Opinion ID: 696656
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Analysis of Appellants' Arguments

Text: 91
92 The jury found that the government had proven thirty-four predicate acts against Nolan, seventeen times the minimum number for the RICO pattern requirement. Nolan challenges his convictions for both the substantive violation and for the RICO conspiracy. We will address Nolan's arguments regarding the two convictions separately. 93
94 Nolan's insufficiency of the evidence argument regarding his conviction on Count I, the substantive RICO count, focuses on the predicate acts that occurred while he was living in Arizona, because those are the only ones that fall within the statute of limitations. Nolan would have this Court deem those predicate acts insufficient to support his conviction, arguing that they do not meet the fourth element's operation or management test, and that they do not establish the fifth element's relationship and pattern requirements. In addition, Nolan contends that, although he may have engaged in isolated criminal acts in Arizona, these acts do not amount to participation in the operation or management of the South Florida Outlaws, which is the enterprise specified in the substantive RICO charge. Therefore, Nolan argues, the Arizona predicate acts may not be used to support his substantive RICO conviction. If the Arizona predicate acts cannot be used to support the substantive RICO conviction, then Nolan contends that the conviction must be reversed because none of the other predicate acts charged in the indictment occurred within the RICO five-year statute of limitations. Although the RICO statute itself contains no statute of limitations for either civil actions or criminal prosecutions, we have held that the five-year statute of limitations prescribed in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3282 applies to RICO prosecutions. E.g., United States v. Coia, 719 F.2d 1120, 1124 (11th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 973, 104 S.Ct. 2349, 80 L.Ed.2d 822 (1984). The limitations period is measured from the time the crime is completed. Id. Because the crime proscribed by Sec. 1962(c) is the individual patterns of racketeering engaged in by a defendant, United States v. Persico, 832 F.2d 705, 714 (2d Cir.1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1022, 108 S.Ct. 1995, 100 L.Ed.2d 227 (1988), the crime is completed, and thus the statute of limitations begins to run, from the date of the last act of racketeering activity alleged in the indictment and proved at trial. United States v. Bethea, 672 F.2d 407, 419 (5th Cir.1982); see generally Toussie v. United States, 397 U.S. 112, 114, 90 S.Ct. 858, 860, 25 L.Ed.2d 156 (1970) (The purpose of a statute of limitations is to limit exposure to criminal prosecution to a certain fixed period of time following the occurrence of those acts the legislature has decided to punish by criminal sanctions.). Therefore, to bring the crime within the statute of limitations under Sec. 1962(c), the government need only prove that at least one predicate act was committed within five years of the date the defendant was charged in the indictment. See Pepe, 747 F.2d at 663 n. 55; Wong, 40 F.3d at 1367; United States v. Torres Lopez, 851 F.2d 520, 522 (1st Cir.1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1021, 109 S.Ct. 1144, 103 L.Ed.2d 204 (1989). 95 Nolan was indicted on June 3, 1986; therefore, at least one of Nolan's predicate acts must have occurred after June 3, 1981, in order for the substantive RICO prosecution to be within the statute of limitations. Eight of the predicate acts that the jury found had been proven against Nolan occurred after June 3, 1981. Thus, if any two of Nolan's thirty-four predicate acts establish the required RICO elements, then Nolan's RICO conviction is due to be affirmed. Having reviewed the record in the light most favorable to the government, as we must, we conclude that there is ample evidence from which a reasonable jury could find Nolan guilty of a substantive RICO violation under Sec. 1962(c). 