Opinion ID: 778482
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Challenges Raised Collectively by Defendants

Text: 15 Defendants' first challenge deals with severance. During the proceedings below, Defendants filed multiple motions to sever. See FED. R. CRIM. P. 14. Specifically, Eames and Rudisill moved to be tried separately from one another; Reloaders moved to be severed from Managers; and Managers moved to be tried apart from Reloaders. The district court denied each motion, and Defendants challenge these decisions on appeal. 16 Criminal defendants bear a heavy burden when attempting to obtain reversal of a district court's denial of a motion to sever. See United States v. Hanley, 190 F.3d 1017, 1027 (9th Cir.1999). Such decisions will be reversed only when the joint trial was so manifestly prejudicial as to require the trial judge to exercise his discretion [on the motion to sever] in just one way, by ordering a separate trial. Id. at 1027 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). In arguing that a joint trial was manifestly prejudicial, it is insufficient to show that separate trials might have afforded an increased chance of acquittal. See United States v. Ramirez, 710 F.2d 535, 546 (9th Cir.1983). Rather, a defendant must show that the failure to sever prevented him from obtaining a fair trial. See id. at 546. Additionally, if the district court attempted to cure any risk of prejudice with proper limiting instructions, a defendant must also show that the curative instructions were inadequate. See Hanley, 190 F.3d at 1027.
17 Eames and Rudisill claim that joinder with one another was manifestly prejudicial because it allowed the jury to hear evidence against each man that would not have been admitted had they been tried alone. See Zafiro v. United States, 506 U.S. 534, 539, 113 S.Ct. 933, 122 L.Ed.2d 317 (1993) (noting that severance might be appropriate when evidence that the jury should not consider against a defendant and that would not be admissible if a defendant were tried alone is admitted against a codefendant). In support of his claim, Eames points to the testimony of Rahim Rashada. According to Eames, Rashada's testimony on three points — (1) the Atlanta operation, (2) the theft of leads for Rudisill at an earlier job, and (3) Rudisill's statement to Rashada that Rudisill, Rashada, and Eames would be partners in AEA — would not have been admitted in a separate trial because Eames did not have any dealings with Rashada. Rudisill, on the other hand, cites to the testimony of Ms. Eames. According to Rudisill, testimony about the following private conversations between Eames and Ms. Eames would not have been admitted against him had he received a separate trial: (1) a conversation in which Eames told Ms. Eames not to worry about the indictment, because I'm the only one who knows all of the pieces of the puzzle and By the time this goes to trial, all of the witnesses will be dead; (2) a conversation in which Eames told Ms. Eames that he could not shut down the Atlanta office, despite complaints, because he would be unable to pay his personal bills if that office was shut down; (3) a conversation in which Eames referred to an undercover IRS agent as a possible fed; and (4) a conversation in which Eames referred to certain funds derived from Atlanta customers as blood money. 18 We find Eames' and Rudisill's claim unpersuasive. The spillover evidence on which each relies was not manifestly prejudicial because each piece of evidence either (1) would have been admitted in separate trials, (2) was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, or (3) was rendered nonprejudicial through limiting instructions that Eames and Rudisill have not shown to be deficient. See Hanley, 190 F.3d at 1027. 19 The conspiracy charges against Eames, as well as the substantive charges stemming from the conspiracy, involved conduct that took place in the Atlanta office of AEA, as that office was the site of the fraudulent phone calls, the procurement of illicit funds, and the reinvestment of illicit funds for additional criminal activity. Thus, even though Rashada worked primarily with Rudisill in Atlanta, virtually all of Rashada's testimony was relevant to the case against Eames and would have been admissible in a separate trial. The single piece of testimony that Eames points to that might not have been admissible was Rashada's testimony about the theft of leads at an earlier job. However, this statement was cured by a limiting instruction from the district court, and Eames does not argue that the instruction was insufficient. 2 20 As to Rudisill, the district court provided limiting instructions for the first three conversations that he cites as objectionable, and he has not shown on appeal that these instructions were insufficient to cure any prejudice. 3 The district court did not provide a specific limiting instruction for the testimony involving the conversation about blood money. However, this vague testimony constituted but one minor piece of evidence in the course of a 17-week trial in which the government presented significant proof of Rudisill's guilt, including testimonial and documentary evidence showing that Rudisill helped originate the idea to sell to individuals, trained the sales staff in Atlanta how to reload customers, drafted the fraudulent front pitch, reviewed all the sales orders coming out of Atlanta, and transferred funds to and from the Phoenix office to fund the operation in Atlanta. Given these circumstances, admission of the blood money testimony did not render Rudisill's trial unfair. 4 21 Because the evidence presented at their joint trial either would have been admissible in separate trials, was sufficiently dealt with through limiting instructions, or was insignificant in the context of the overall case, we cannot say that Eames and Rudisill suffered manifest prejudice from being joined together. Thus, we decline to upset the district court's sound rulings on their motions to sever from one another.
