Opinion ID: 794577
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering

Text: 31 Anderson operated a construction business in St. Louis. In 2001, Diggs told Alexander about a house that Anderson was building and that Alexander could buy the house without providing a down payment. Alexander wanted to buy it, but because of his criminal history he could not secure a loan to pay for the $269,000 house. He persuaded his mother, Alexander-Butler, 3 to apply for a loan to finance the house. To facilitate the sale, Anderson provided the down payment and closing costs, and Alexander promised to give Anderson $10,000, a Mercedes-Benz, and a Hummer. 32 Alexander-Butler agreed to apply for the loan so that Alexander and his family could live in the Anderson-built house. The signed loan application stated that Alexander-Butler earned $7000 per month and had $80,000 in savings. According to her tax returns, her business experienced a net loss in 1999 and 2000 and a small net profit in 2001, and she received about $500 from a pension fund. Her bank statements showed that she did not have more than a few hundred dollars in savings during the relevant period. Because she applied for a stated loan, carrying a higher interest rate, Alexander-Butler did not have to provide specific proof of income, and she was approved for a $215,000 loan. In this process, several faxes were exchanged between the real estate agent and the mortgage broker and the mortgage broker and the lender. 33 To show that he had received the down payment from the buyer, Anderson went to his bank and purchased a $20,000 cashier's check payable to Anderson from Patricia Alexander-Butler. He redeposited that money into his account and gave the receipt to his real estate agent who, in turn, presented it to the mortgage broker. Because the down payment cost more than Anderson had available to him, he repeated the process with a $15,000 cashier's check. 34 On the day of the closing, Anderson, Alexander, Alexander-Butler, the real estate agent, and the escrow closing officer gathered at the Commonwealth Title Company. Anderson testified that his real estate agent informed him that an additional $18,000 would be needed, so Anderson and Alexander left the closing to obtain a third cashier's check from Anderson's account. While they were gone, Alexander-Butler changed her mind about signing the documents. To persuade her to sign, Alexander had a private conversation with her, and Anderson offered her $7500. Alexander-Butler eventually signed the documents and closed on the house. Alexander gave Anderson the Mercedes-Benz and moved into the house with his family. Anderson spent the proceeds from the sale to pay Alexander-Butler $7500, to pay back loans, and to buy drugs. 35 On August 19, 2004, Alexander-Butler and Alexander were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity. Alexander-Butler was convicted of the first offense, and Alexander was convicted of both. 36
37 Alexander-Butler and Alexander challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to convict them of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As stated above, we review de novo the sufficiency of the evidence and view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, giving it the benefit of all reasonable inferences. 38 To prove conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the government must show (1) that there was a conspiracy, an agreement to commit wire fraud, (2) that Alexander and Alexander-Butler knew of the agreement, and (3) that they intentionally joined in the conspiracy. See United States v. Wintermute, 443 F.3d 993, 1003 (8th Cir. 2006). Alexander's and Alexander-Butler's wire fraud conviction required that the government prove beyond a reasonable doubt (1) that they joined a scheme to defraud, (2) that they intended to defraud, (3) that it was reasonably foreseeable that interstate wire communications would be used, and (4) that the wires were, in fact, used. United States v. Slaughter, 128 F.3d 623, 628 (8th Cir.1997). 39 Upon review of the evidence, resolving all evidentiary conflicts in favor of the government, United States v. Gomez, 165 F.3d 650, 654 (8th Cir.1999), we conclude that there was sufficient evidence to convict Alexander and Alexander-Butler of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Alexander-Butler applied for a loan to purchase a house for Alexander because he could not obtain a loan. The evidence showed that each of the alleged conspirators benefitted from this arrangement: Alexander-Butler received $7500 from Anderson, Alexander moved into the house with his family, and Anderson liquidated his assets. Although Alexander-Butler testified that she never told the loan officer that she made $7000 per month or that she had $80,000 in savings, the government presented signed loan documents listing this false information. Those documents were faxed to the lender, and the information included therein caused the lender to loan Alexander-Butler the money. Alexander persuaded his mother to sign the documents, attended the closing, promised to give Anderson vehicles and cash for the down payment, and moved into the house. Based on the foregoing evidence, a reasonable juror could conclude that Alexander-Butler and Alexander joined in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
40 Alexander argues in his pro se supplemental brief that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of engaging in monetary transactions derived from specified unlawful activity. We disagree. A conviction under § 1957 requires a showing (1) that the defendant knowingly engaged in a monetary transaction, (2) that the defendant knew the property involved derived from specified unlawful activity, and (3) that the property was of a value greater than $10,000. United States v. Pizano, 421 F.3d 707, 722 (8th Cir.2005). The same evidence that supports his conspiracy to commit wire fraud conviction supports this conviction. Accordingly, we affirm his conviction. 41 Having reviewed the statute of limitations argument raised in Alexander's pro se supplemental brief, we conclude that it is without merit and warrants no further discussion.