Opinion ID: 187362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Identifying Racketeering Acts

Text: Defendants complain that the district court failed to identify the racketeering acts that support the finding of liability. While it is true the district court's opinion provided no single, discrete list of specific racketeering acts, the comprehensive findingsdetailing over one-hundred racketeering actsare sufficient to warrant affirmance. Defendants raise numerous challenges to the correctness of the district court's findings that they committed racketeering acts, which we take up in Parts III and IV. In this section, however, we are concerned only with the existence of these findings, not their validity. By statutory definition, any violation of the mail or wire fraud statutes can qualify as racketeering activity. 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1). To prove a violation of the mail and wire fraud statutes, the government must show (1) a scheme or artifice to defraud and (2) a mailing or wire transmission in furtherance thereof. Id. §§ 1341, 1343. Where one scheme involves several mailings, the law is settled that each mailing constitutes a violation of the statute. Hanrahan v. United States, 348 F.2d 363, 366 (D.C.Cir.1965). Where, as here, the mail and wire fraud statutes serve as the predicate offenses for a RICO violation, each racketeering act must be a mailing or wire transmission made in furtherance of a scheme or artifice to defraud. 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343. Thus, in order to identify the racketeering acts, the district court must first have found a scheme to defraud, then concluded the alleged mailings or wire transmissions were in furtherance of such scheme. See Philip Morris, 449 F.Supp.2d at 852-54. Although Defendants question whether the district court clearly found a scheme to defraud, the finding on this question is explicit: The Government has proven that the Enterprise knowingly and intentionally engaged in a scheme to defraud smokers and potential smokers, for purposes of financial gain, by making false and fraudulent statements, representations, and promises. Id. at 852. The district court explains, in great detail, the seven components of the scheme to defraud. Id. at 852-67. The court also held that each of the alleged mailings and wire transmissions was in furtherance of the overarching scheme to defraud. Id. at 881. Thus it follows that any mailing or wire transmission found to have been made was found to have been a mail or wire fraud offense and therefore a racketeering act. Seventy-nine of the alleged acts were established by Defendants' own stipulations and admissions. Id. at 882 (enumerating 79 racketeering acts). Altogether, the court enumerated 108 racketeering acts in the opinion, as well as six others which it excluded on First Amendment grounds. See id. at 882, 884, 885 n. 62, 887. This total does not include the many other findings which may be tied to other racketeering acts, but for which the district court did not provide a specific list. See, e.g., id. at 883 ([I]t is clear beyond any question that Defendants caused the mailings and wire transmissions underlying the 30 Racketeering Acts involving the news media's dissemination of Defendants' press releases and advertisements to their subscribers.). The RICO statute requires a pattern of racketeering activity on the part of each defendant. 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). [A]t least two acts of racketeering activity are necessary to form a pattern. H.J., Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 492 U.S. 229, 237, 109 S.Ct. 2893, 106 L.Ed.2d 195 (1989) (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 1961(5)). The district court found the requisite pattern committed by each Defendant, Philip Morris, 449 F.Supp.2d at 889-91, and this finding is not erroneous. A brief sampling of the 108 enumerated racketeering acts makes the point: Philip Morris, Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, Lorillard, American, and TI committed racketeering acts 24, 132, and 133 by mailing press releases containing false statements about the addictiveness and health consequences of smoking. Id. at 194, 282-83. Philip Morris, Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, Lorillard, American, Liggett, and CTR committed racketeering acts 66, 73, and 88 by mailing letters regarding funding of CTR's special projects to create data supporting their fraudulent claims. Id. at 101, 882, 972, 976. BATCo and Brown & Williamson committed racketeering acts 30, 50, 51, 53, and 63 through their mailings to each other concerning the enterprise's position on the health effects and addictiveness of smoking as well as smoker compensation and nicotine. Id. at 253-54, 301, 882, 965, 969. Altria committed racketeering acts 71, 72, 74, and 75 in its efforts to coordinate Defendants' public positions and fund CTR research projects to support their fraudulent claims. Id. at 295, 813, 884, 974. As these examples demonstrate, the district court found each Defendant engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, and that finding is not erroneous. See infra Parts III, IV. The 108 enumerated acts give us ample basis to review the district court's finding. Although the district court may have concluded other racketeering acts were proven as well, we need look no further. Defendants correctly argue we must ensure the remedy imposed is tailored to the violation found, United States v. Microsoft, 253 F.3d 34, 105 (D.C.Cir.2001); the voluminous findings detailing the contours of the scheme to defraud are more than sufficient to allow this review, see, e.g., Philip Morris, 449 F.Supp.2d at 852-67. Given that a mailing or wire transmission need not itself be fraudulent, the remedy needs to be tailored to the scheme to defraud, not the specific use of the mail or wires. For similar reasons, we need not resolve Defendants' challenges to the racketeering acts involving denials of marketing to youth. As the district court imposed no remedies specifically relating to youth marketing, our assessment whether the remedies are tailored to the violation found is unaffected by the associated racketeering acts. The remaining racketeering acts are fully sufficient to support the district court's finding of a pattern of racketeering activity as to each Defendant. Because these challenges have no impact on the outcome of this appeal, we decline to address them. The district court set forth findings sufficient to allow our review of its verdict of liability and imposition of sanction.