Opinion ID: 62915
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Access-Device Fraud Conspiracy

Text: The superseding indictment charged all five defendants with conspiring to use unauthorized access devices with the intent to defraud. To prove a conspiracy, the Government must show (1) an agreement between two or more persons to pursue an unlawful objective; (2) the defendant's knowledge of the unlawful objective and voluntary agreement to join the conspiracy; and (3) an overt act by one or more of the members of the conspiracy in furtherance of the objective of the conspiracy. United States v. Williams. [2] Conner argues that there was insufficient evidence of a conspiracy because the alleged co-conspirators shared only a technique; they were not members of a conspiracy. He points to United States v. Gutierrez-Farias, where we held that the Government must prove that each conspirator knew of, intended to join, and participated in the conspiracy. [3] But the evidence does not support Conner's theory. It is true that the conspiracy involved the sharing of a technique for how to use business accounts without authorization, but the participants also assisted each other in practicing the scheme. The evidence shows that Hester, Whatley, and Pollock shared account information with each other. In fact, there is evidence that Beery and Pollock both used the same fraudulent Sam's Club card. Because Pollock was jittery and nervous about committing the scheme, Hester actually set up an account for Pollock to use. The above shows that Pollock and Whatley were involved in something more than the simple sharing of a technique, and there is overwhelming evidence that Hester, Beery, and Conner were involved in a prototypical conspiracy. They obtained the information together that enabled the conspiracy ( e.g., purchasing fake IDs); they committed the fraud together; they shared information about how to successfully perpetrate the fraud; and they coordinated selling the fraudulently obtained goods. Conner presents other challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence for the access-device fraud conspiracy. These arguments fail because the Government demonstrated by sufficient evidence that during multiple one-year time periods Conner conspired to use unauthorized access devices and/or to sell the proceeds derived therefrom. See 18 U.S.C. § 1029.