Opinion ID: 6033
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Refusal to Dismiss Count Two

Text: 22 Brown asserts that the district court erred in refusing to dismiss count two (aiding and abetting mail fraud) because it required proof of the same set of operative facts as count one (conspiracy). The courts have consistently ruled that the commission of a substantive crime and a conspiracy to commit that crime are separate and distinct offenses. Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 643, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 1182, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946). Wharton's Rule, 6 however, prohibits conviction for both the substantive offense and conspiracy to commit that offense if the substantive offense necessarily requires the participation and cooperation of more than one person. United States v. Payan, 992 F.2d 1387, 1389 (5th Cir.1993). A conviction based solely on aider and abetter liability would appear to require the involvement of at least two persons since one cannot aid and abet oneself. Nevertheless, we have recently held that Wharton's Rule does not bar separate convictions for aiding and abetting an offense and conspiring to commit that offense. Id. The aiding and abetting statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2, does not define an offense, but simply provides that one who aids or abets the commission of a substantive offense is punishable as a principal. Id. at 1390. In applying Wharton's Rule, we consider whether it is impossible under any circumstances to commit the substantive offense without cooperative action. Id. Clearly, a single individual acting alone is capable of committing mail fraud as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Thus, the district court properly refused to dismiss count two. 23