Opinion ID: 397437
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the enterprise

Text: 81 Appellants Bagnariol and Gallagher argue that the government failed to prove the existence of an enterprise. They correctly assert that the enterprise is a separate and discrete element of a RICO violation. However, the government is not precluded from using the same evidence to establish both the element of an enterprise and the element of a pattern of racketeering. United States v. Turkette, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 2524, 2528-29, 69 L.Ed.2d 246 (1981); see United States v. Diecidue, 603 F.2d 535, 545 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 781 (1980). 82 An enterprise is a group of persons associated together for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct. United States v. Turkette, 101 S.Ct. at 2528. The government produced sufficient evidence to establish the existence of such an enterprise. The appellants engaged in many conversations concerning the passing of legislation favorable to gambling in the state of Washington. They discussed forming a separate corporation that would hide their profits. Gallagher stressed that Walgren and Bagnariol held the power to control the expansion of gambling in Washington and to control its operation once made legal. Each appellant, either separately or with another appellant, met with agent Heald in furtherance of the scheme to liberalize gambling. 83 We believe these activities sufficiently establish the form of the association of the appellants. The purpose of the association was to make legal in the state of Washington a form of gambling from which appellants could profit. In United States v. Zemek, 634 F.2d 1159, 1167 (9th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 916, 101 S.Ct. 1359, 67 L.Ed.2d 341 (1981), we stressed the broad scope of the enterprise definition. See also United States v. Turkette, 101 S.Ct. at 2532; United States v. Elliott, 571 F.2d 880, 897-900 (5th Cir.) (jury entitled to infer existence of an enterprise from largely or wholly circumstantial evidence), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 953, 99 S.Ct. 349, 58 L.Ed.2d 344 (1978). 84 In light of our view of the evidence, we reject the contention that proof of the existence of the enterprise was deficient because none of the defendants did anything in furtherance of liberalizing Washington gambling laws. The argument rests on an interpretation of the indictment that is too narrow. The indictment reads: 85 The enterprise, as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1961(4), was a group of individuals, to wit: JOHN BAGNARIOL, GORDON W. WALGREN, and PATRICK GALLAGHER, associated in fact for the purposes of: (a) legalizing and controlling certain unlawful gambling within the State of Washington, including, but not limited to, expanded cardroom gambling, casino gambling, and slot machines; (b) controlling the distribution and servicing of slot machines within the State of Washington; and (c) gaining political offices and official positions within the State of Washington, and using such political offices and official positions for personal financial gain; all through acts involving extortion, bribery, mail fraud, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and by avoiding the requirements of the Public Disclosure Law of the State of Washington. 86 Defendants would have us limit the description of the enterprise to the portion ending with the words personal financial gain, and ignore the rest as surplusage. We read the indictment to include the allegations all through acts involving extortion, bribery, mail fraud, interstate travel in aid of racketeering and by avoiding the requirements of the Public Disclosure Law of the State of Washington as part of its definition of the enterprise. The government adequately proved these activities. If the contention is that proof of the success of the enterprise was necessary, we reject that as contrary to all generally recognized law of joint criminal activity. 87 Gallagher suggests that the government relied solely on proof of the pattern of racketeering to establish the existence of the enterprise. Even if that were the case, the Supreme Court in Turkette recognized that the proof used to establish these separate elements may in particular cases coalesce. 101 S.Ct. at 2528. 88 In any event, as we note above, the government presented ample evidence to show the existence of an ongoing organization functioning as a continuing unit. See id. That the evidence sometimes consisted of conduct constituting the pattern of racketeering activity is irrelevant. 8 V. INTERSTATE COMMERCE
89 Counts I and II of the indictment charged appellants with conspiracy to violate the RICO statute and with violation of that statute. Both offenses are defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), 9 which applies only to persons associated with an enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce. 90 Appellants argue that the government failed to establish the required nexus with interstate commerce. They point out correctly that the statute requires the activities of the enterprise, not each predicate act, to affect interstate commerce. United States v. Rone, 598 F.2d 564, 573 (9th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 780 (1980); accord, United States v. Stratton, 649 F.2d 1066, 1075 (5th Cir. 1981). 91 The effect on commerce is an essential element of a RICO violation, but the required nexus need not be great. A minimal effect on interstate commerce satisfies this jurisdictional element. United States v. Barton, 647 F.2d 224, 233 (2d Cir. 1981); United States v. Rone, 598 F.2d at 573. 