Opinion ID: 719788
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence for Asmussen's Convictions

Text: Defendant Asmussen claims that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of 25 counts of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341; one count of conspiracy to tamper with odometers, 15 U.S.C. § 1986, recodified at, 49 U.S.C. § 32703(4); and 28 counts of odometer tampering, 15 U.S.C. § 1984, recodified at, 49 U.S.C. § 32703(2). He contends that the jury based its decision on the testimony of his co-conspirator, Berndt, who defendant Asmussen claims is untrustworthy. When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence after a conviction, this court must examine it in the light most favorable to the government, giving it the benefit of all reasonable inferences, and can reverse only if this court concludes that a reasonable fact-finder could not have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Matra, 841 F.2d 837, 840 (8th Cir.1988) (citations omitted). To sustain a charge of mail fraud, the government need only prove the existence of a scheme to defraud and the use of the mails for the purpose of executing the scheme. Manzer, 69 F.3d at 226. Intent is an essential element of the crime of mail fraud, id., but the jury may properly infer that intent from circumstantial evidence. United States v. Brown, 763 F.2d 984, 989 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 905, 106 S.Ct. 273, 88 L.Ed.2d 234 (1985). To convict a defendant of conspiracy, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was an agreement to achieve some illegal purpose, that the defendant knew of the agreement, and that the defendant knowingly became a part of the conspiracy. United States v. Maxwell, 25 F.3d 1389, 1395 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 610, 130 L.Ed.2d 519 (1994); United States v. Rogers, 982 F.2d 1241, 1244 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 509 U.S. 912, 113 S.Ct. 3017, 125 L.Ed.2d 706 (1993). In a conspiracy prosecution the testimony of a co-conspirator is not per se unreliable and it is for the jury to decide how much weight this testimony should be given. United States v. Sopczak, 742 F.2d 1119, 1121 (8th Cir.1984). The government need not show more than a tacit understanding between the participants. Maxwell, 25 F.3d at 1395. Finally, as to the crime of odometer tampering, a person cannot disconnect, reset, alter, or have disconnected, reset, or altered, an odometer of a motor vehicle intending to change the mileage registered on the odometer. 49 U.S.C. § 32703(2). 3 There is more than enough evidence for the defendant to have been convicted on all counts. It was a necessary part of the scheme that the mails would be used in order for the purchasers to receive title certificates which showed the fraudulent mileage count. A conspiracy existed between the two defendants to purchase the high-mileage vehicles, tamper with the odometers, and sell the same vehicles with significantly fewer miles listed on the odometer. The evidence was also sufficient to convict the defendant of odometer tampering. See United States v. Hugh Chalmers Chevrolet-Toyota, Inc., 800 F.2d 737 (8th Cir.1986). Therefore, as the evidence was sufficient on all counts, the convictions are affirmed.