Opinion ID: 1225710
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sufficiency of the evidence on Castaldi's intent to defraud.

Text: Castaldi's fourth challenge is that the government did not present sufficient evidence of his intent to defraud with respect to the mail fraud count. A challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence is a formidable barrier for a defendant to overcome. This court will review the evidence at trial in the light most favorable to the government and reverse the conviction only if no rational finder of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Wallace, 212 F.3d 1000, 1003 (7th Cir.2000). The government, to prove a mail fraud charge, must prove that a defendant: (1) devised a scheme to defraud; (2) did so knowingly and with an intent to defraud; and (3) used the mail as part of carrying out the scheme. 18 U.S.C. § 1341. Castaldi argues that the indictment charged him with a scheme to defraud during the grant period, while the proof at trial related only to the period after the grant had expired. He also argues that Hernandez pulled the strings on the grant, and thus that the government cannot prove he was a willful participant in the scheme. The evidence in the record indicates that Castaldi was a long-serving member of both the Union and the JAC, and accordingly that he was familiar with the by-laws of both organizations, including their prohibitions on writing himself checks from JAC or Union accounts. The record also indicates that during and after the grant period Castaldi wrote himself checks from the grant fund account, including checks payable to himself. This court cannot conclude that no rational finder of fact could find that Castaldi entered into a scheme to defraud during the grant period, given that he took money he was not rightfully owed from the account with grant funds, and that, given his knowledge of the proper procedures to follow with such funds, he did so knowing it did not belong to him. The evidence in the record is thus sufficient to support a conviction.