96 Although Nolan does not contest the existence of the South Florida Outlaws charged as the RICO enterprise in Count I, the substantive count, much of his argument reflects too narrow an interpretation of the definition of enterprise. That count defines the enterprise as [t]he South Florida Chapter of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club ... a group of individuals associated in fact .... The Supreme Court has held that there are two kinds of RICO enterprises: (1) a legal entity, such as a partnership or corporation; and (2) a group of persons associated together for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct. United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 581-83, 101 S.Ct. 2524, 2528, 69 L.Ed.2d 246 (1981); see also Church, 955 F.2d at 697. The government may prove a RICO enterprise by evidence of an ongoing organization, formal or informal, and by evidence that the various associates function as a continuing unit. Turkette, 452 U.S. at 583, 101 S.Ct. at 2528; see also Church, 955 F.2d at 698 (This circuit has held that proof of an association's devotion to making money from repeated criminal activity demonstrates an enterprise's common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct, regardless of whether the criminal activity is diverse. (citation and quotation marks omitted)). The South Florida Outlaws enterprise falls under the second category of enterprise--a group of persons associated together for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct. Turkette, 452 U.S. at 583, 101 S.Ct. at 2528. 97 Nolan places too much emphasis on the internal rules and rituals of the club in his argument about the scope of this enterprise. Although rules and rituals may help prove the existence of a group of individuals associated for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct, they do not themselves limit who may or may not be held liable under RICO. Here, for example, the enterprise consists of not merely the patchwearing members of the South Florida chapter, but also anyone else who is associated in fact with that chapter and who engages in the required racketeering conduct. 98 We turn now to a discussion of the whether the government established the fourth substantive RICO element--that the defendant participated, either directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the enterprise--and the Reves operation or management test which is applicable to that element. Five of Nolan's eight Arizona predicate acts involved the knowing and intentional use of a communication facility in the perpetration of a felony in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 843(b); one predicate act was for transporting Karen Ballering across state lines for the purpose of prostitution in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 2421 and 2422; 11 and the other two predicate acts were for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1). The telephone conversations and wire transfer that formed the basis for the five predicate acts involving communication facilities were between Nolan and Nail, an Outlaw from Florida. 12 The conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine was also between Nolan and Nail, and the conspiracy involving marijuana was between Nolan, Starrett, who was a South Florida Outlaw, and an Outlaw named Stitch, who was the president of the South Florida Outlaws at the time. All of these transactions were initiated by Nolan, and through these transactions Nolan had some part in directing the affairs of the South Florida Outlaws. 99 We hold that the jury was neither limited to a consideration of the Arizona predicate acts in particular, nor to any or all of the predicate acts in general, in determining whether Nolan participated in the operation or management of the South Florida Outlaws. The jury was entitled to consider in its entirety all circumstantial evidence of Nolan's participation in the South Florida Outlaws. In addition to the predicate act evidence discussed above, the government presented ample evidence from which the jury could conclude that Nolan continued to participate in the South Florida Outlaws even after he left for Arizona. Before he moved to Arizona, Nolan purchased Iris Geoghagen from another Outlaw to provide a steady source of income for him. A South Florida Outlaw by the name of Preacher accompanied Nolan to serve as Nolan's body guard in Arizona. Several different South Florida Outlaws visited Nolan in Arizona. Nolan had told Geoghagen that he was going to bring his South Florida associates out to Arizona gradually to establish a satellite chapter of the South Florida Outlaws. In addition, the government introduced numerous tape recordings of conversations between Nolan and members of the South Florida chapter; some of the conversations were related to the Arizona predicate acts, and some of them were not. In one Outlaw's opinion, the reason Nolan went to Arizona was because of his parole terms, and Nolan told Geoghagen of his plans to return to South Florida once he finished his parole. Not one witness testified that Nolan had ceased being a member of the South Florida chapter, whereas several witnesses testified that he had remained a member of the South Florida Outlaws while residing in Arizona. 