Opinion ID: 510217
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Shafran

Text: 154 (a) Misjoinder. Shafran's claim of misjoinder under Rule 8(b) rests heavily on the fact that he was acquitted of a bribery racketeering act relating to his investment in the Candler Building, a commercial property in midtown Manhattan. The government sought to prove that Shafran's interest in the building was the product of a bribe offered by Lazar on behalf of Datacom. The jury, however, apparently believed Shafran's contention that he had paid fair market value for his investment. Pointing to the government's pretrial emphasis on Datacom as providing the link among the defendants, Shafran now asserts that the Candler Building allegations were the sole basis offered by the government for linking him with his co-defendants and that the government joined him without a reasonable expectation that these allegations would be proven at trial. See United States v. Ong, 541 F.2d 331, 337 (2d Cir.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1075, 97 S.Ct. 814, 50 L.Ed.2d 793, 430 U.S. 934, 97 S.Ct. 1559, 51 L.Ed.2d 780 (1977). Accordingly, Shafran contends that the government joined him in bad faith and that his conviction should be reversed. This argument is frivolous. 155 The Candler Building allegations were not the sole basis for Shafran's joinder. The indictment charged him with having accepted eight bribes from SRS through Sandow and with having accepted a bribe in the form of a consulting contract from the BJV through Sennet and Jochnowitz. These accusations alone were sufficient to support the indictment's overall allegation that Shafran had participated in a conspiracy to operate the PVB as a racketeering enterprise and provided a sufficient basis for joinder. Shafran's claim of misjoinder must therefore be rejected. 156 (b) Prejudicial Spillover. Shafran nevertheless asserts that because the government did not prove that he had accepted a bribe from Datacom, he could not have been part of the RICO conspiracy and was therefore improperly joined. In particular, Shafran characterizes the BJV consulting-contract bribe as being too peripheral to tie him to the RICO conspiracy, because the BJV episode did not involve Lazar, and because Shafran's only contact with Friedman concerning the BJV consulting contract consisted of a single conversation. Additionally, Shafran emphasizes the fact that Lindenauer, Sandow and others attempted to keep him ignorant of certain illegal activities primarily involving Lindenauer and Manes. 157 There was more than sufficient evidence, however, to support the jury's conclusion that Shafran had conspired to participate ... in the conduct of [the PVB's] affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1962(c). Specifically, there was ample evidence that Shafran, as Director of the PVB, knew that he was participating not merely in discrete bribery schemes, but more generally in the corruption that pervaded his agency. For instance, Sandow testified that on one occasion, Shafran stated his belief that Lindenauer was taking from everybody. And both Lindenauer and Sandow testified that Shafran had asked each individually whether Sandow was paying cash bribes to Lindenauer. Although Shafran's inquiries prompted denials from both Lindenauer and Sandow, given Sandow's comment about Lindenauer and Shafran's own receipt of cash from Sandow, the jury was free to conclude that Shafran knew the truth. Accordingly, the jury could have concluded that, in accepting cash from SRS and the consulting contract from the BJV, Shafran knew that he was participating in a much larger effort to operate the PVB as a corrupt enterprise. That he might not have known many of the details of that larger effort is simply of no legal consequence. 158 Finally, Shafran contends that he was prejudiced by the district court's refusal to grant his motion for severance under Rule 14. Like Lazar, however, Shafran has failed to make a showing of prejudice. Because Shafran was properly found to be a member of a conspiracy to participate in the affairs of the PVB involving all of the defendants, the evidence used to prove that conspiracy was admissible against him. Moreover, the jury's acquittal of the alleged Candler Building bribes belies Shafran's claim of prejudicial spillover. 159