92 Appellants rely on United States v. Rone, 598 F.2d 564 (9th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 780 (1980) and United States v. Nerone, 563 F.2d 836 (7th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 951, 98 S.Ct. 1577, 55 L.Ed.2d 801 (1978), to argue that the interstate activities charged as predicate offenses cannot also be used to support the interstate connection of the enterprise. 93 In Nerone, the court reversed a RICO conviction in which the government had defined the enterprise as a local gambling casino. Under that definition, the government was required to show a connection between the activities of the casino and interstate commerce, but failed to do so. The court explained: 94 The Government might have successfully prosecuted the twelve defendants if it had attempted to introduce evidence showing that the casino operation affected commerce. Under the approach which has been taken in many reported decisions, only slight evidence would have been required. Here, because of apparent prosecutorial uncertainty about the theory of its case, ... the Government made no effort at all to connect the dice and card games to interstate commerce. 95 563 F.2d at 854-55. 96 The appellants cite this portion of the Rone opinion that seems to support their argument: 97 The statute requires that the activity of the enterprise, not each predicate act of racketeering, have an effect on interstate commerce. The statute refers to any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce. The government must show a nexus of the enterprise to interstate or foreign commerce, albeit minimal, to satisfy the requirement. 98 598 F.2d at 573 (original emphasis) (citations omitted). 99 When read in context, the Rone language fails to offer appellants the foundation they need. The enterprise alleged was an association of the defendants for the purpose of committing acts of extortion. The court upheld the trial court's jury instruction that defendants could be found guilty if the jury found any one of three acts, two of which also served as predicate offenses, to have affected interstate commerce. The portion of the opinion quoted by appellants was offered in answer to the Rone defendants' contention that at least two predicate acts must have been found to affect commerce. 100 In many cases, the government charges an enterprise consisting of a legitimate organization, the activities of which are conducted through a pattern of racketeering. For example, in United States v. Stratton, 649 F.2d 1066 (5th Cir. 1981), the enterprise was defined as Florida's Third Judicial Circuit. The RICO convictions were affirmed because of ample evidence on the record of the circuit's connection with interstate commerce. Id. at 1075 n.12. 101 Similarly, in United States v. Altomare, 625 F.2d 5 (4th Cir. 1980), the enterprise was alleged to be the county prosecutor's office. The interstate nexus was found in the very nature of the powers and duties conferred upon the office, as well as in interstate telephone calls from the office, the purchase of supplies and materials originating from without the state, and litigation involving residents of other states. Id. at 7-8. See generally United States v. Long, 651 F.2d 239, 241-42 (4th Cir. 1981) (enterprise defined as office of state senator); United States v. Grzywacz, 603 F.2d 682 (7th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 935, 100 S.Ct. 2152, 64 L.Ed.2d 788 (1980). 102 In both Stratton and Altomare, the predicate acts were not considered for jurisdictional purposes because they were unrelated to the activities of the enterprise. But when the government defines the enterprise as an association of persons formed for the purpose of conducting illegal acts, the same acts that constitute the activities of the enterprise are the subject of charges for predicate crimes. The government need not choose between charging these activities as predicate acts or proving the conduct as a basis for jurisdiction. 103 The interstate commerce nexus must result from the enterprise. It is permissible to find that nexus from acts also charged as predicate acts when those constitute the activities of the enterprise. In Rone, since the enterprise was formed for the purpose of engaging in the extortionate collection of debts, the court held that an interstate commerce connection could be found either from the enterprise itself or from the activities of the enterprise, which were separately charged as predicate acts. 598 F.2d at 573. 104 Similarly, in United States v. Diecidue, 603 F.2d 535 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 781 (1980), the enterprise was an association formed for the purpose of committing various criminal acts. The government alleged as predicate acts some of the same activities cited as bases for the interstate connection, which included the use of long distance telephone calls, the purchase of dynamite originating in interstate commerce, and the destruction of automobiles used in activities affecting commerce. 105 In United States v. Barton, 647 F.2d 224 (2d Cir. 1981), the court found a sufficient interstate nexus on the basis of the defendant's bombing of buildings used in interstate commerce. Id. at 234. These bombings also had been charged separately as predicate acts for the RICO charge. Id. at 227 n.1. See generally United States v. Malatesta, 583 F.2d 748, 756 (5th Cir. 1978), aff'd on rehearing en banc, 590 F.2d 1379 (5th Cir.) (limited to reevaluation of unrelated issue), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 962, 99 S.Ct. 1508, 59 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979). 106 These cases demonstrate that the same acts that satisfy the interstate commerce nexus to the enterprise also may be alleged as predicate acts. Merely including specific conduct in an indictment as a separate predicate count for RICO purposes does not foreclose its use for jurisdictional purposes.