100 Viewing the record in its entirety, we conclude that a reasonable jury could find that Nolan continued to associate in fact with the South Florida Outlaws and that his association included some part in directing the affairs of that enterprise. Although the Supreme Court has yet to delineate the exact boundaries of the operation or management test, we are confident that Nolan falls within those boundaries. We therefore hold that the government presented sufficient evidence to satisfy the Reves operation or management test, and thus the government established the fourth element of a substantive RICO violation. 101 We must next determine whether the government's evidence established the fifth RICO element, that the defendant's participation in the enterprise was through a pattern of racketeering activity. Even if we were to focus solely on the predicate acts that Nolan committed within the statute of limitations period while he was in Arizona, those eight predicate acts establish both the relationship component and pattern component of the fifth RICO element. 102 In regard to the relationship component, the requirement that the predicate acts must relate to the enterprise charged, we conclude that the evidence discussed previously, which supports a finding that Nolan participated in the operation or management of the South Florida Outlaws, also supports a finding that Nolan's Arizona predicate acts were related to the South Florida Outlaws. Therefore, the government presented sufficient evidence to establish the relationship component of the fifth RICO element. 103 Next, we must determine whether the government presented sufficient evidence to prove the pattern component of the fifth RICO element--i.e., that the predicate acts were related to one another (as distinguished from being related to the enterprise), and that they exhibited continuity. Sedima, 473 U.S. at 496 n. 14, 105 S.Ct. at 3285 n. 14. The Arizona predicate acts are related to one another. Four of the predicate acts share the purpose of facilitating illegal prostitution, and the other four predicate acts share the purpose of furthering narcotics distribution. In addition, seven of these eight predicate acts involve the same participants--Nolan and Sam Nail. As to the continuity requirement, the four Arizona predicate acts of narcotics distribution also satisfy the Supreme Court's definition of continuity. These predicate acts constituted past conduct that by its nature projects into the future with the threat of repetition, H.J. Inc., 492 U.S. at 241, 109 S.Ct. at 2902, because Nolan and Nail had agreed to a scheme whereby Nail would supply Nolan with cocaine on an on-going basis. E.g., Church, 955 F.2d at 694 (defendant's offer to provide as much cocaine in the future as the buyer wanted established threat of continuity even though defendant's two predicate acts spanned only three months). Furthermore, because the pattern consists of all of the predicate acts committed by a defendant, and because only one of the predicate acts in a pattern must occur within the statute of limitations period, the jury in this case was entitled to consider the pre-Arizona predicate acts proven against Nolan in determining whether the government had established the fifth RICO element's pattern requirement. Viewed in context with Nolan's numerous pre-Arizona predicate acts, his Arizona predicate acts clearly exhibit the relationship plus continuity needed to prove a pattern of racketeering activity. H.J. Inc., 492 U.S. at 239, 109 S.Ct. at 2900. 104 In summary, we hold that the government presented sufficient evidence to establish the fourth and fifth elements of a substantive RICO conviction. The government established that Nolan participated in the operation or management of the South Florida Outlaws as Reves requires in order to prove the fourth RICO element. In addition, the government established the two components of the fifth RICO element: the government presented sufficient evidence to prove that the predicate acts were related to the enterprise charged, and it presented sufficient evidence to prove the necessary pattern. Therefore, we conclude that the government's evidence is sufficient to support Nolan's substantive RICO conviction under Sec. 1962(c). 105
