Opinion ID: 757097
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count 19 as a Cognizable Offense

Text: 83 As noted above, Count 19 of the Indictment charged Clark, Rawley, and Wadena with conspiring to misapply tribal funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1163. The object of this conspiracy was to obtain tribal funds in the form of excessive payments for serving on the Commissions. The overt acts undertaken in furtherance of this conspiracy included the creation of the Commissions and the defendants' receipt of various commission payments. The jury convicted all three defendants of this charge. 84 Before trial, the defendants moved to dismiss Count 19. The district court denied their motions. In the present appeal, Clark and Wadena contend the district court erred in not dismissing Count 19, because the count fails to allege a cognizable offense. 29 They argue that all of the overt acts alleged to have been committed in Count 19 were official actions taken pursuant to their capacities as members of the RTC, and the RTC as an entity or governmental body cannot conspire with itself. Clark and Wadena base this contention on Runs After v. United States, 766 F.2d 347, 354 (8th Cir.1985), which they claim controls this case. 85 In Runs After, several members of the Cheyenne River Sioux challenged the validity of two resolutions passed by the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation Tribal Council (Tribal Council). 766 F.2d at 349. The two resolutions, passed by a vote of the Tribal Council, barred certain tribal members from running in future tribal elections. Id. The plaintiffs challenged the resolutions under various federal civil rights statutes. The court rejected the plaintiffs' challenges, concluding, in part, that individual members of the Tribal Council, acting in their official capacity as tribal council members, cannot conspire when they act together with other tribal council members in taking official action on behalf of the Tribal Council. Id. at 354 (citing Herrmann v. Moore, 576 F.2d 453, 459 (2d Cir.1978) (stating there is no conspiracy if the conspiratorial conduct is essentially a single act by a single corporation acting exclusively through its own directors, officers, and employees, each acting within the scope of his or her employment)). 86 Runs After is a civil suit involving a dispute between tribal members. It is not a criminal case alleging violations of federal criminal law by a tribal entity or by members of a tribal entity. More importantly, Runs After involved the conduct of tribal council members regarding two official acts of the entire tribal council--the passing of two resolutions. In the present case, it appears there was an official act of the RTC to create the Commissions. It also appears there was an official act by the RTC to approve a commission payment range for each member. However, these are not the only overt acts alleged by Count 19. The count also alleges numerous overt acts in which Clark, Rawley, and Wadena, when they wanted money for purchases, debts, etc., individually directed the tribe to issue them checks labeled as commission payments. These individual payments were not collectively approved or issued by the RTC. For these reasons, we conclude Runs After is distinguishable from this case. As Clark and Wadena provide no other support for this argument, we conclude Count 19 alleged a cognizable offense, and the district court did not err when it denied their motions to dismiss the count. 87