107 Gallagher argues that the government failed to offer evidence sufficient to satisfy the interstate commerce element of his Hobbs Act conviction. We affirm. 10 108 The statutory language of the Hobbs Act, 11 displays a purpose to use all the constitutional power Congress has to punish interference with interstate commerce by extortion, robbery or physical violence. Stirone v. United States, 361 U.S. 212, 215, 80 S.Ct. 270, 272, 4 L.Ed.2d 252 (1960). An effect on interstate commerce is established by proof of an actual impact, however small, or in the absence of actual impact, by proof of a probable or potential impact. United States v. Zemek, 634 F.2d 1159, 1173 n.20 (9th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 916, 101 S.Ct. 1359, 67 L.Ed.2d 341 (1981); United States v. Glynn, 627 F.2d 39, 41 (7th Cir. 1980); United States v. Phillips, 577 F.2d 495, 501 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 831, 99 S.Ct. 107, 58 L.Ed.2d 125 (1978). 109 Gallagher concedes the expansive nature of the interstate commerce requirement, but argues that because So-Cal was a fictitious organization, no potential future impact could be established. He cites United States v. Merolla, 523 F.2d 51 (2d Cir. 1975), and United States v. Jannotti, 501 F.Supp. 1182 (E.D.Pa.1980) (appeal pending), to argue that although a potential interstate commerce connection is enough the impact must be in fact potential. 110 Gallagher was convicted of an attempt to extort from So-Cal in return for his help in enacting legislation favorable to gambling in the state of Washington. The prosecution introduced expert testimony tending to show the effects on interstate commerce of expanded gambling activity, including the movement of tourists and workers from other states. 111 Because of the extensive effects on interstate commerce that would have developed from the anticipated legislation, we need not find the interstate nexus solely in the effects of the extortion on the fictitious corporation So-Cal. It is enough that the scheme, if successful, would have affected commerce. 112 For example, in United States v. Staszcuk, 517 F.2d 53 (7th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 837, 96 S.Ct. 65, 46 L.Ed.2d 56 (1975), defendant had extorted payment in exchange for withholding opposition to a zoning change that would permit construction of an animal hospital. The Hobbs Act conviction was affirmed, even though the structure never was built. The court found a sufficient interstate commerce connection in evidence that the proposed construction would have affected commerce, but for the fortuitous circumstance of the change in plans. Id. at 60. Moreover, the court reasoned that jurisdiction would not have been defeated even if the zoning change had not passed. Id. at 60 n.19. The potential effects on interstate commerce contemplated in the plan itself were sufficient. 113 Similarly, in United States v. Gambino, 566 F.2d 414 (2d Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 952, 98 S.Ct. 1580, 55 L.Ed.2d 802 (1978), defendants were convicted under the Hobbs Act based on the extortion of FBI agents who operated a fictitious garbage collection company. The Second Circuit rejected the argument that the effect on interstate commerce was insufficient, holding that the garbage collection business was so wedded to interstate commerce that an actual effect was unnecessary. Id. at 419. Although the FBI-created company actually had purchased equipment from another state and had arranged to dump garbage in other states, the court found such an interstate connection unnecessary. Id. 114 In United States v. Rindone, 631 F.2d 491 (7th Cir. 1980), the FBI had supplied the money used in the extortionate transaction, and the defendants argued that no interstate nexus was possible. The court affirmed the convictions, noting that jurisdiction had been established: 115 in a number of cases where it was factually impossible that the extortion money could ever affect interstate commerce because the payment was intended to be immediately recovered, United States v. Phillips, 577 F.2d 495 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 831 (99 S.Ct. 107, 58 L.Ed.2d 125) (1978), where the victim corporation was an FBI-created shell that in fact had no interstate dealings, United States v. Brooklier, 459 F.Supp. 476 (C.D.Cal.1978), and where the entity extorted was only a speculative venture that never became established or purchased goods interstate, United States v. Bellomini, 454 F.Supp. 44, 47 (W.D.Pa.1978). 