Opinion ID: 3216857
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Emmenecker

Text: Emmenecker contends that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to convict him of wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1349. At the close of the government’s evidence, Emmenecker made a motion under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29(a) for a judgment of acquittal. The district court opted to reserve decision pursuant to Rule 29(b), ultimately denying the motion on May 15, 2014. Emmenecker did not renew the motion but contends that he was not required to, since the district court’s ruling on his initial motion came after all of his evidence was in. While a defendant might not be required to take any additional steps when a district court has reserved its ruling until after the close of all the evidence, see United States v. Wagner, 382 F.3d 598, 611 n.2 (6th Cir. 2004), that is not what occurred in this case. Emmenecker did not present further evidence after the court’s May 15 ruling, but the other defendants presented numerous witnesses on May 16, 2014. While some of that day’s testimony focused on structuring, with which Emmenecker was not charged, other testimony involved the overall dinar scheme. Since Emmenecker did not renew his Rule 29 motion after the close of proof, our review is limited to determining whether there was a manifest miscarriage of justice. See Price, 134 F.3d at 350. Emmenecker claims that he simply moderated the group’s weekly conference calls because it provided some exposure for himself and Xango, the health drink he was selling. Other than that, he contends, he profited nothing. He testified that he and Huebner had been friends for approximately 50 years and that he had purchased over $20,000 in dinars himself. He further testified that he was an experienced networker and that he appeared on the weekly call-in shows, sharing promotional information that he had heard on previous calls and had seen “written over 9 Case Nos. 14-3995/14-4124/14-4125/15-3014/15-3015, United States v. Teadt, et al. and over again” in various sources found in his own research. Emmenecker maintains that, throughout the scheme, he had no reason to doubt the truth of any of the claims the group made about dinars. After the time that Emmenecker stated that he learned the truth about Coenen’s deceptions, however, the two continued to appear on call-in shows together. Emmenecker conceded that, by that time, he knew that Coenen was a “bad guy.” The jury could have reasonably disbelieved Emmenecker’s claims regarding his sincere beliefs about dinars. Emmenecker concedes that he continued to participate in the weekly calls with Coenen after he knew that Huebner informed the FBI that he suspected Coenen of malfeasance. Emmenecker also testified that in 2010, a concerned client sent him links to websites warning the public that the impending “revaluation” of the dinar was a scam. And while Emmenecker contends that his own misrepresentations (e.g., Executive Order 13303 and the Overseas Investment Protection Act) were immaterial, reasonable individuals could have relied on those representations in deciding whether to purchase dinars. In fact, some of the dinar purchasers who testified at trial stated that they did rely on these types of representations in making their decisions. Accordingly, the record is not devoid of evidence to sustain Emmenecker’s convictions for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.