22 Both Managers and Reloaders argue that they were so prejudiced from trial with each other that the district court should have granted severance. Defendants collectively offer three arguments in support of this claim. First, they argue that certain evidence was admitted against all six of them that would have been admissible against only one of the two groups had the groups been tried separately. Second, they claim that Managers and Reloaders, as groups, adopted mutually antagonistic defenses. Finally, Defendants argue that the size of the case, the number of parties, and the number of instructions made the trial too confusing to allow the jury to compartmentalize the evidence, claims, and instructions that applied to each of the defendants. 5 23
24 Each group cites to a piece of evidence that they claim would have been admissible against only the other had they been tried separately, and which was prejudicial to the inadmissible group. Managers point to Rashada's testimony that, prior to working at AEA, he and Reloaders were employed by a telemarketing company called HBO, which apparently had also engaged in fraud. Reloaders, on the other hand, point to Rashada's testimony regarding his theft and sale of leads to Rudisill prior to his employment at AEA. 25 For each of the objectionable pieces of evidence cited above, the district court took steps to minimize any potential spillover effect. As to Rashada's testimony about HBO, before trial the district court made it clear that Rashada was not to suggest that the operation at HBO was fraudulent. The record reflects that this instruction was heeded, as at no point did Rashada mention that he and Reloaders engaged in fraud while working at HBO. 6 Regarding Rashada's comments about stealing leads for Rudisill, the district court granted a motion to strike when this testimony was introduced and instructed the jury to ignore the answer. Shortly thereafter, the district court also directed the jury not to assume that any of the defendants knew that the leads ... were stolen. In light of these steps by the district court, which Defendants do not claim were insufficient to cure any prejudice, we conclude that any spillover of evidence did not prejudice Defendants enough to warrant a severance. 26
27 Defendants argue that joinder was prejudicial because each group's defense essentially amounted to a second prosecution of the other group — a so-called mutually antagonistic defense claim. In advancing their mutually antagonistic defense claim, Defendants rely on the following simple assertion. Managers' and Reloaders' defenses were mutually antagonistic because Managers defended their case by arguing that any criminal activity at AEA was due to the unknown activities of AEA employees engaged in fraudulent freelance telemarketing, while Reloaders defended their position by arguing that any scheme at AEA must have been perpetrated at the top levels, and that they were innocent victims of deliberate misinformation and deception. 28 It is difficult to obtain severance on the basis of a mutually antagonistic defense claim. We have previously stated that [a]ntagonism between defenses or the desire of one defendant to exculpate himself by inculpating a codefendant ... is insufficient to require severance. United States v. Throckmorton, 87 F.3d 1069, 1072 (9th Cir.1996). To demonstrate that competing defenses amounted to manifest prejudice in a joint trial, a defendant must show the core of the co-defendant's defense is so irreconcilable with the core of his own defense that the acceptance of the co-defendant's theory by the jury precludes acquittal of the defendant. Hanley, 190 F.3d at 1028 (internal quotation marks omitted). We hold that Defendants cannot meet this burden. 