631 F.2d at 493. 12 116 Gallagher's citation to United States v. Merolla, 523 F.2d 51 (2d Cir. 1975), fails to require a different conclusion. In Merolla, the court reversed a Hobbs Act conviction for lack of interstate commerce impact. It held that because the victim of the extortion only occasionally engaged in interstate commerce the connection was merely incidental. The court stated: 117 The victim's purchase of interstate goods, however, must be of a continuing nature or the relationship between the extortion and any interstate commerce becomes merely conjectural. 118 Id. at 54. 119 Sufficient evidence was presented to enable the jury to conclude that the effects on interstate commerce from the anticipated gambling legislation would be continuing. Since the movement of persons and material into the state would be far from conjectural and incidental, Merolla fails to support Gallagher's position. 120 With his discussion of United States v. Jannotti, 501 F.Supp. 1182 (E.D.Pa.1980) (appeal pending), Gallagher attempts to assert the defense of legal impossibility. It fails. 121 In United States v. Brooklier, 459 F.Supp. 476 (C.D.Cal.1978), then-district Judge Pregerson carefully analyzed the issue of impossibility as a defense to a charge of attempt. The defendants had been convicted under count IV of the indictment of an attempt to violate the Hobbs Act, but argued that because the victim company was an FBI-created front, not involved in interstate commerce, no interstate effect was possible. 122 After carefully examining the available precedent, including United States v. Oviedo, 525 F.2d 881 (5th Cir. 1976); United States v. Berrigan, 482 F.2d 171 (3d Cir. 1973), and United States v. Heng Awkak Roman, 356 F.Supp. 434 (S.D.N.Y.), aff'd, 484 F.2d 1271 (2d Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 978, 94 S.Ct. 1565, 39 L.Ed.2d 874 (1974), Judge Pregerson stated: 123 In summary, there appear to be three different views among the circuits on impossibility as a defense to an attempt charge. Under the Third Circuit's Berrigan approach, impossibility, regardless of criminal intent, is a defense. Under this analysis Count IV should be dismissed because defendants' alleged plan to extort money ... could not possibly have affected interstate commerce .... Under the Second Circuit's Roman approach, Count IV should not be dismissed because the indictment amply alleges that the defendants had the criminal intent to violate § 1951, and would have done so but for circumstances unknown to them that prevented an actual violation. Finally, under the Fifth Circuit's Oviedo approach, Count IV should not be dismissed, as the acts of the defendants ... strongly and unequivocally corroborate an intent to violate the Hobbs Act. 124 459 F.Supp. at 481. 125 Judge Pregerson considered the merits of each approach and concluded that Fifth Circuit law should be followed: 126 The Fifth Circuit's standard, which requires objective acts to unequivocally corroborate the necessary criminal intent, properly accommodates the concerns underlying the conflicting views on the impossibility defense. Such an accommodation safeguards both the government's interest in deterring criminal conduct and the citizen's right not to be injured by possible erroneous official conclusions about his guilty mind. 127 Id. at 482 (citing Enker, Impossibility in Criminal Attempts-Legality and the Legal Process, 53 Minn.L.Rev. 665, 668 (1969)). 128 The analysis in Brooklier disposes of Gallagher's impossibility defense. 13 His argument relies on Jannotti, which arose in the Third Circuit. We reject that circuit's approach to legal impossibility as a defense in favor of the law of the Fifth Circuit. 129 The government's expert witness offered detailed testimony about the potential impact of liberalized gambling laws in Washington. The evidence was sufficient for the jury to find the requisite effect on interstate commerce to satisfy the jurisdictional requirement.
