Opinion ID: 20108
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Latrasse

Text: Latrasse challenges his conviction on all counts on the basis of insufficiency of the evidence. Latrasse argues that because he did not talk to any investors until after they had made their investments, he did not induce anyone to part with their money. Latrasse also asserts that he believed the roll program to be legitimate.
The record presented sufficient evidence to permit a rational jury to find Latrasse guilty of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. The fact that Latrasse did not speak to the investors until after they had parted with their funds does not preclude his membership in the conspiracy. Ample evidence showed that Latrasse worked to induce the participants to continue believing that the roll program existed and that their money was safe. Latrasse lulled the investors when they protested the lack of the promised 57 payments. Latrasse’s lulling efforts furthered the fraudulent scheme. Cf. United States v. Allen, 76 F.3d 1348, 1363 (5th Cir. 1996)(holding that actions designed to avoid detection after the defendants had control over the money produced by the fraud were in furtherance of the fraud under the mail fraud statute); cf. also United States v. Perry, 152 F.3d 900, 904 (8th Cir. 1998)(holding that mailings designed to lull the victims into a false sense of security and hide a fraudulent scheme are considered an overt act in furtherance of a conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S. Ct. 1088 (1999). The evidence was also sufficient for the jury to disbelieve Latrasse’s self-serving testimony and conclude that Latrasse knew the investment program was not legitimate. Latrasse knew the investors were not receiving the payments as promised when he repeatedly assured them that their money was safely invested and earning returns. He knew that money received from two investors had been quickly transferred from the initial deposits in the Shearson Lehman investment accounts to the defendants, including Latrasse. There was ample circumstantial evidence showing that Latrasse knew the roll program was fraudulent when he assured the investors of its legitimacy. There was also clear evidence showing that the use of the mails and wire facilities in furtherance of the fraud was reasonably foreseeable. Latrasse’s challenge to his conviction on count 1 fails.
A party to a conspiracy may be held criminally responsible for a substantive offense committed by a coconspirator in furtherance 58 of the conspiracy if the offense was reasonably foreseeable and was committed during that party’s membership in the conspiracy. See United States v. Castillo, 179 F.3d 321, 324 n. 4 (5th Cir. 1999)(describing the Pinkerton doctrine), cert. granted, ___ U.S. ___, 2000 WL 21143 (2000); United States v. Dean, 59 F.3d 1479, 1490 n. 20 (5th Cir. 1995)(holding that the offense must have been reasonably foreseeable for the defendant to face accomplice liability under the Pinkerton doctrine); United States v. Basey, 816 F.2d 980, 998–99 (5th Cir. 1987). We have already found the evidence sufficient to show that Latrasse conspired to commit mail and wire fraud and that Richards and Braugh induced Hayes to travel in interstate commerce with the intent to defraud. The question as to Latrasse’s conviction on count 2 is the sufficiency of the evidence to show that Latrasse was a member of the conspiracy when Richards induced Hayes to cross state lines on September 5, 1991 to participate in the roll program. Latrasse points out that he did not begin communicating with the roll program investors until early 1992. However, the record also shows that Latrasse received a $7,500 wire transfer from Braugh’s Bank of Corpus Christi account on September 11, 1991 and a $5,000 transfer on September 17, 1991. Brewer testified that Latrasse received money from Hayes’s deposit, only days after Hayes wrote his check. A reasonable jury could conclude that Latrasse was a member of the conspiracy when Hayes crossed state lines to deliver the check. There is no basis to reverse Latrasse’s conviction on count 2. 59
Latrasse challenges his convictions on the three counts of wire fraud. The first of these counts involved the $7,500 September 11, 1991 wire transfer from Braugh’s Bank of Corpus Christi account in Texas to Latrasse in California. The evidence was sufficient to permit a rational jury to conclude that this transfer was a distribution of proceeds from the fraudulent scheme, in furtherance of that scheme and reasonably foreseeable to Latrasse. The second count, Count 4, involved a fax from Latrasse in California to Schwinger in Texas on June 19, 1992. In the fax, Latrasse promised a distribution of funds to Schwinger and her partners on or before June 30, 1992. The evidence was clearly sufficient for a reasonable jury to find that Latrasse sent this fax to further the fraudulent scheme by lulling Schwinger into continuing to believe that her money was safely invested, as promised. See United States v. Allen, 76 F.3d 1348, 1363 (5th Cir. 1996)(holding that “actions taken to avoid detection, or to lull the fraud victim into complacency” are in furtherance of the fraud for the purpose of the wire fraud statute); see also United States v. Maze, 414 U.S. 395, 402–03 (1974). The evidence was sufficient to support Latrasse’s conviction on count 4. The third wire fraud offense, alleged in count 5 of the superseding indictment, involved a February 2, 1994 fax that Latrasse sent from California to Blackwelder in Texas. In the fax, Latrasse promised to send Blackwelder a check returning his investment. Again, the evidence was sufficient to support a 60 finding that Latrasse sent this fax to lull Blackwelder into continuing to believe the investment was legitimate. There was sufficient evidence to permit a rational jury to convict Latrasse on count 5 of the indictment.