106 Having analyzed Nolan's conviction for substantive RICO, we now turn to his conviction under Sec. 1962(d) for RICO conspiracy. Nolan argues that the Reves operation or management test should apply to his RICO conspiracy conviction, and that the government did not prove that he participated in the operation or management of the national Outlaw Motorcycle Club, which is the enterprise charged in Count II, the conspiracy count. In addition, Nolan contends that the government failed to prove that his predicate acts were related to that national organization. 107 In deciding whether the government's evidence was sufficient to support Nolan's RICO conspiracy conviction, we must determine whether there was substantial evidence from which the jury could find that Nolan manifested an agreement to participate in the American Outlaws Association through a pattern of racketeering activity. Russo, 796 F.2d at 1455. The jury could infer from the following evidence that Nolan manifested an agreement to participate in the national organization through a pattern of racketeering activity: Nolan had been the president of both the regional and the local Outlaw organizations; Nolan had been one of the four original Outlaws to establish an Outlaw chapter in Florida; Nolan initiated an aggressive membership recruitment drive to help solidify the Outlaws' position as one of the four largest national motorcycle clubs; and Nolan himself committed thirty-four predicate acts related to the Outlaws. Furthermore, we agree with the Second and Seventh Circuits that the Supreme Court's Reves test does not apply to a conviction for RICO conspiracy. See Napoli, 45 F.3d at 683-84; Quintanilla, 2 F.3d at 1484. Thus, we find that the government's evidence was sufficient to support Nolan's conviction for RICO conspiracy under Sec. 1962(d). 108
109 Hegney, Sears, and Cave also contend that the government failed to prove the fourth and fifth substantive RICO offense elements--that they participated in the conduct of the affairs of the enterprises charged through a pattern of racketeering activity. The jury found that the government had proven Hegney committed three predicate acts of narcotics distribution and five predicate acts related to the Stefano murders. The jury found that the government had proven Sears committed two predicate acts of narcotics distribution and one predicate act of murder. Finally, as to Cave, the jury found that the government had proven one predicate act of extortion against Iris Geoghagen, one predicate act of extortion against Serge Seguin, and four predicate acts of narcotics distribution. After viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, we conclude that there is ample evidence to support the jury's verdicts against Hegney, Sears, and Cave. 110 The fourth substantive RICO element was proven, because the predicate acts of each of these three appellants establish that each had some part in directing the affairs of the South Florida Outlaws, the enterprise charged in the substantive count, and that satisfies the Reves operation or management test. There was ample evidence in this record that Hegney, Sears, and Cave, like the members of the Green Dragons in United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d at 1374, were thoroughly indoctrinated participants in the criminal activities of the Outlaws. Moreover, we agree with the First Circuit that one may be liable under the operation or management test by knowingly implementing decisions, as well as by making them. Oreto, 37 F.3d at 750. Hegney's and Sears's knowing implementation of the decision to commit murder qualifies under the Reves operation or management test. The murders were for the purpose of preventing witnesses of Outlaw criminal activity from being able to testify against the Outlaws. By permanently silencing the witnesses, Hegney and Sears had some part in directing the affairs of the enterprise. 111 Moreover, Hegney, Sears, and Cave did not just implement decisions, they made them as well. Hegney initiated the distribution relationship with Debra Slocum after overhearing her conversation with someone else about wanting to find a source for narcotics. Cave set up a PCP lab at his house in Indiana on his own initiative so that he could pay his debt to the Outlaws' bail bondsman. And Sears, along with government witness Thomas Belcher, ordered other Outlaws to deliver narcotics to Illinois so that they could finance their trip, which was for Outlaw business. Although the Supreme Court has not yet decided how far down the ladder of operation to extend RICO liability, we are confident that these appellants do not stand so low on the ladder that they should be excluded from RICO liability. 112 All three appellants' predicate acts involving narcotics were clearly related to the enterprise for purposes of proving the fifth RICO element. The government presented numerous witnesses who testified that the South Florida Outlaws regularly used and dealt drugs. This narcotics activity furthered the anti-social lifestyle that is the raison d'etre of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club. At least one witness testified that the proceeds of narcotics sales contributed to the purchase of an Outlaw clubhouse, which in turn provided a home for numerous members of the club and was where the weekly Outlaw meetings were held. This evidence demonstrates that these acts of narcotics distribution are sufficiently related to the South Florida Outlaws. E.g., Carter, 721 F.2d at 1527 (predicate acts found related to legitimate dairy farm enterprise where dairy farm was regularly used as the location for drug smuggling activities). Because the jury found that each of these three appellants had engaged in at least two acts of narcotics distribution, we need not decide whether the other predicate acts were related to the enterprise. 