Opinion ID: 622756
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Tangible Property Theories

Text: The indictment alleged that Coppola obtained and conspired to obtain tangible property from union members in the form of labor union positions, money paid as wages and employee benefits and other economic benefits that the union members would have obtained but for the conspirators' corrupt influence over [the] union. Indictment ¶¶ 16, 19. Through trial and on appeal, the government focused on two tangible property theories: (1) tribute payments from membership funds, and (2) the salary and benefits paid to [Local 1235] presidents who were not living up to their obligations to have the membership in their best interest. Trial Tr. at 1544. Coppola does notand cannotcontend that the extortion of tribute payments from a union by an organized crime family fails to state a viable Hobbs Act offense. Rather, he challenges the viability of the government's salary theory, i.e., that Coppola obtained tangible property from Local 1235 union members in the form of the salaries they paid to corrupt union presidents. See Trial Tr. at 1644 (government summation: When the Mob threatens a union leader to get a union leader to do what it wants, the Mob deprives the union membership [of] the benefit of the salary that they paid that official. The Mob deprives the membership of a union leader who will exercise his rights solely in the interest of the membership of the union.). [11] In support, Coppola relies on Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc., 537 U.S. 393, 123 S.Ct. 1057, 154 L.Ed.2d 991 (2003), which holds that the use of threats or fear to interfere with or disrupt a person's exercise of property rights is not enough to establish a Hobbs Act violation. A defendant must obtain the property for himself. Id. at 405, 123 S.Ct. 1057. The government has never claimed that the Genovese family obtained the actual dollars that were supposed to be paid as salary to Local 1235 presidents. Rather, it contends that the enterprise received the loyalty of these presidents without having to pay for it because the presidents were compensated by the union membership. This, Coppola submits, at most alleges the procurement of members' intangible right to their presidents' honest services, a claim that cannot be maintained under either the Hobbs Act or § 1346 after Skilling. Cf. United States v. Goodrich, 871 F.2d 1011, 1013-14 (11th Cir. 1989) (concluding, in fraud context, that similar theory could be maintained only as fraudulent deprivation of intangible rights, not property). The point merits little discussion because even if we were to agree with Coppola and, further, conclude that Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. at 312, 77 S.Ct. 1064, applied to these circumstances, any error would be harmless. See Hedgpeth v. Pulido, 555 U.S. at 58, 129 S.Ct. 530; accord Skilling v. United States, 130 S.Ct. at 2934 n. 46. If the jury found that Coppola conspired to extort the salaries of Local 1235 presidents by corrupting them to act in the interests of the Genovese family rather than their membership, then the jury necessarily would have had to conclude that Coppola conspired to extort the union membership of its intangible LMRDA rights under § 501(a). [12] For the reasons stated in the preceding section, we conclude that the alleged extortion of such LMRDA rights is validly proscribed by the Hobbs Act even after Skilling. Moreover, as discussed below, the government adduced sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that Coppola extorted the LMRDA rights of Local 1235 members. We thus reject Coppola's challenge to the validity of Racketeering Act One.