The mail fraud offense alleged in count 6 of the superseding indictment arose from a November 22, 1993 letter Braugh sent to Blackwelder by mail. In the letter, Braugh promised to send Blackwelder a cashier’s check repaying the July 8, 1993 $5,000 “loan.” The evidence show that in the weeks leading up to the loan, Blackwelder had asked Braugh several times when he would receive the promised payments from the roll program. Braugh repeatedly assured Blackwelder that he would receive the money soon, giving such excuses as “it’s going to happen in a day, it’s going to happen in two days, it’s going to happen in a week, there’s a problem, a little problem, it’s going to be good in a day.” Blackwelder continued to press. As part of Braugh’s efforts to lull Blackwelder into believing the roll program was legitimate, Braugh explained that there were problems in Europe that needed attention and asked for a $5,000 loan so that Braugh could travel to Europe and “help expedite the transaction.” Blackwelder tried to recover his money from Braugh. In a telephone conversation on November 19, 1993, Braugh told Blackwelder that the unpaid loan “was the only mistake he made in executing his little ordeal here.” Three days later, Braugh sent Blackwelder the letter that forms the basis for count 6. In the 61 letter, Braugh promised to give Blackwelder a cashier’s check to repay the loan within one week. After the November 22, 1993 letter, Blackwelder did not see or speak to Braugh for approximately six months. However, Latrasse continued to call Blackwelder to assure him that payment on his roll program investment was imminent. On February 2, 1994, Latrasse sent Blackwelder a fax, telling Blackwelder that Latrasse had designated a “disinterested third party to deliver the check for the pay-out” on Blackwelder’s investment. The fax continued: It is regrettable that this project took longer than programmed and that this led to the hard feelings between you and Roger. Hope that we can quickly resolve the remaining business between yourself and SAI [Associates] and Roger’s personal obligation to you. A reasonable jury could conclude that Braugh’s November 22, 1993 letter to Blackwelder was in furtherance of the scheme to defraud. Braugh solicited the loan from Blackwelder in the context of reassuring Blackwelder about the roll program. Braugh told Blackwelder that the $5,000 loan would help him make a trip to Europe to fix problems with the roll program and “expedite the transaction.” Three days before he sent Blackwelder the November 22, 1993 letter promising to repay the $5,000, Braugh told Blackwelder that failing to repay the $5,000 was “the only mistake he made” in connection with the roll program. The November 22, 1993 letter was another instance of lulling, another assurance that money promised would be paid soon. In his February 2, 1994 fax to Blackwelder, Latrasse, seeking to reassure Blackwelder about the roll program generally, stated: “I hope that we can quickly resolve the remaining business between yourself and SAI and Roger’s 62 personal obligation to you.” Braugh obtained the $5,000 “loan” through his involvement in the roll program. Latrasse was clearly aware that Braugh had done so. Braugh’s and Latrasse’s statements and written communications evidence their recognition that assurances about the $5,000 transaction were part of keeping Blackwelder satisfied about the status of the roll program. Braugh’s lulling letter “was incident to an essential part” of the roll program scheme, which Latrasse could reasonably have foreseen. The evidence was sufficient to support Latrasse’s conviction on count 6.