Opinion ID: 20108
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the challenge to the jury instructions

Text: All three defendants argue that the district court erred in rejecting the defendants’ proposed jury instruction as to the relationship between breach of fiduciary duty and criminal liability. John Shockey testified as the government’s expert witness on international banking practices and financial fraud. During crossexamination, Braugh’s attorney asked Shockey whether “people in the phony money world” ever used “people in the legitimate money world” to promote fraudulent investment schemes. In response, Shockey testified: Well, while that could happen, we would hope that proper due diligence would be done. And if the parties involved hold themselves out as knowledgeable and experienced financial advisors, they have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients to conduct due diligence to protect the interests of their clients. 44 Latrasse’s attorney later asked Shockey several questions to clarify that “due diligence” and “fiduciary responsibility” were terms from civil, not criminal, law. Latrasse timely requested the trial court to include the following language in the court’s jury instructions: “Neither a failure to exercise due diligence nor a breach of fiduciary duty in and of themselves rise to the level of specific intent to defraud. Before you may find a Defendant guilty of fraud, you must find beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant had the specific intent to defraud.” The other defendants joined in the request. The district court did not give the instruction. A district court’s refusal to provide a requested jury instruction is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Jobe, 101 F.3d 1046, 1059 (5th Cir. 1996). Such a refusal requires reversal only if the requested instruction (1) was a substantially correct statement of the law, (2) was not substantially covered in the charge as a whole, and (3) concerned an important point in the trial such that the failure to instruct the jury on the issue seriously impaired the defendant’s ability to present a given defense. See United States v. Webster, 162 F.3d 308, 322 (5th Cir. 1998), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 120 S. Ct. 83 (1999); Jobe, 101 F.3d at 1059. The district court instructed the jury, in relevant part, as follows: The word “knowingly,” as that term has been used from time to time in these instructions, means that the act was done voluntarily and intentionally, not because of mistake or accident. 45 Good faith is a complete defense to the charges in the indictment, since good faith on the part of the defendant is inconsistent with intent to defraud, which is an essential part of the charges. The burden of proof is not on a defendant to prove his good faith, since a defendant has no burden to prove anything. The government must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants acted with specific intent to defraud as charged in the indictment. One who expresses an opinion honestly held by him, or a belief honestly entertained by him, is not chargeable with fraudulent intent even though his opinion is erroneous or his belief is mistaken; and, similarly, evidence which establishes only that a person made a mistake in judgment or an error in management, or was careless, does not establish fraudulent intent. On the other hand, an honest belief on the part of the defendant that a particular business venture was sound and would ultimately succeed would not, in and of itself, constitute “good faith” as used in these instructions if, in carrying out that venture, the defendants knowingly made false or fraudulent representations to other with the intent to deceive them. The district court also instructed the jury on the level of intent required for conviction on each of the offenses charged in the indictment. As to the conspiracy charge, the district court instructed the jury as follows: For you to find a defendant guilty of conspiracy, you must be convinced that the government has proved . . . beyond a reasonable doubt . . . [t]hat the defendant knew the unlawful purpose of the agreement and joined in it willfully, that is, with the intent to further the unlawful purpose . . . . One may become a member of a conspiracy without knowing all the details of the unlawful scheme or the identities of all the other alleged conspirators. If a defendant understands the unlawful nature of the plan or scheme and knowingly and intentionally joins in that plan or scheme on one occasion, that is sufficient to convict him of conspiracy . . . . 46 The district court also instructed the jury on the Pinkerton doctrine of accomplice liability.11 As to the interstate transportation of stolen property charge, the district court instructed the jury that “to find the defendant guilty of this crime, you must be convinced that the government has proved . . . beyond a reasonable doubt [that] the defendant devised a scheme to defraud one or more persons of at least $5,000.” The district court instructed the jury on the elements of mail fraud and wire fraud, in relevant part, as follows: For you to find the defendant guilty of this crime, you must be convinced that the government has proved each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt: First: That the defendant knowingly created a scheme to defraud, that is a scheme to obtain money, funds, or credits from another by means of false pretenses, representations and promises substantially as alleged in this Indictment; Second: That the defendant acted with the specific intent to commit fraud . . . . The district court’s instructions to the jury, considered as a whole, substantially covered the defendants’ requested instruction. Defendants fully presented their theory of defense, their belief that the roll program was a legitimate investment. In his closing argument, Latrasse’s attorney argued that a breach of fiduciary duty does not necessarily give rise to criminal liability. “[C]ounsel was not circumscribed in his argument to the jury” on 11 Under Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 666 (1946), “[a] party to a continuing conspiracy may be responsible for a substantive offense committed by a coconspirator pursuant to and in furtherance of the conspiracy, even if that party does not participate in the substantive offense or have any knowledge of it.” United States v. Castillo, 179 F.3d 321, 324 n. 4 (5th Cir. 1999)(quoting United States v. Elwood, 993 F.2d 1146, 1151 (5th Cir. 1993)) (alterations in original), cert. granted, ___ U.S. ___, 2000 WL 21143 (2000). 