29 The principle flaw in Defendants' argument is that upon close inspection, it is obvious that their defenses at trial were not really in conflict. It is true that Managers attempted to deflect blame by impugning the character of less senior AEA employees. In particular, Managers suggested to the jury, during opening argument and cross-examination, that nonmanagement employees, possibly in Phoenix or Atlanta, probably engaged in fraudulent telemarketing, and that former AEA telemarketers had stolen leads from the company and held themselves out as still working for the company. However, Managers provided no evidence to suggest that Reloaders were in fact these employees. Indeed, our combing of the record indicates that Managers never even suggested that Reloaders were the guilty parties. Considering that AEA had numerous telemarketers working in both Atlanta and Phoenix, it is clear that nothing in Managers' defense was in conflict with the core of Reloaders' defense. The jury could reasonably have concluded that Managers were hoodwinked by their employees without finding that Reloaders were the culprits. 7 30 Similarly, nothing in Reloaders' defense conflicted with the core defense of Managers. Reloaders provided virtually no evidence to support their claim that they were deceived by some cabal at the upper echelons of AEA, and certainly never pointed the finger directly at Eames or Rudisill. In light of the fact that other management personnel were implicated in the scheme (like Ms. Eames, Rashada, and AEA's corporate secretary/treasurer, Rebecca Setzer), the jury could have accepted Reloaders' theory of a conspiracy at the top without necessarily concluding that Eames and Rudisill were to blame. 31 Because the jury could have easily accepted either group's defense without convicting the other group, the defenses in this case were not mutually antagonistic. As such, severance was not required on the basis of Defendants' mutually antagonistic defense claim. 32
33 Defendants' final argument in favor of severance is that the sheer size of the trial was manifestly prejudicial because it left the jury unable to compartmentalize the evidence — that is, to determine which evidence applied to which defendant, and thereby return a reliable verdict of guilt or innocence. In support of this argument, Defendants point to the length of the trial (17 weeks); the multiplicity of parties and counts; the large number of limiting instructions that were used to designate which pieces of evidence were applicable to which defendants; and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that the jury brought back guilty verdicts on all counts against all six of them. See United States v. Unruh, 855 F.2d 1363, 1374 (9th Cir.1987) (stating that [t]he best evidence of [a] jury's ability to compartmentalize the evidence is its failure to convict all defendants on all counts). 34 It is beyond dispute that the proceedings in this case were lengthy and complex. However, any prejudice that might have stemmed from the complexity of the trial was avoided by the district court's skillful handling of the case. Throughout the trial, the district court regularly conducted hearings and bench conferences to efficiently regulate the flow of evidence to the jury. Whenever requested and appropriate, limiting instructions were provided to focus the jury's attention on the defendant(s) to which a particular piece of evidence applied. At the end of the trial, the court lifted the vast majority of these instructions (principally those relating to trial exhibits), and clearly identified for the jury those instructions that remained. 8 In addition, during the jury charge, the district court provided clear guidance on the government's burden of proof, and stressed to the jury that it was to give separate consideration as to each defendant and that it must determine what the evidence in the case shows with respect to each defendant, leaving out of consideration any evidence admitted solely against some other defendants. Finally, the court reminded the jury that [t]he fact that you may find one of the defendants guilty or not guilty should not control your verdict as to any other defendants. Under these circumstances, that the jury returned a guilty verdict as to each defendant does not suggest to us a failure to compartmentalize. Rather, it suggests that the jury found sufficient evidence to convict each defendant. 9 35 On the basis of the district court's instructions, and basic conduct of the trial, we reject Defendants' claim that the complexity arising out of their joint trial was manifestly prejudicial. Thus, we affirm the district court's denial of their motions to sever.
