Opinion ID: 458933
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: robinson's double jeopardy claim

Text: 38 Robinson also alleges that his prosecution in Iowa violated his Fifth Amendment right against double jeopardy, as well as the Justice Department's Petite policy. 10 He contends that his prosecution and conviction in Iowa were based on the same exact conspiracy to which he had pled guilty in Ohio. In support of his contention Robinson cites the following similarities between the Ohio and Iowa schemes: (1) the statement by Mr. Dopf, in arguing for the admission in Iowa of Robinson's guilty plea in Ohio, that the conspiracy in Iowa was the same point-on-point scheme as in Ohio; (2) all of the victims contracted with him using the same retainer agreement, requesting the same service--the confirmation of the availability of collateral; (3) all of the victims in Ohio and Iowa paid Robinson a $3,500 advance fee; (4) all of the victims were referred to Robinson by their brokers; (5) allegations in both indictments are virtually the same; (6) the indictments charge violations of the same statute; (7) at all times Robinson was operating out of the same geographical location in Dublin, Ohio; (8) the objective of the conspiracy was the same in every case--to obtain advance fees from clients seeking loans; (9) the conspiracy took place continuously from 1979 until 1983, when Robinson was indicted in Ohio and in Iowa. Finally, Robinson asserts that the totality of the circumstances test, enunciated by this court in United States v. Tercero, 580 F.2d 312, 315 (8th Cir.1978), should be used to determine whether multiple conspiracies exist, instead of the same evidence test set forth in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). 39 We agree with Robinson that the totality of the circumstances test is the proper one to apply when multiple conspiracies are alleged. See United States v. Thomas, 759 F.2d 659, 662 (8th Cir.1985); Tercero, 580 F.2d at 315. As we recently stated in Thomas, 40 [t]he following factors are normally considered in determining whether one or two conspiracies are involved: (1) time; (2) persons acting as coconspirators; (3) the statutory offenses charged in the indictments; (4) the overt acts charged by the government or any other description of the offenses charged which indicate the nature and the scope of the activity which the government sought to punish in each case; and (5) places where the events alleged as part of the conspiracy took place. 41 759 F.2d at 662. After a careful review of these factors in relation to the conspiracies alleged here, we conclude that two agreements, to commit separate crimes, exist. 42 A brief rundown of the relevant factors will explain our conclusion that two conspiracies exist. First, the Ohio indictment alleges that the conspiracy took place in 1979, whereas the Iowa indictment is based on actions occurring in 1980. Second, in Ohio Robinson was indicted along with his brother Stephen Robinson and Danny A. McLane; in Iowa, Robinson's alleged coconspirators were Troutman, Liverca, Wilson, and Milliken. The third factor, the statutory offense with which the defendant is charged in each indictment, is the same in Ohio and Iowa--mail fraud. As for the fourth factor, concerning the nature and scope of the activity that the Government seeks to punish in each case, although both indictments charge Robinson with conspiring to defraud through misrepresentations about a loan-finding program, differences do exist. Robinson's alleged victims in the scheme charged in Ohio were from seven different jurisdictions, not including Iowa; the Iowa indictment charged the defendants with defrauding fifteen persons in Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. Also, in the Ohio scheme Robinson allegedly met each victim personally. In the Iowa conspiracy, however, representations about the loans were made through Robinson's coconspirators. As well, the Ohio indictment charged that Robinson told his prospective clients that major insurance companies would issue the financial guarantees on the loans, whereas in the Iowa scheme the guarantors were to be AAA American companies. Finally, as for the fifth factor, location, although Robinson was working out of his office in Dublin, Ohio during 1979 and 1980, the coconspirators through whom he located prospective clients for the Iowa scheme were situated in Iowa. 43 We think the differences in time, coconspirators, victims, methods, and location are sufficient to discern two separate conspiracies here. 11 See United States v. West, 670 F.2d 675, 681 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1124, 102 S.Ct. 2944, 73 L.Ed.2d 1340 (1982). That both the Ohio and Iowa indictments charge Robinson with mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1341 is not especially significant. It is possible to have two different conspiracies to commit exactly the same type of crime. Thomas, 759 F.2d at 666. See also West, 670 F.2d at 681 ([T]he guarantee against double jeopardy does not insulate a criminal from punishment for subsequent offenses merely because he chooses to continue committing the same type of crime). Finally, because we have found that two separate conspiracies exist and thus that more than one criminal transaction took place, Robinson's argument that the Government violated its Petite policy is without merit. We note, however, that even a genuine failure by the Government to follow the Petite policy does not create a right that a defendant can invoke to bar federal prosecution. See Thomas, 759 F.2d at 668; United States v. Wallace, 578 F.2d 735, 740 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 898, 99 S.Ct. 263, 58 L.Ed.2d 246 (1978). Clearly the case here is the same type of scam perpetrated on different victims at different times by different perpetrators with the exception of Robinson and thus constitutes a separate conspiracy.