113 Finally, the predicate acts the jury found these three appellants had committed also satisfy the pattern requirement of the fifth RICO element. Even if we look only at the narcotics predicate acts, we find that the government proved the required relationship plus continuity for Hegney's three predicate acts. Hegney's three predicate acts of narcotics distribution involved the same participants--Hegney and undercover officer Debra Slocum--and the same kind of narcotics. In addition, Hegney and Slocum followed the same sequence of events leading up to each sale: Slocum would call Hegney at the Outlaw clubhouse and say that she needed to see him, which was the code they had established for her to request narcotics. These predicate acts displayed the required threat of continuity, because Hegney told Slocum that he could get her any narcotics she wanted, and then followed through on that promise three times. See Church, 955 F.2d at 694 (holding that defendant's offer to provide as much cocaine in future as buyer wanted established threat of continuity even though defendant's two predicate acts spanned only three months: [I]t is the association's long-term existence and regular way of doing business that poses the threat of continued racketeering activity.). 114 Cave's four predicate acts of narcotics distribution and Sears's two predicate acts of narcotics distribution also satisfy the pattern requirement. Cave's predicate acts are all related to one another by the common purpose of paying the Outlaws' bail bondsman and by the involvement of the same Outlaw participants in the transactions. Sears's predicate acts are related to one another because they all involved the same narcotic substance and all occurred at the concerts of a former Outlaw, David Allen Coe. In addition, both Cave's and Sears's predicate acts display the requisite continuity: they are a series of related predicates extending over a substantial period of time--two years for Cave and between two and seven years for Sears. H.J. Inc., 492 U.S. at 242, 109 S.Ct. at 2902. Thus, the government's evidence was sufficient to establish the fifth RICO element against these three appellants. 115 We therefore hold that there is sufficient evidence in the record to support Hegney's, Sears's, and Cave's convictions under Sec. 1962(c). We also hold that the jury could have inferred from the evidence in the record against Hegney, Sears, and Cave that they each manifested an agreement to participate in the Outlaw Motorcycle Club through a pattern of racketeering activity, thus supporting their convictions for RICO conspiracy under Sec. 1962(d). 116
117 Duke makes two arguments for why his Sec. 1962(d) RICO conspiracy conviction must be reversed. First, he contends that the government failed to present sufficient evidence that he agreed to participate in the RICO conspiracy. Second, Duke contends that even if the government proved such an agreement, his conviction must be reversed because he proved that he withdrew from the Outlaws in the spring of 1980, more than five years before the grand jury indicted him in this case. Therefore, he argues, his conviction was time-barred. We reject both contentions. 118 First, we conclude that the government presented sufficient evidence to establish that Duke agreed and manifested his agreement to participate in the conduct of the national Outlaw Motorcycle Club (the enterprise charged in the conspiracy count) through a pattern of racketeering activity. Indeed, the government proved more than was necessary to establish Duke's agreement to participate in the conspiracy. Even though a defendant need not commit any predicate acts in order to be convicted of RICO conspiracy, Torres Lopez, 851 F.2d at 524-25, the government proved Duke did commit two predicate acts. 13 The jury was entitled to infer from Duke's commission of these acts that he agreed to participate in the Outlaws through a pattern of racketeering activity. Furthermore, in addition to proving two of the predicate acts charged, the government presented witnesses who testified that Duke bought and sold narcotics with several Outlaws, and that most Outlaws dealt in drugs and worked their women as prostitutes. Considering all of this evidence together, the jury was entitled to find that Duke agreed to an overall conspiracy objective as well. See Church, 955 F.2d at 694-95. Therefore, the government's evidence was sufficient to prove the elements of Duke's RICO conspiracy violation under Sec. 1962(d). 