36 Defendants' second challenge raises the issue of venue. Defendants argued below that venue was improper as to counts 21-33 of the Superseding Indictment, the wire fraud counts, because the government never showed that the crimes alleged in these counts took place in the District of Arizona. The district court agreed that venue was improper as to counts 22, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, and 32. However, the court rejected Defendants' motion to dismiss on the ground that Defendants waived their objection to venue by not raising it in a timely manner. Defendants claim the district court's decision was erroneous. We review this issue de novo. See United States v. Ruelas-Arreguin, 219 F.3d 1056, 1059 (9th Cir.2000). 37 The Sixth Amendment guarantees criminal defendants the right to be tried in the state and district in which the crime was committed. See U.S. CONST. amend. VI; see also FED. R. CRIM. P. 18 (stating that [e]xcept as otherwise permitted by statutes or by these rules, the prosecution shall be had in a district in which the offense was committed). The right to proper venue, however, may be waived. See United States v. Evans, 62 F.3d 1233, 1236 (9th Cir.1995). Specifically, i[f] a defect in venue is clear on the face of the indictment, a defendant's objection must be raised before the government has completed its case, or the objection to venue will be waived. See Ruelas-Arreguin, 219 F.3d at 1060. 38 It is undisputed that Defendants did not raise the objection to venue until after the government completed its case. Thus, the central question here is whether or not the venue defect was clear on the face of the indictment. The answer to this question depends on whether the indictment contained allegations of fact that, if true, would sustain venue in the District of Arizona. If the indictment contained such allegations, then the defect was not clear from the face of the indictment, and Defendants should have been allowed to object to venue at the close of the government's case (an objection the lower court would have sustained as to at least seven counts). If, on the other hand, the indictment did not contain such allegations, then the defect was clear, and Defendants waived their objection to venue by failing to raise the challenge before the close of the government's case. 39 Reviewing the indictment in its entirety, we conclude that it did not, as to the counts at issue, contain allegations of fact that would sustain venue in the District of Arizona. The indictment presented counts 21-33 in a grid-like format. See Appendix A. For each wire communication constituting a count, a site of origination and a site of destination was listed. It is clear from this grid that certain counts did not involve any activity within the District of Arizona, as certain counts did not list Arizona as either the site of origination or the site of destination. Therefore, it was apparent from the indictment that venue was not proper in Arizona as to certain counts, and Defendants waived their objection to venue by failing to raise the challenge before the close of the government's case. 40 The fact that the indictment stated that the various acts in counts 21-33 took place in the District of Arizona and elsewhere does not change our opinion. Defendants claim that this language conveyed that each of the alleged crimes took place in both the District of Arizona and some other place — in the sense that wire fraud occurs in both the state where the communication originates and the state where it is received. As such, Defendants argue, the defects in venue were not clear from the indictment. However, this interpretation of Arizona and elsewhere is plausible only when one ignores the aforementioned grid. When the language is read in conjunction with the grid, which indicates that certain counts were not originated or received in Arizona, it is most reasonably interpreted as meaning that some of the alleged acts took place in Arizona, while others took place entirely elsewhere. As such, this language does not alter our view that the venue issue was apparent from the indictment, and that the district court's decision to deny Defendants' motion to dismiss certain counts for lack of venue should be affirmed.