47 the theory of defense. United States v. Storm, 36 F.3d 1289, 1295 (5th Cir. 1994). The district court’s charge adequately instructed the jury that they could not convict any defendant unless the government proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant had the specific intent to defraud. See United States v. Giraldi, 86 F.3d. 1368, 1376 (5th Cir. 1996) (affirming district court’s denial of a requested instruction on good faith because the charge detailed specific intent and defined “willfully” and “knowingly”). The defendants were not entitled to more specific instructions on the distinctions between the civil terms “due diligence” and “fiduciary responsibility” on the one hand, and criminal liability on the other. The district court’s refusal to give the defendants’ requested instruction was not error. VI. THE CHALLENGES TO THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE All defendants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting some or all of their convictions. In assessing these challenges, “[t]his court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury verdict and affirm if a rational trier of fact could find that the government proved all essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt.” Giraldi, 86 F.3d 1368, 1372 (5th Cir. 1996). We consider “the countervailing evidence as well as the evidence that supports the verdict.” United States v. Brown, 186 F.3d 661, 664 (5th Cir. 1999)(quoting Giraldi, 86 F.3d at 1272). “It is not necessary that the evidence exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence or be wholly inconsistent with every conclusion except that of guilt provided a reasonable trier 48 of fact could find that the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Bell, 678 F.2d 547, 549 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982); see United States v. Soape, 169 F.3d 257, 264 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S. Ct. 2353 (1999). The jury is free to choose among reasonable constructions of the evidence. See United States v. Ortega Reyna, 148 F.3d 540, 543 (5th Cir. 1998). If, however, “the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, gives equal or nearly equal circumstantial support to a theory of guilt and a theory of innocence, the conviction should be reversed. United States v. Pennington, 20 F.3d 593, 597 (5th Cir. 1994); see Ortega Reyna, 148 F.3d at 543. “When the evidence is essentially in balance, a reasonable jury must necessarily entertain a reasonable doubt.” Ortega Reyna, 148 F.3d at 543.
Richards argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for inducing a person to travel in interstate commerce in furtherance of a scheme to defraud and his conviction for wire fraud. He does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conspiracy conviction.
18 U.S.C. § 2314 “requires proof of two elements to support a conviction: (1) that the defendant devised a scheme intending to defraud victim of money or property of a minimum value of $ 5,000,and (2) that as a result of this scheme, a victim was induced to travel in interstate commerce.” United States v. Myerson, 18 49 F.3d 153, 164 (2d Cir. 1994); see also United States v. Biggs, 761 F.2d 184, 187 (4th Cir. 1985).12 Richards does not challenge the proof that he induced Bert Hayes to travel from Arkansas to Texas to meet with Richards and deliver a $250,000 check. Richards’ argument is narrow. He asserts that the evidence was insufficient to permit a reasonable jury to find that he induced Hayes to cross state lines with the specific intent to defraud Hayes. See United States v. Snelling, 862 F.2d 150 (8th Cir. 1988) (holding that it is an essential element of the interstate transportation offense under section 2314 that the defendant had the intent to defraud at the time the victim crossed state lines as a result of the defendant’s inducement). The record, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, contains evidence sufficient to support Richards’ conviction on count 2. Richards promoted the roll program to Hayes, promising that the money invested would be safe and would generate substantial returns. The roll program described to Hayes did not exist. John Shockey, the government’s expert on international banking practices and financial fraud, testified that no such investment existed in the legitimate financial world. 12 Section 2314 provides in relevant part: Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, . . . induces any person . . . to travel in, or be transported in interstate . . . commerce in the execution or concealment of a scheme or artifice to defraud that person . . . of money or property of $ 5,000 or more . . . [s]hall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. 50 A reasonable jury could conclude that Richards knew the roll program was not legitimate when he induced Hayes to travel to Texas with his $250,000 check. Richards pitched an investment program that did not exist in the legitimate financial world. He continued his participation in the scheme, soliciting additional investors and later lulling them into continuing to believe that the program existed and was working long after he knew that at least some of the money had gone to the promoters rather than to the investors and that they investors had not received any of the money promised them. The evidence that Richards continued to solicit and reassure investors after he knew that the program had failed to perform as he had promised supports the inference that Richards knew the program was a fraud from the outset, when he induced Hayes to invest in the program and to cross state lines to deliver his check.
