Opinion ID: 3026413
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Hawkins’s Wire Fraud Conviction

Text: La-Van Hawkins challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for aiding and abetting wire fraud, which related to his transmitting the second $5,000 to Kemp. Hawkins argues that there may have been sufficient evidence to show that he intended to aid and abet some sort of criminal activity, but that the government failed to present evidence demonstrating that he intended to aid and abet the specific crime of honest services fraud. Again, we will “view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government and sustain the verdict if any rational juror could have found the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Cartwright, 359 F.3d at 286 (internal quotation marks omitted). Hawkins’s argument is based on the general precept that in order to convict a defendant of aiding and abetting, the government must prove that “the defendant charged with aiding and abetting that crime knew of the commission of the substantive offense and acted with the intent to facilitate it.” United States v. Dixon, 658 F.2d 181, 189 n.17 (3d Cir. 1981). We applied this principle in United States v. Wexler, 838 F.2d 88 (3d Cir. 1988), where we held that the government had presented insufficient evidence to sustain the defendant’s conviction for aiding and abetting possession by others with intent to distribute hashish. Id. at 90. While the government had presented evidence that would have allowed a jury to find that the defendant was involved in an operation with two other men that involved transporting cargo in a truck, that the defendant served as a lookout as the other defendants moved the truck, and that the truck was loaded with hashish, id. at 91, we concluded that the government had failed to present enough evidence that the defendant knew that the truck held drugs, id. at 92. We explained that because the government had failed to show that 55 the defendant “had knowledge of the hashish,” it failed to prove that the defendant purposely aided and abetted the specific crime with which he was charged. Id. We concluded that the evidence presented was just as consistent with the crime of transporting stolen goods – an entirely different crime. Id. In the instant case, however, the government presented sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that Hawkins intended to aid and abet honest services fraud. The government demonstrated that Hawkins knew that Kemp held public office in Philadelphia and that Hawkins knew that White was a politically connected Philadelphia lawyer. Moreover, the government showed that Hawkins had no reason to provide money to Kemp, and that he actually relayed the money to Kemp at White’s behest after White provided him with a $5,000 check. The government also presented evidence that Hawkins filled out the entire check except for the payee line, although he did intend for the money to go to Kemp, as demonstrated by the subsequent wire transfer. This evidence all supports the jury’s conclusion that Hawkins intended to aid and abet White’s corruption of Kemp. Hawkins argues that this situation is just as consistent with drug conspiracy, money laundering, or tax fraud; however, the government’s theory specifically accounts for Kemp’s position as a public official in a way that Hawkins’s other proposed crimes do not, which differentiates this case from Wexler. As we have explained, “[t]here is no requirement . . . that the inference drawn by the jury be the only inference possible or that the government’s evidence foreclose every possible innocent explanation.” United States v. Iafelice, 978 F.2d 92, 97 n.3 (3d Cir. 1992). Thus, we reject Hawkins’s argument and will affirm his conviction for aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud.