Opinion ID: 2710
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Statutes Under Which Lombardozzi Was Convicted

Text: 11 Lombardozzi was convicted of conspiring to make and making extortionate extensions of credit in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 892 and conspiring to use extortionate means to collect on an extension of credit in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 894. Section 892(a) prohibits mak[ing] any extortionate extension of credit, or conspir[ing] to do so. An extortionate extension of credit is defined as any extension of credit with respect to which it is the understanding of the creditor and the debtor at the time it is made that delay in making repayment or failure to make repayment could result in the use of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the person, reputation, or property of any person. 18 U.S.C. § 891(6) (emphasis added). The states of mind of the defendant and the debtor are, therefore, both essential elements of the crime of making extortionate extensions of credit under § 892. 1 See United States v. Allen, 127 F.3d 260, 266 (2d Cir.1997) (Crucial to conviction under this statute is proof that both the creditor and the debtor understood when the loan was made that force could be used to collect the loan at issue.); United States v. Natale, 526 F.2d 1160, 1168 n. 10 (2d Cir.1975) (noting that unlike 18 U.S.C. § 894, the state of mind of the victim [is] an essential element of [§ 892] to be proved by the Government). Section 892(b) further provides that the government can establish prima facie evidence that a loan was extortionate if it can show: (1) the repayment of the loan would be unenforceable through civil judicial process against the debtor, (2) the loan had an annual interest rate in excess of 45 percent, and (3) [a]t the time the extension of credit was made, the debtor reasonably believed that . . . the creditor had a reputation for the use of extortionate means to collect extensions of credit or to punish the nonrepayment thereof. 18 U.S.C. § 892(b). 12 Similarly, 18 U.S.C. § 894(a) prohibits knowingly participat[ing] in any way, or conspir[ing] to do so, in the use of any extortionate means (1) to collect or attempt to collect any extension of credit, or (2) to punish any person for the nonrepayment thereof. [E]xtortionate means is defined as any means which involves the use, or an express or implicit threat of use, of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the person, reputation, or property of any person. 18 U.S.C. § 891(7). Unlike § 892, proof of a victim borrower's state of mind is not an element of this offense, see Natale, 526 F.2d at 1168 (noting that it is the conduct of the defendant, not the victim's individual state of mind, to which the thrust of [§ 894] is directed). With regard to the defendant's state of mind, the government must prove that he intended by his conduct to instill fear of harm in the victim borrower. See United States v. Sears, 544 F.2d 585, 588 (2d Cir.1976). 13