“In order to establish wire fraud [under 18 U.S.C. § 1343], the Government must prove that a defendant knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud, that interstate wire communications were used to further the scheme, and that the defendants intended that some harm result from the fraud.” United States v. Powers, 168 F.3d 741, 746 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 120 S. Ct. 360 (1999); see also United States v. St. Gelais, 952 F.2d 90, 95 (5th Cir. 1992). “An intent to defraud for the purpose of personal gain satisfies the ‘harm’ requirement of the wire fraud statute.” Powers, 168 F.3d at 746; St. Gelais, 952 F.2d at 95. A use of the interstate wire facilities is in furtherance of a scheme to defraud 51 if it is “incident to an essential part of the scheme.” Schmuck v. United States, 489 U.S. 705, 710–11 (1989) (citations omitted); see also Powers, 168 F.3d 741, 747 (5th Cir. 1999). A defendant need not personally have made the communication on which the wire fraud count is based, nor have directed that it be made. “The test to determine whether a defendant caused [interstate wire facilities] to be used is whether the use was reasonably foreseeable.” United States v. Massey, 827 F.2d 995, 1002 (5th Cir. 1987)(interpreting the mail fraud statute).13 For a defendant to be convicted of wire fraud, it is sufficient that the defendant could reasonably have foreseen the use of the wires; the interstate nature of the wire communication need not have been reasonably foreseeable. See United States v. Lindemann, 85 F.3d 1232, 1241 (7th Cir. 1996); United States v. Blackmon, 839 F.2d 900 (2d Cir. 1988); cf. United States v. Kelly, 569 F.2d 928, 934 (5th Cir. 1978)(holding that the interstate transportation offense, 18 U.S.C. § 2314, included no level of mens rea as to the interstate nexus because the interstate nexus requirement was merely “the linchpin for federal jurisdiction”); United States v. Darby, 37 F.3d 1059, 1067 (4th Cir. 1994)(holding the same under 18 U.S.C. § 875, which prohibits the transmission of a threatening communication in interstate commerce). Richards asserts that the use of the wires charged in count 3 of the indictment was not reasonably foreseeable. This count 13 Because the language of the mail fraud and wire fraud statutes are so similar, cases construing one are applicable to the other. See United States v. Herron, 825 F.2d 50, 54 n. 5 (5th Cir. 1987); United States v. Bentz, 21 F. 3d 37, 40 (3d Cir. 1994). 52 charges the September 17, 1991 wire transfer of $7,500 from Texas to Kurt Latrasse in California. The record evidence supports the conclusion that the wire transfer to Latrasse was a distribution of proceeds from the roll program scheme. Richards reasonably could have foreseen that a distribution of the investors’ funds to the defendant promoters might be made by use of wire transfers. The evidence was sufficient to support Richards’ conviction on count 3.
Braugh challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conspiracy, interstate transportation, wire fraud, and mail fraud convictions. We uphold the convictions on all six counts.