41 Defendants' third challenge involves the district court's exclusion of an expert witness. At trial, Defendants attempted to call an expert on the United States Sentencing Guidelines to testify on the sentences that each of the cooperating co-conspirators might have received had they not entered plea contracts and agreed to testify for the government. According to Defendants, this expert testimony was necessary to show the jury just how large a benefit the cooperating witnesses were receiving for their testimony — a showing that might impeach the credibility of these witnesses in the eyes of the jury. The district court refused to allow the expert testimony, finding it irrelevant under Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, and Defendants now challenge the district court's decision on appeal. A district court's decision to admit expert opinion testimony is reviewed for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Alatorre, 222 F.3d 1098, 1100 (9th Cir.2000). 42 We conclude that Defendants' challenge is without merit. Even if we were to accept their argument that the district court abused its discretion in not allowing the expert to testify, Defendants have not shown that they suffered prejudice as a result of this error. See Brown v. Sierra Nevada Mem'l Miners Hosp., 849 F.2d 1186, 1190 (9th Cir.1988) (holding that to reverse on the basis of an evidentiary error, we must say that more probably than not, the error tainted the judgment) (internal quotation marks omitted). Each of the cooperating witnesses stated on direct and/or cross-examination that he or she was testifying in hopes of receiving a significant reduction in possible prison time, and that the plea agreement offered significant benefits. Moreover, the district court instructed the jury to consider the testimony of the cooperating witnesses with great caution. Under these circumstances, expert testimony on the benefits potentially conferred on the cooperating witnesses would not have impeached the credibility of these witnesses beyond what was already accomplished. Therefore, it is not probable that exclusion of the expert testimony affected the verdict, and any potential error in excluding the testimony cannot serve as a basis for reversal.
43 Defendants next argue that the district court erred by admitting certain records into evidence. At trial, Defendants objected, on the basis of the hearsay rule, to the admission of various sales orders, verification tapes, checks, and bank records — all offered to show either specific fraudulent transactions or the scope of AEA's illegal operation. 10 The district court agreed that the records generally amounted to hearsay, but nonetheless admitted the records, holding that they fell under the business records exception to the hearsay rule. See FED. R. EVID. 803(6). 11 Defendants challenge this decision on appeal. A district court's decision to admit evidence under an exception to the hearsay rule is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Ortega, 203 F.3d 675, 682 (9th Cir.2000).
44 In challenging the district court's decision to admit the sales orders and tapes under the business records exception, Defendants focus solely on the source of the information contained in the records. According to Defendants, the information in the tapes and sales orders came from AEA's customers, not itrs employees. Relying on this assertion, and the fact that the business records exception does not cover information derived from customers (unless such statements have been verified), Defendants argue that the district court erred in allowing the tapes and orders in under Rule 803(6), and that their convictions should be overturned as a result of this error. See United States v. Arteaga, 117 F.3d 388, 395 (9th Cir.1997); see also FED. R. EVID. 803(6), Advisory Committee Note to Paragraph (6)(stating that if the supplier of the information [in the business record] does not act in the regular course [of business], an essential link is broken; the assurance of accuracy [that justifies the exception] does not extend to the information, and the exception should not apply). 45 We cannot accept Defendants' position. Contrary to Defendants' claim, AEA employees, acting in the ordinary course of business, were the source of much of the information in the tapes and sales orders. In completing the sales orders, Reloaders supplied first-hand information on the quantity sold, the price obtained, the date of the transaction, the false business name concocted for the customer, the number called, and the name and address given by the person on the other end of the line. This information provided much of the content for the verification calls. In addition, Rudisill and Ms. Eames recorded on the sales orders, without input from customers, the amount of the token gift to be sent to customers, shipping information, and notes indicating that a given sale was verified. 46 To the extent customers were the source of information in the tapes and sales orders, as opposed to AEA employees under a duty to record, the information provided was either verified by an employee in Phoenix, or, as in the case of customer complaints, was expressly not offered for the truth of the matter asserted, and thus was not hearsay in need of an exception. See Arteaga, 117 F.3d at 395-96. In light of the foregoing, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the tapes and sales orders under the business records exception.