119 Duke further argues, however, that even if we conclude that he agreed to participate in the conspiracy, he proved that he withdrew from the Outlaws more than five years before he was indicted on July 29, 1986. The law of this circuit is that a conspirator's participation in a conspiracy is presumed to continue until all activity relating to the conspiracy is ceased. Accordingly, [each defendant] is presumed to be a participant for the duration of the conspiracy unless he can overcome the presumption by proving his withdrawal. LeQuire, 943 F.2d at 1563-64 (citation omitted). Furthermore, [w]ith respect to conspiracy statutes that do not require proof of an overt act, the indictment satisfies the requirements of the statute of limitations if the conspiracy is alleged to have continued into the limitations period. Gonzalez, 921 F.2d at 1548 (citation and quotation marks omitted). The conspiracy may be deemed to continue as long as its purposes have neither been abandoned nor accomplished. Furthermore, the conspiracy is presumed to exist until there has been an affirmative showing that it has terminated. Id. (citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Wong, 40 F.3d at 1367 (no predicate acts within the five-year period required for RICO conspiracy as long as defendant has not withdrawn); Torres Lopez, 851 F.2d at 524-25 (same). To establish the affirmative defense of a withdrawal from the conspiracy, the defendant has the substantial burden of proving: (1) that he has taken affirmative steps, inconsistent with the objectives of the conspiracy, to disavow or to defeat the objectives of the conspiracy; and (2) that he made a reasonable effort to communicate those acts to his co-conspirators or that he disclosed the scheme to law enforcement authorities. See LeQuire, 943 F.2d at 1564; United States v. Finestone, 816 F.2d 583, 589 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 948, 108 S.Ct. 338, 98 L.Ed.2d 365 (1987). A mere cessation of activity in the conspiracy is not sufficient to establish withdrawal. Id. (emphasis added). 120 As evidence of his withdrawal from the Outlaws, Duke offers the following: he added a 1980 out date to his Outlaw Charlie tattoo; he sold his motorcycle; he joined a church and got a job; and he moved out of Florida and cut off virtually all contact with the Outlaws. Even if this evidence is sufficient to satisfy this circuit's first requirement for proving withdrawal from a conspiracy--that he took affirmative steps to disavow the conspiracy--it is insufficient to satisfy the second requirement. Duke has not pointed to any evidence in the record to indicate that he made a reasonable effort to communicate his withdrawal to his co-conspirators, or that he disclosed the Outlaws' criminal schemes to law enforcement. See LeQuire, 943 F.2d at 1564. 121 Prior to becoming a probate with the South Florida Outlaws in 1980, Duke was a member of the Outlaws' Louisville, Kentucky chapter, as evidenced by his Outlaw Charlie tattoo bearing the Louisville rocker. 14 This tattoo has two dates on it,  '78 on the right side of the skull, and  '80 on the left. Duke contends that this means he became a member of the Outlaws in 1978 and that he left in 1980, and that this out date is the normal means by which an Outlaw communicates his withdrawal to the club. However, the government presented testimony from which the jury could have found that the so-called out date pertained to the date Duke left the Louisville chapter to go to Florida, not the date he left the Outlaws altogether. Thus, the jury could have concluded that this evidence did not establish Duke's withdrawal from the conspiracy. 122 Duke has never cooperated with law enforcement regarding the Outlaws' criminal activity, and none of the persons to whom Duke claims to have communicated his withdrawal were ever members of, or associated with, the Outlaws. The government presented evidence that on at least one occasion after Duke's purported withdrawal he had an opportunity to tell two South Florida Outlaws that he was through with the club, but he failed to do so. Thomas Belcher testified that he and another Outlaw saw Duke in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1982 and that Duke gave Belcher some cocaine. Duke presented no evidence that he said anything to Belcher or the other Outlaw present about having left the Outlaws. Because Duke did not present any evidence that he disclosed any Outlaw activities to law enforcement or made a reasonable effort to communicate his withdrawal to his co-conspirators, the jury was entitled to reject Duke's withdrawal defense. See LeQuire, 943 F.2d at 1564.