130 Walgren was convicted of violating the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(3) 14 by causing the use of an interstate facility, the telephone, with the intent to further the unlawful gambling legislation scheme. He argues that the government failed to prove that the telephone call upon which the Travel Act count was based was interstate. The call was made by Heald to Walgren in Olympia, Washington. Proof of the call's origin in Oregon is necessary to satisfy the interstate element. 131 On January 30, 1980, Walgren called agent Heald's residence in Portland, Oregon and recorded a message on Heald's telephone answering device. Heald returned the call to Walgren in Washington that day. 132 When Walgren's counsel asked Heald if he remembered the location of his call, Heald testified: 133 I don't. Probably it was my residence. I'm not sure. 134 We address Walgren's sufficiency of the evidence argument by asking whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (original emphasis). Evidence that makes the existence of the element only slightly more probable, by itself, is not enough. Id. at 320, 99 S.Ct. at 2790; see United States v. Marolda, 648 F.2d 623 (9th Cir. 1981). 135 Our review of the evidence presented by the government leads us to the conclusion that the jury reasonably could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the telephone call crossed state lines. First, the content of the conversation, which was recorded, clearly implies that the call originated at a distant location south of Olympia, Washington. Relevant portions of the transcript read: 136 WALGREN: Is it warmer down there yet? 137 .... 138 HEALD: I've gotta go down to Eugene (Oregon) tomorrow. Why don't I try to finagle my schedule around and, you know, maybe I can get up there in ... the next couple of days or whatever. 139 .... 140 WALGREN: Now, we could, you know, we could vary that, but it might be wise to come up here and look around and see what's happening. 141 HEALD: Oh, sure. Yeah. Okay, why don't I ... why don't I do that and, oh, you'll mail that other stuff down to me, huh? 142 Second, the government presented evidence of a series of telephone conversations between December 14, 1979, and January 31, 1980, from Heald in Portland to the defendants in Washington. The evidence suggests that Heald was in Portland on January 29 and establishes that he was in Portland on January 31. That Heald was there on January 30 as well is not an irrational conclusion. 143 Considering Heald's testimony, evidence of the series of telephone calls originating from Portland, and the content of the conversation, the jury had before it sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence from which it could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the telephone call on January 30 crossed state lines. 144 Walgren's second challenge to the interstate commerce element of his Travel Act conviction rests on Rewis v. United States, 401 U.S. 808, 91 S.Ct. 1056, 28 L.Ed.2d 493 (1971), and United States v. Archer, 486 F.2d 670 (2d Cir. 1973). He argues that the government failed to prove that the interstate nature of the telephone call was a necessary and integral part of the Travel Act violation. 145 In Rewis, the court of appeals had affirmed the convictions of the operators of a gambling business based on the interstate travel of their customers. The Supreme Court reversed. It declined to extend the Travel Act to criminal activity solely because that activity is at times patronized by persons from another State. 401 U.S. at 812, 91 S.Ct. at 1059. 146 The Court rejected the government's theory that the Travel Act is violated when operators of an illegal gambling operation reasonably could foresee the travel of customers from across state lines. Id. at 812, 91 S.Ct. at 1059. But it did endorse earlier cases in which federal courts have correctly applied § 1952 to those individuals whose agents or employees cross state lines in furtherance of illegal activity. Id. Because no evidence was produced at trial that the defendants actively had encouraged out-of-state-patronage, the Court refused to apply the latter theory to them. 147 In one of the cases favorably cited by the Court, United States v. Zizzo, 338 F.2d 577 (7th Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 381 U.S. 915, 85 S.Ct. 1530, 14 L.Ed.2d 435 (1965), the operator of a gambling business argued that he did not travel interstate and was indifferent to the interstate travel of his employees. Affirming, the court found it clear that the gambling business ... caused the interstate travel by the three employees, and that the jury properly could have found that the defendant knew some of the employees lived outside the state. Id. at 580; see United States v. Baker, 611 F.2d 961, 963 n.3 (4th Cir. 1979). 148 Walgren was convicted of causing Heald to make an interstate telephone call. We find unpersuasive Walgren's argument that Heald was a customer of the illegal enterprise. 149 Heald was not a mere patron of the bribery scheme. The government produced evidence that Walgren and Heald were actively involved in the scheme itself, and that Walgren's telephone call on January 30 in fact caused the use of interstate facilities. See United States v. Clark, 646 F.2d 1259, 1267-68 (8th Cir. 1981); United States v. Baker, 611 F.2d 961, 963 (4th Cir. 1979); United States v. Ryan, 548 F.2d 782, 787 (9th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 965, 97 S.Ct. 1644, 52 L.Ed.2d 356 (1977); United States v. Mazzio, 501 F.Supp. 340, 343-44 (E.D.Pa.1980). 150 We find United States v. Archer, 486 F.2d 670 (2d Cir. 1973), inapposite. In Archer, federal agents created a scheme designed to elicit criminal activity from within the New York criminal justice system. The agents staged a fictitious arrest, falsified arrest records, and crossed state lines expressly for the purpose of causing defendants to use interstate facilities. 