Opinion ID: 701257
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The automobile purchases

Text: 25 On December 21, 1987, Lewis and Edmond visited a Northern Virginia automobile dealer where Lewis introduced himself as Tony Wynn, said that his uncle, Charles Wynn, was going to buy him a Range Rover, and provided a cash downpayment of $500. The following day, Wynn used cash to purchase two cashier's checks made out to the dealership, one in the amount of $4,000, the other $8,000. On the same day, a Linea Pitti employee used cash to purchase a third cashier's check, made out to the dealership for $8,000, in the name of Charles Wynn. The three checks were secured from different financial institutions. The auto dealership's records indicate that it received the three cashier's checks on the same day and that they were to be applied toward the purchase of the Range Rover. Two days later, Wynn brought a fourth cashier's check to the dealership, this one for $8,500, along with a little over $1,000 in cash, to pay the balance of the purchase price. He had the vehicle titled in his name. Lewis then returned to the dealership and took possession of the car. 26 When the Range Rover was at the dealership for repairs the following month, Lewis informed the dealer that he wanted to trade it in for a new 1988-model Range Rover. Wynn then returned to the dealership to pay the difference between the trade-in value of the one-month-old Range Rover and the price of the new one, confirming that the new vehicle was also for his nephew, Tony Wynn. Wynn paid the amount due with two cashier's checks, each for $5,000, plus nearly $4,000 in cash. Again, the car was titled in his name, but Lewis drove it off the dealer's lot. The jury convicted Wynn of six violations of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1956(a)(1)(B)(i)--one violation for each of the six cashier's checks involved in the purchases of the two vehicles. 27 Wynn's challenge to these six convictions focuses on the second element of proof required for a section 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) violation. Specifically, he argues that there was insufficient evidence that the cash used to purchase the six cashier's checks constituted the proceeds of a specified unlawful activity--in this case, the distribution of controlled substances. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1956(a)(1). Wynn contends that there is no evidence that Lewis was the source of the cash used to purchase the cashier's checks. Again, the evidence against Wynn on these charges is entirely circumstantial; but reasonable jurors could conclude from the testimony that Lewis funded the Range Rover purchases. Although the jury was free to believe that the vehicles were gifts from Wynn to Lewis, the method of payment and the clear attempt to disguise Lewis's identity strongly suggest that Lewis used Wynn as a middleman for precisely the activity that section 1956 seeks to prevent: injecting illegal proceeds into the stream of commerce while obfuscating their source. 28 Wynn also argues that even if the funds used to purchase the cashier's checks were provided by Lewis, the Government presented no evidence that they were the proceeds of illegal activities. He points to evidence elicited at trial establishing that Lewis won at least $150,000 in the Maryland lottery during 1986, implying that the vehicles might have been purchased with legally obtained funds. Although Wynn frames this argument as a question of fact, he bases it on an uncertain legal proposition: that if Lewis's legitimately derived income exceeds the amount at issue in a money laundering charge, the Government must trace the funds involved in the financial transaction to Lewis's illegal activities in order to convict Wynn under section 1956. 29 We need not resolve this issue here, however, because the Government presented sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the money used to purchase the six cashier's checks did flow directly from Lewis's narcotics trafficking activities. Wynn purchased the cashier's checks with cash. For each of the Range Rover transactions, he purchased two or more cashier's checks from different banks, clearly suggesting an intent to disguise the amount of cash from the banks, which are required to report cash transactions of $10,000 or more. These circumstances certainly support an inference that the cash had an illegal source. 30