47 As with the sales orders and verification tapes, Defendants challenge the district court's decision to admit certain checks and AEA bank records 12 on the ground that AEA customers provided the information in these records. This argument is meritless as to the bank records. The information in the bank records arose out of the banks' first-hand observation of transactions related to the AEA accounts they maintained. Essentially, each deposit slip represented the bank's independent recording of an amount of money received for a particular account. Thus, it is clear that the banks were the source of the information in the bank records. 48 Defendants' argument is slightly more compelling as to the checks, given that the name and amount on each check were provided by an AEA customer, and there is no indication that the banks took steps to verify the truth of this information. However, we need not pass on whether the checks were properly admitted under the business records exception, as we conclude that any error that might have resulted from their admission was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Olano, 62 F.3d 1180, 1189 (9th Cir.1995) (noting that we review for harmless error a district court's improper admission of hearsay). 49 The checks to which Defendants object were offered by the government to demonstrate the size of the fraud perpetrated by AEA, which in turn tended to demonstrate knowledge of the fraud on the part of AEA's employees (it would be difficult to accept a claim of ignorance when the organization was conducting illicit activities on such a grand scale). The checks were no doubt useful in conveying to the jury the magnitude of AEA's scheme. Each one, with its accompanying deposit slip, represented a deposit of funds generated by the Atlanta office of AEA, an office that was shown to have made money only by fraud. 13 The number of checks offered, and the dollar amounts represented therein, demonstrated that AEA's fraud was extensive both in terms of the total number of people affected and the total dollar amount lost. However, even without the checks, there was sufficient evidence in the record to lead the jury to conclude that AEA conducted its illegal operation on a grand scale. 50 The evidence at trial showed that AEA's Atlanta office made fraudulent telemarketing sales for roughly 18 months. During that time, the office pitched about 1000 consumers each week, which produced enough business during the life of AEA to justify at least 1300 customer verification calls on the part of Ms. Eames. Each call was made only after the relevant customer's check was received, and it was shown that the Phoenix office received checks stemming from Atlanta sales on a daily basis. Testimonial evidence showed that the reloaders in Atlanta did as much as $250,000 in sales in one week, with individual reloaders occasionally making more than $100,000 in sales in a one-week period. Finally, the small percentage of victims who appeared at trial collectively testified to sending well over one million dollars to AEA. In light of this evidence, the jury could easily conclude that AEA was a large, sophisticated scheme. As such, the checks, to the extent they tended to corroborate this depiction of AEA, were merely cumulative, and their admission was harmless. 14
51 Defendants' fifth claim is that the district court erred by not excluding certain testimony allegedly obtained by the government in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 201(c)(2). We review a district court's decision to admit or exclude evidence for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Alatorre, 222 F.3d 1098, 1100 (9th Cir. 2000). 52 Section 201(c)(2) makes it a criminal offense to give, offer, or promise anything of value to any person in exchange for that person's testimony at trial. 15 Defendants argue that the government violated § 201(c)(2) by giving value — plea agreements, promises of leniency, and its discretion not to prosecute — in exchange for testimony from the four cooperating co-conspirator witnesses. In particular, Defendants focus on the government's treatment of Teresa Eames. Defendants argue that Ms. Eames was given (1) plea agreements in two cases against her, (2) various promises related to her sentencing, and (3) was not prosecuted or charged after she committed perjury during the trial 16 — all in exchange for her testimony. According to Defendants, in light of these § 201(c)(2) violations the district court should have excluded the testimony of the four cooperating co-conspirators, and it abused its discretion by not doing so. 53 Defendants' argument is without merit, given our decision in United States v. Smith, 196 F.3d 1034 (9th Cir.1999). In Smith, we held that even if a defendant shows that the government violated § 201(c)(2), the appropriate manner to enforce the statute would be to prosecute the prosecutors who granted immunity to [the cooperating witness]. It would not be to exclude [the cooperating witness'] testimony. 17 Id. at 1040. Thus, even if we were to accept Defendants' suggestion that the government violated § 201(c)(2) in this case, the district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to exclude the testimony of the cooperating witnesses. 54 Defendants attempt to avoid the result mandated by Smith by attacking our reasoning in that case. Specifically, Defendants contend that the cases we relied upon in reaching our holding in Smith did not support our decision. We decline to consider such arguments, as, absent intervening Supreme Court authority, one three-judge panel of this court cannot reconsider or overrule the decision of a prior panel. United States v. Gay, 967 F.2d 322, 327 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 929, 113 S.Ct. 359, 121 L.Ed.2d 272 (1992).
