Opinion ID: 612630
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Smith Extortion

Text: Benedict also challenges his conviction for extorting Charlie Smith, who, like the Galanos, paid Outerie (through Benedict) for protection. Smith had long done business with Benedict in auto parts (often stolen) and “insurance give-ups” (in which cars were wrecked for the insurance money). When Smith ran into trouble with other underworld figures, Benedict introduced him to Outerie, who expressed his willingness to help Smith resolve these troubles. Outerie inquired into Smith’s corresponding willingness to “share [with] friends,” and Smith assured him on the point. Benedict and Outerie gave Smith many opportunities to “share,” as Outerie repeatedly demanded money from Smith, usually through Benedict. Smith paid sums of $1,000, $2,500, and $2,000, which he often had to break down further into installments because of claimed financial difficulties. Smith also began giving Benedict car parts for free instead of charging for them. 4 A number of facts in the record support the jury’s conclusion that Benedict wrongfully used fear to make Smith pay. Smith testified that he was “unhappy” about having to pay and that he paid not only out of gratitude for Outerie’s and Benedict’s help in resolving his problems but also because “it was easier to pay it, not [to] have any aggravation.” He testified to concern that, if he did not pay, cars might be “burned in the yard, things would happen unexpectedly,” which the jury could have taken to refer to the auto yard where Smith worked.2 Other evidence supported the inference that Smith had reason to fear that failure to pay would have consequences beyond losing Outerie’s services. Members of the Gambino organization, the jury heard, visit their “extortion victims” around Christmastime and demand “as much money as [they] can,” sometimes making explicit threats but often without having to do so because the victims all “kn[o]w the drill.” And Smith, like the Galanos, was made well aware of the sort of people he was dealing with. Benedict first described Outerie to Smith as “a made guy,” and at the first meeting of the three of them Outerie “kept bringing up Junior and . . . referring to Gotti,” to make his connections clear. And when Smith asked Benedict why he had to pay Outerie, Benedict responded not that Smith needed to pay to maintain the services he had been receiving, but rather that “everybody pays” Outerie as “a Christmas gift.” The implication was that Smith stood in the same relation to Outerie and Benedict as any of their other extortion victims – like the Galanos – and was paying them the same extortion money, not buying any service from them. 2 The testimony might have referred, as Benedict suggests, to Benedict’s yard, but the choice of interpretations belonged to the jury. 5 Benedict argues that “Smith was a tough guy” who “knew how to say ‘no,’” and that the tapes he made as a cooperator in which he expressed difficulty paying were “theatrical, solely for the purpose of creating a false inference that he was ‘forced’ to make a Christmas payment to James because of fear.” The jury could have interpreted the evidence that way, but we must defer to its opposite conclusion about Smith’s credibility. See United States v. Rojas, 617 F.3d 669, 674 (2d Cir. 2010). Similarly, the jury was entitled to give little weight to evidence that Benedict on occasion expressed sympathy for Smith and fronted Smith money when he could not afford to pay Outerie right away. Just as playing “good cop” does not make someone less of a cop, playing “good extortionist” did not necessarily make Benedict less of an extortionist. Benedict’s help to Smith never extended to telling him he should not pay Outerie or guaranteeing his safety if he came up short. On this evidence, it was for the jury to decide whether Benedict acted as a concerned friend, or as an extortionist, or both. Benedict also disputes another element of this crime, arguing that his actions toward Smith did not “obstruct[], delay[], or affect[] commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce.” 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). But the law requires only “a very slight effect on interstate commerce,” which may generally be proven “by showing that the victim directly participated in interstate commerce.” United States v. Perrotta, 313 F.3d 33, 36-38 (2d Cir. 2002) (quotation marks omitted). Here, Smith participated in interstate commerce, and presumably obtained the money to make his payments, by dealing in auto parts and defrauding insurance companies. Demonstrating the interstate nature of his trade, Smith in fact had pled guilty to possessing and transferring stolen car parts across state lines. 6