Opinion ID: 726757
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Intent Element of Mail Fraud

Text: 27 The Government also had to prove that Defendants caused the mails to be used in furtherance of their scheme. Hubbard argues that to meet the intent element of the crime, the Government must prove a specific intent by Defendants to commit mail fraud. This argument was rejected long ago by the Supreme Court in Pereira v. United States, 347 U.S. 1, 74 S.Ct. 358, 98 L.Ed. 435 (1954). There, the Court held that specific intent to use the mails is not necessary to prove a substantive charge of mail fraud. Instead, if the defendant does an act with knowledge that the use of the mails will follow in the ordinary course of business, or where such use can reasonably be foreseen, even though not actually intended, then he 'causes' the mails to be used. Id. at 8-9, 74 S.Ct. at 363; see also United States v. Bernhardt, 840 F.2d 1441, 1447 (9th Cir.1988). And, a federal conspiracy conviction does not require a greater level of criminal intent than a conviction on the substantive count. United States v. Feola, 420 U.S. 671, 696, 95 S.Ct. 1255, 1269-70, 43 L.Ed.2d 541 (1975); see United States v. Smith, 934 F.2d 270, 275 (11th Cir.1991)(putting Pereira and Feola together, it is clear that proof of a specific intent to use the mails is not required to show conspiracy to commit mail fraud). 28 As explained above, a rational jury could have found that the execution of Defendants' scheme relied on the acquisition of Arizona titles. Defendants were sophisticated players in the used car industry and had an ongoing relationship with Arizona Checker Sales. Arizona Checker Sales had to have Arizona titles in order to operate the vehicles as taxicabs. Therefore, Defendants would have known or reasonably could have foreseen that Arizona Checker Sales would have to apply for Arizona titles. It was also reasonably foreseeable that these titles would be sent by the Arizona Department of Transportation to Arizona Checker Sales via regular U.S. mail. The Department of Transportation and other state agencies do not generally send title documents by Fed Ex or by fax. Also, a title application specifically asks for a mailing address. 29 Accordingly, a rational jury could have found that the use of the U.S. mails was reasonably foreseeable. Thus, sufficient evidence supports the jury's finding that Defendants caused the mails to be used. III 30 Inconsistency of Partial Judgment of Acquittal 31 Finally, Defendants argue that the district court's grant of the motion for judgment of acquittal for the charge of conspiracy to engage in odometer tampering and the denial of the motion for the charge of conspiracy to engage in mail fraud were inconsistent. In other words, they contend that they could not have conspired to commit mail fraud without conspiring to roll-back odometers. 32 This argument has no merit. The district court interpreted the conspiracy charge related to odometer tampering in a narrow sense, finding that the crime of odometer tampering ended as soon as the odometers were rolled-back. The court found that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that Lyon had tampered with the odometers. This was distinct from the charge of mail fraud. As explained above, there was sufficient evidence to support a finding that Hubbard and Lyon engaged in a fraudulent scheme to sell cars with the rolled-back odometers to Arizona Checker Sales at inflated prices. Both Hubbard and Lyon performed integral parts of this scheme by signing the relevant documents, inputting the rolled-back odometer figures on new titles, and representing the low-mileage figures as actual mileage to Arizona Checker Sales. 33 Therefore, although there may not have been evidence that Lyon himself altered the odometers, the conspiracy charge for mail fraud included acts beyond the actual alteration of the odometer. This additional fraudulent behavior--i.e., misrepresenting mileage figures and selling vehicles to purchasers who would have to acquire new titles--provided the basis for the charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Thus, there was nothing inconsistent in the district court's partial judgment of acquittal. 34 Affirmed.