:910-14 — and PUGH's payments to Guthrie were costed to that job, even though the work was performed at Swann's residence. 544R232:968-69. By December 2001, PUGH had paid Guthrie over $93,000 for landscaping at Swann's property depicted in the following photographs, 544GX30C-D. 544GX30FF. Photographs of a Remodeled House
These photographs show the remodeled house depicted above. The photograph on the left shows a side view of a large house with brick facing, multiple garages, five windows, and vaulted roofs. The photograph on the right shows a rear view of the house showing the landscaping. It has a small pond and trees growing in front of the house. The house has multiple skylights and a wall of windows which face the pond and landscaping.
In January 2002, Yessick asked Guthrie to stop submitting invoices to PUGH, and instead advanced Guthrie $47,000 for three years of landscaping and maintenance. 544R232:589-91; 544GX30DD. PUGH's manager of accounts payable testified that she filed Guthrie's invoices and that PUGH ordinarily retained such records for five to seven years. 544R232:1466-68. But the invoices were not found in PUGH's files during the government's investigation. 544R232:1447-48. On June 20, 2002, the Jefferson County Employees Credit Union received a grand jury subpoena for any loan files related to Swann. 544R232:1128-29; 544GX28K. Shortly thereafter, the credit union CEO told Swann that his records were being subpoenaed by the FBI. 544R232:1129-31, 1684-87. By August 2002, both Grady Pugh and Yessick had heard rumors of an FBI investigation of Jefferson County. 544R232:1823-26. That same month, Guthrie was abruptly asked to stop working at the Swann house, even though there was a balance remaining on the advance Yessick had given him. 544R232:591, 594-95. On August 13, 2002, approximately two years after hiring Guthrie, Yessick directed his assistant Tammy Hughes to create an invoice to Swann's mother-in-law in the amount of $12,572 for tree removal and "remodeling work." 544R232:1011-13; 544GX28D. On September 26, 2002, Yessick directed Hughes to create a second invoice, this time to Jack Swann's mother, for $46,684 of landscaping work. 544R232:1018-20; 544GX28E. Although it was customary for PUGH invoices to include job numbers, neither of these did. 544R232:1020-21. Beginning in November 2002, the Swanns paid PUGH $59,000 with checks from joint accounts they had with their mothers, a month after taking out two home equity loans in each of their mothers' names. 544GX28C, M-N. Yessick gave these checks directly to PUGH's controller, telling her they were partial payment for the landscaping he had previously directed her to accrue to miscellaneous income. 544R232:1421-23, 1418-19. These checks were unusual because they did not come in the mail and the controller never saw any invoices associated with them. 544R232:1422-24. Yessick also purchased $1,000 in gift certificates from the Alabama Booksmith for Swann using a PUGH check. 544R232:846-49; 544GX86A, C. As Grady Pugh testified, keeping Swann happy yielded benefits. 544R232:1905. Swann was able to grant time extensions and field directives that benefitted RAST and PUGH. Swann also exercised great influence over the selection of engineers, like FWDE, for JCESD projects, which were awarded contracts through a no-bid process. 544R232:1288, 1672-73. In May 1998, PUGH, along with its joint venture partner, was awarded the Vestavia Trunk Sewer Replacement project by the JCESD. 544R232:1331-32. The $12.6 million contract imposed liquidated damages of $1,000 per day for failure to meet the May 17, 2000 completion date. 544R232:1333-34, 1353-54; 544GX36A-B. Swann had the authority, however, to grant an extension, and on March 20, 2000, Yessick requested a 120-day extension on the Vestavia project. 544R232:1335; 544GX36C. According to a March 7 letter from PUGH's joint venture partner to Yessick, the extension was needed because of delay in receiving a new tunnel boring machine and performance problems once it arrived, as well as "personnel changes." 544GX36C. Nonetheless, on May 11, Swann denied the request, noting that timely completion of the project was "a requirement of the specifications," and that "Jefferson County repeatedly stressed the critical nature of finishing this project on time." 544GX36D. Emphasizing upper management's failure to address equipment problems in a timely manner, Swann also noted a "disturbing . . . pattern developing on Roland Pugh Construction/Insituform Mid-American projects" of poor decisions and bad management. Id. On June 13, the request was renewed, this time for a 180-day extension. 544GX36E. And on July 10, five days after Yessick hired Guthrie to landscape Swann's property, Swann granted a 180-day extension. 544R232:1338-39; 544GX30F, 36F. The extension saved PUGH's joint venture $180,000 in liquidated damages. 544R232:1353-54. In July 2000, RAST, together with its joint venture partner W.L. Hailey, was awarded the Valley Creek Trunk Relief Tunnel project — a JCESD project designed by FWDE. 544R232:354-55, 357; 544GX35A. The contract required RAST-Hailey to complete the job by February 19, 2003, and included a performance bond for the value of the contract ($27.8 million). 544R232:358; 544GX35A. In December 2001, FWDE notified JCESD that RAST's tunnel boring machine had become stuck in the ground while performing the first phase of the project. 544R232:359-60; 544GX35B. Before the Valley Creek Project was bid, JCESD hired Gallet and Associates to do a geotechnical survey of the area, which was included in the contractors bid package. 544R232:365-67, 376-78; 544GX35E. In its report, Gallet stated that this portion of the tunnel project "will be very difficult due to extremely poor rock conditions coupled with occasional hard rock and abundant groundwater." 544GX35D. Gallet noted this again in a letter to Swann after RAST's machine became stuck in the ground, and speculated that even though the problem areas were "fairly well depicted in the geotechnical report . . . [RAST] may have discounted the information . . . and relied more heavily on past experience in the immediate area." Id.; 544R232:375-76. See also 544R232:360 (JCESD's supervising engineer: "It was just the wrong machine to use for the ground they were in."). After RAST's machine became stuck, Swann authorized RAST to remove it at an additional cost to the county of $2.6 million. 544R232:363-64, 384-85; 544GX35C. Swann also declined to invoke the performance bond against RAST, which would have guaranteed the project's completion at the original contract price of $27.8 million. 544R232:390-92; 544GX35A. Instead he re-bid a portion of the project, which RAST won for an additional contract worth $23.8 million. 544R232:378-79, 381; 544GX35G. As a result, the county paid RAST over $50 million for work RAST was obligated to complete under the original $27.8 million contract. 544R232:387-88. Swann also approved lucrative field directives that benefited RAST and PUGH. Ordinarily, field directives are requested by the contractor, reviewed by the project engineer, and ultimately approved by JCESD project supervisors and Swann. 544R232:351-52. In 2000, however, Swann brought a field directive concerning the Paradise Lake Sewer project to one of his project supervisors and asked her to include it in the payments for an unrelated project. 544R232:351-53. PUGH was the beneficiary of this $827,417 no-bid field directive. 544R232:353-54. Swann approved three other field directives in 2001 that paid RAST $2,020,367. 544GX35G. Each of these directives was charged to the Valley Creek Tunnel Project; however, none of them involved work on that project. 544R232:382-84. In 1999 alone, PUGH earned 50% gross profit of $15,869,711 on JCESD work — up from only 10% gross profit in 1997. 544R232:1434; 544GX42A. During the conspiracy period, RAST (together with its joint venture partner) was awarded more than $100 million in work for the county. 544R232:1682-83; 544GX33B.