15 151 The court found three interstate or foreign telephone calls made by defendant insufficient to satisfy the interstate requirements of the Act. It rejected two of the calls because they resulted from the government's plant of misinformation, which caused the defendant to make interstate telephone calls he otherwise would not have made. Id. at 682. The remaining call was rejected as  'casual and incidental.'  Id. at 685. 152 In United States v. O'Connor, 635 F.2d 814 (10th Cir. 1980), the Tenth Circuit identified the two significant factors in Archer. The court noted that whether the defendant or government takes the initiative is a substantial difference. 635 F.2d at 817. Here, Walgren initiated the interstate telephone call by leaving a message on Heald's answering device. 153 Heald's residence was not established in Oregon solely to manufacture federal jurisdiction. His undercover operation had existed for nearly a year in Portland, in which he worked on another case before the Washington gambling scheme commenced. This is not a case, such as that in Archer, in which government agents manufactured federal jurisdiction. See United States v. O'Connor, 635 F.2d 814, 817 (10th Cir. 1980); United States v. Perrin, 580 F.2d 730, 736 (5th Cir. 1978), aff'd, 444 U.S. 37, 100 S.Ct. 311, 62 L.Ed.2d 199 (1979); United States v. Hall, 536 F.2d 313, 327 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 919, 97 S.Ct. 313, 50 L.Ed.2d 285 (1976). 154 The O'Connor court identified the second factor to be the casual and incidental nature of the interstate telephone calls in Archer. 635 F.2d at 818. The transcript of the recorded telephone call on January 30 reveals the integral connection of the conversation to the illegal enterprise. Walgren referred to the Chairman of the Gambling Commission and to copies of legislative bills he intended to forward to Heald. He also mentioned talking to his partner about the sale of his trucking company, which he anticipated as a means of concealing his receipt of the bribe. 16 155 In any event, the telephone call need not comprise the essence of the illegal activity. A Travel Act conviction needs evidence of a continuous enterprise and one act in interstate commerce in furtherance of that enterprise. United States v. Tavelman, 650 F.2d 1133, 1140 (9th Cir. 1981); accord, United States v. Kaiser, 660 F.2d 724 (9th Cir. 1981). The evidence was sufficient to enable the jury to find that the telephone call was in furtherance of the enterprise. See United States v. O'Connor, 635 F.2d 814, 817-18 (10th Cir. 1980); United States v. Herrera, 584 F.2d 1137, 1145-47 (2d Cir. 1978). See generally United States v. Colacurcio, 499 F.2d 1401, 1406 (9th Cir. 1974).
156 Walgren also attacks his conviction under Count XXVII for mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341. 17 Walgren received indirectly from Heald a contribution to his campaign for state Attorney General. Walgren was required by state law to report the contribution to the Public Disclosure Commission either himself or through his political committee. His committee's March 10, 1980 public disclosure report did not include this contribution and Walgren did not report it personally. The indictment charged Walgren knowingly caused to be delivered by mail the committee's March report for the purpose of executing the gambling scheme. 157 Walgren argues his conviction under this count was invalid because the political committee's report included all contributions of which the committee was aware and because filing the report was compelled by state law. He cites Parr v. United States, 363 U.S. 370, 80 S.Ct. 1171, 4 L.Ed.2d 1277 (1960). In Parr, the defendants schemed to embezzle school district funds and mailed tax assessments to raise the funds to be embezzled. The Supreme Court reversed on the ground that government failed to prove defendants used the mails for the purpose of executing their embezzlement scheme. 363 U.S. at 391, 80 S.Ct. at 1183. The Court held that the mailing of the tax assessments was not an unlawful step in the execution of the fraudulent scheme because the defendants were required by law to assess and collect the taxes and because the tax assessments were neither alleged nor proved to be excessive, padded or in any way illegal. Id. at 387, 391, 80 S.Ct. at 1181-1183. 158 Walgren's reliance on Parr assumes the legality of the March financial disclosure report mailed by his political committee. Walgren contends on appeal that the report was accurate because it disclosed all contributions known to the committee and that he could have complied with the disclosure law by reporting the contribution personally. 159 Heald's contribution to Walgren's campaign was a camouflaged portion of the payoff for Walgren's political influence. Walgren expressed his intention to withhold disclosure of the payment to maintain its secrecy. He was responsible for reporting Heald's contribution either personally or through his committee. By doing neither, Walgren caused the committee to mail a disclosure report that was inaccurate because it did not include Heald's contribution. Walgren cannot cure the inaccuracy now by arguing he could have reported the contribution personally. He did not in fact do so. 160 Walgren's scheme to enrich himself by his use of his legislative position required profits to be hidden. By causing the committee to submit an inaccurate disclosure report, he hoped to conceal the receipt of a service of value. With such a design in mind, he cannot now argue that the mailing was not in furtherance of his illegal scheme.VI. CONCLUSION 161 The appellants' arguments do not justify reversal. The convictions are affirmed.