Braugh was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 371. “To establish a violation of [section 371], the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt (1) that two or more people agreed to pursue an unlawful objective, (2) that the defendant voluntarily agreed to join in the conspiracy, and (3) that one or more members of the conspiracy committed an overt act to further the objectives of the conspiracy.” United States v. Soape, 169 F.3d 257, 264 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S. Ct. 2353 (1999). “To be guilty of conspiracy to commit mail [and wire] fraud, [the defendant] must have had the requisite intent to commit mail [and wire] fraud.” United States v. Sneed, 63 F.3d 381, 385 (5th Cir. 1995). Neither “[m]ail fraud [nor wire fraud], however, has [a] specific intent requirement regarding use of the mails [or wire facilities].” Id. (quoting United States v. Massey, 827 F.2d 995, 53 1002 (5th Cir. 1987)). “The test to determine whether a defendant caused the mails [or interstate wire facilities] to be used is whether the use was reasonably foreseeable. The defendant need not intend to cause the mails [or wire facilities] to be used.” Sneed, 63 F.3d at 385 (quoting Massey, 827 F.2d at 1002). “The government’s burden, therefore, is to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that [the alleged conspirators] agreed to engage in a scheme to defraud in which they contemplated that the [wire facilities] would likely be used.” Sneed, 63 F.3d at 385 (quoting Massey, 827 F.2d at 1002). Braugh contends that the evidence was not sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to conclude that he was a party to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. At most, he claims, the evidence shows that the defendants participated in a failed business together, not that they agreed to commit a crime. Braugh points out that he was not present when either Schwinger or Hayes signed contracts to invest in the roll program. The lack of direct evidence of agreement to commit a crime does not require reversal. Each element of a section 371 conspiracy may be inferred from circumstantial evidence. See United States v. Faulkner, 17 F.3d 745, 768 (5th Cir. 1994). Concert of action can indicate an agreement. See United States v. Lopez, 979 F.2d 1024, 1029 (5th Cir. 1992). The record contains ample circumstantial evidence to support Braugh’s conspiracy conviction. Braugh and others induced Hayes, Schwinger, and Blackwelder to part with their money and in lulling them into continued belief that their money was safely invested. The bank 54 records showed that nearly all Hayes’s money was moved from Braugh’s Shearson Lehman account within one month of deposit and transferred to accounts in the defendants’ names at different banks, including Braugh’s accounts. Most of the money Schwinger invested was also transferred from a Shearson Lehman account to accounts held by Richards, Braugh, and Latrasse, within a short time. The evidence showed the defendants’ coordinated acts to implement their fraudulent scheme, including the use of the mails and wire facilities to distribute the proceeds of the fraud and to lull the investors as they grew anxious about their money. In light of the other evidence in the record, the jury was free to disbelieve Braugh’s self-serving testimony that he thought the “roll program” was a legitimate investment. See United States v. Brown, 186 F.3d 661, 667 (5th Cir. 1999); United States v. Ruiz, 860 F.2d 615, 619 (5th Cir. 1988). The evidence was sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to find that Braugh conspired to commit wire and mail fraud.
Braugh argues that there is no evidence that he, rather than Richards, induced Hayes to travel from Arkansas to Texas with the $250,000 check. The interstate transportation element “is merely the linchpin for federal jurisdiction and bears no relationship, in terms of culpability, to the underlying criminal acts which are the objects of [section] 2314.” United States v. Kelly, 569 F.2d 928, 934 (5th Cir. 1978) (quoting United States v. Ludwig, 523 F.2d 705, 707 (8th Cir. 1975)). The government need not prove that Braugh 55 knew that Hayes would travel in interstate commerce. See Kelly, 569 F.2d at 934. Indeed, the government need not show that Braugh directly caused Hayes to travel across state lines. See id. at 934–35. It is enough if Braugh “was a motivating force in the transportation.” Id. at 935 (quoting Thogmartin v. United States, 313 F.2d 589 (8th Cir. 1963)). In Kelly, this court upheld a section 2314 interstate transportation conviction over a sufficiency of the evidence challenge. The defendant had devised a scheme to sell shares in a nonexistent mutual fund. He sold shares in the fund to an individual, who in turn transferred them to a third party. As part of the transaction, the immediate and secondary purchasers met in the Bahamas. This travel provided the interstate transportation element of the original seller’s section 2314 conviction. The court held that the original seller was a “motivating force” in the ultimate buyer’s interstate travel, despite the fact that it was the original buyer who induced the ultimate buyer to make the trip. In this case, although Richards persuaded Hayes to cross state lines to deliver his roll program check, Braugh’s involvement in the roll program made him a “motivating force” in Hayes’s travel. The evidence sufficed to permit a reasonable jury to find that Braugh violated section 2314.
Braugh was convicted of three counts of wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343. His limited claim on appeal is that because there was insufficient evidence to show that he knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud, there was also insufficient evidence to 56 support his wire fraud convictions. The same record evidence that led to the rejection of Braugh’s sufficiency of the evidence challenge to his conspiracy conviction also leads this court to reject Braugh’s challenge to the wire fraud convictions.
Count 6 of the indictment charged Braugh with mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341, based on Braugh’s November 22, 1993 letter to Blackwelder, promising to send a cashier’s check to repay the $5,000 “loan.” Braugh argues that there was insufficient evidence to show that he participated in a scheme to defraud. The argument is without merit.
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.