55 Defendants' sixth claim is that the lower court erred in instructing the jury on the materiality element of the various mail and wire fraud counts. According to Defendants, the district court's instruction on materiality, taken verbatim from Instruction 8.26.1 of the NINTH CIRCUIT MANUAL OF MODEL JURY INSTRUCTIONS (1997 edition), 18 misstated the standard for determining whether an alleged misrepresentation is material. Because Defendants did not object to the instruction at trial, we review for plain error. 19 See FED. R. CRIM. P. 52(b); Jones v. United States, 527 U.S. 373, 388, 119 S.Ct. 2090, 144 L.Ed.2d 370 (1998). A jury instruction is plainly erroneous if it is (1) erroneous, (2) the error is plain, and (3) the error affects substantial rights. See Jones, 527 U.S. at 389, 119 S.Ct. 2090. We will not exercise our discretion to correct a plainly erroneous instruction unless the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. (quoting Olano, 507 U.S. at 732, 113 S.Ct. 1770) (internal quotation marks omitted). 56 Though we set it forth to clarify our standard of review, we need not go through each step of the plain error analysis here, given our decision in United States v. Tam, 240 F.3d 797 (9th Cir.2001). In Tam, as in this case, it was argued that Instruction 8.26.1 was plainly erroneous because it inadequately defined the element of materiality. See id. at 802-03. We rejected this contention, holding that Instruction 8.26.1 is sufficiently similar to the Supreme Court's definition of materiality in United States v. Gaudin, 20 515 U.S. 506, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995), to survive plain error review. 21 See id. at 803. In light of this holding, Defendants' attack on the district court's materiality instruction is without merit.
57 The final claim raised unanimously by Defendants is that the district court erred in setting the total offense level under the Sentencing Guidelines. Specifically, Defendants claim that the court should not have used § 2S1.1, the money laundering guideline, in calculating the total offense level. See U.S. SENTENCING GUIDELINES § 2S1.1 (1998). A district court's application and interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines is reviewed de novo. See United States v. Newland, 116 F.3d 400, 402 (9th Cir.1997). 58 As we have previously noted, Appendix A of the Guidelines provides that the use of § 2S1.1 is appropriate in cases, such as this one, that involve convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1956. See United States v. Lomow, 266 F.3d 1013, 1018 (9th Cir.2001). Nonetheless, citing to the Third Circuit's decision in United States v. Smith, 186 F.3d 290(3rd Cir.1999), superseded by rules as stated in Unites States v. Diaz, 245 F.3d 294 (3rd Cir.2001), Defendants argue that § 2S1.1 was wrongly applied to this case. In Smith, the Third Circuit held that § 2S1.1 should not be applied in cases where the money laundering is an incidental by-product of some underlying offense. See Smith, 186 F.3d at 300 (stating that the heartland of § 2S1.1 is money laundering involving serious criminal conduct, such as drug trafficking or organized crime, and that application of the section should be limited to that type of conduct). According to Defendants, Smith establishes that they should not have been sentenced under § 2S1.1, as their alleged money laundering activities were merely incidental to the alleged primary criminal conduct, which they characterize as simple fraud. 59 We cannot accept Defendants' argument, as recent developments in the law bar their claim. With our decision in Lomow, filed after the briefs were submitted in this case, we expressly rejected the reasoning in Smith. 22 See Lomow, 266 F.3d at 1018-19. In Lomow we noted that, since Smith, the Sentencing Guidelines have been amended to clarify 23 that courts should deviate from the offense level provided by Appendix A only in cases involving the stipulation exception in § 1B1.2(a), which does not apply here. 24 See id. Thus, because § 2S1.1 is the guideline designated in Appendix A for convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1956, and because the stipulation exception is not applicable, the district court did not commit error in using § 2S1.1 to calculate Defendants' sentences. 60