Opinion ID: 78019
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Convictions for Wire Fraud and Federal Funds Theft

Text: Under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, wire fraud requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the defendant participated in a scheme or artifice to defraud; (2) with the intent to defraud; and (3) used, or caused the use of, interstate wire transmissions for the purpose of executing the scheme or artifice to defraud. [1] Under 18 U.S.C. § 666, federal funds theft requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the defendant was an agent of an organization; (2) the organization receives more than $10,000 from a federal grant program in one year; (3) the defendant embezzled, stole, obtained by fraud, or otherwise without authority knowingly converted or intentionally misapplied property valued at $5,000 or more that was under the organization's care, custody, or control. [2] The elemental analyses of §§ 1343 and 666 demonstrate that Williams's convictions for wire fraud and federal funds theft satisfy the Blockburger test. Wire fraud requires neither proof of the defendant's agency relationship to an organization receiving federal funds, nor proof of theft. Federal funds theft requires no proof of the use of interstate wire transmissions during a purported scheme or artifice to defraud. Contrary to the contention implicit in Williams's argument, the use of wires in interstate commerce is a substantive, albeit jurisdictional, element that the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Because §§ 1343 and 666 each requires proof of an element not required by the other, Williams's convictions for both crimes satisfy the Blockburger test.