Opinion ID: 697259
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mail fraud count

Text: 44
45 Defendant argues that his mail fraud conviction should be reversed because the district court gave an erroneous instruction to the jury. Count Eight charged McDonough with obtaining kickbacks through a scheme or artifice in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1341. Specifically, the grand jury indictment charged that the purpose of the scheme was to defraud the citizens and government of Rensselaer County of 1) money, property, and other things of value ... and, 2) their right to control their money, property, and other things of value, (emphasis supplied). The district court charged the jury that it could convict if it found that the object of the plan was to deprive ... citizens and officials ... of money or the right to control their money or both, (emphasis supplied). McDonough argues that because the indictment charged him with two purposes in the conjunctive, the government was required to prove both at trial. This argument is meritless. 46 First, when defendant raised this argument in the district court, the government moved for and was granted permission to amend the indictment. In the amended indictment, the word or replaced the word and, clearly indicating that the jury could convict on either ground. On appeal, defendant has not challenged the ruling granting the amendment. 47 Even had the indictment not been amended, the conviction would stand. Where there are several ways to violate a criminal statute, as there are with the mail fraud statute, see United States v. Wallach, 935 F.2d 445, 462-63 (2d Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 2414, 124 L.Ed.2d 637 (1993), [f]ederal pleading requires ... that an indictment charge in the conjunctive to inform the accused fully of the charges. United States v. McGinnis, 783 F.2d 755, 757 (8th Cir.1986). A conviction under such an indictment will be sustained if the evidence indicates that the statute was violated in any of the ways charged. United States v. Lemire, 720 F.2d 1327, 1345 (D.C.Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1226, 104 S.Ct. 2678, 81 L.Ed.2d 874 (1984); see also Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46, 50-51, 112 S.Ct. 466, 469-470, 116 L.Ed.2d 371 (1991). Defendant was charged with depriving citizens of money and the right to control money. Thus, he could have been convicted under either of these theories, and the district court did not give an erroneous instruction to the jury.b. sufficiency of evidence 48 Defendant also argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction on Count Eight because there was no evidence that he intended to obtain money by false pretenses or that he intended to inflict financial harm on the Town of Brunswick or Rensselaer County. However, the government did not seek to prove only that McDonough acted with false pretenses. Rather, the government's primary theory appears to have been that McDonough defrauded Rensselaer County citizens and officials by means of nondisclosure and concealment of information about the kickback scheme that he had a duty to disclose. See, e.g., United States v. Bronston, 658 F.2d 920, 926-27 (2d Cir.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 915, 102 S.Ct. 1769, 72 L.Ed.2d 174 (1982). 49 Regarding McDonough's intent to inflict financial harm, all that the government was required to show was that defendant contemplated some actual harm to the county, Wallach, 935 F.2d at 461, which may be inferred from the totality of the circumstances and need not be proven by direct evidence. United States v. Alston, 609 F.2d 531, 538 (D.C.Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 918, 100 S.Ct. 1281, 63 L.Ed.2d 603 (1980). 50 There was certainly sufficient evidence to permit a rational juror to conclude that McDonough contemplated such financial injury. For example, the government submitted evidence of McDonough's efforts to conceal the kickbacks, which included organizing Collar City, with his wife as nominal head, just prior to commencement of the kickbacks from Petro's R.J. Carignan Agency. As the district court observed at sentencing, the very creation of the Collar City Agency sp[eaks] ... volumes about the fact that it was a coverup and an attempt to hide what ... [defendant] believed[ ] to be an illegal venture. In addition, the jury could have relied upon evidence that McDonough participated in government decisions on insurance matters without disclosing his interest in receiving kickbacks on commissions. In particular, the government presented testimony that McDonough took part in negotiations with the Rensselaer County Executive during which he successfully opposed a proposal to adopt a new system of partial self-insurance that would have reduced costs. Without disclosing his conflict of interest, McDonough participated in preparing a report that recommended increasing insurance expenditures by $450,000. Finally, the jury could also have inferred the requisite level of intent from evidence that the county in fact paid lower insurance fees before and after the scheme began than it did while the scheme was ongoing.