Opinion ID: 71274
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Jury Finding on Racketeering Act Nine

Text: Tokars claims that the district court erred by allowing the jury to find that he committed Racketeering Act Nine (Count XI), under the vicarious co-conspirator liability theory of Pinkerton. Tokars essentially argues that one must actually and not derivatively possess the requisite specific intent to commit an underlying predicate act in a RICO prosecution in order for that predicate act to qualify as an act of racketeering for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 1961(5). However, we need not reach the merits of this argument. Any error would be harmless, because the jury specifically found that Tokars committed three other racketeering acts that constituted a pattern of racketeering activity. Thus, the two racketeering acts necessary to support the RICO conviction still remained. See 18 U.S.C. § 1961(5). J. Limitation of Cross-Examination of Ambrusko During the cross-examination of Ambrusko, Tokars attempted to show Ambrusko's bias on her part by questioning her about evidence of her bad relationship with Tokars. The district court granted the government's motion in limine precluding Tokars from examining Ambrusko regarding certain evidence. The government contends that the district court did not err in excluding the evidence because it was impermissible bad character evidence which did not impeach the credibility of the witness. Because Ambrusko's bias against Tokars 20 Mason also argues that the court erred in denying his motion for a new trial based on insufficiency of the evidence. However, based upon the above discussion, Mason's argument is meritless. was sufficiently established,21 we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in limiting the scope of cross-examination. In addition, assuming that the district court erroneously excluded such evidence, any error was harmless. K. Prosecutorial Misconduct Mason alleges that the court erred in denying his motions for a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct. During opening statements the government suggested that the phrase wolves in sheep's clothing, R57-621-22, would play a role in the case because the jury would be called upon to determine if the defendants were wolves in sheep's clothing or merely sheep. In addition, the government used very vivid language to describe the torture of Michael Jones, relaying that Ferguson treated Jones like a piece of meat. R57-634. Tokars and Mason also allege that prosecutorial misconduct occurred during closing argument when the government appealed to the conscience of the community and made religious references.22 Although the prosecutors may have gone a 21 Ambrusko admitted during cross-examination that she and Tokars did not share a good relationship. She also revealed that she did not implicate Tokars until five days after her initial interview with the police, and she admitted that she had been contacted by the media and had been approached about a book deal. 22 The objectionable portion of the closing argument reads as follows: He is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and you know it. And so is James Mason. Wolves in sheep's clothing, they were masquerading and parading in our society as pillars of the community, and this is why we have so many problems in dealing with drugs. This is why we cannot educate our children to have respect when members of the community who are pillars are aiding and abetting the sales of this product that is destroying our communities whether they are in public housing or bit overboard by bringing in two of the Ten Commandments and the public policy against drugs, in light of the monumental evidence against Tokars and Mason, we conclude that the prosecutor's remarks did not prejudice the substantial rights of the defendants. See United States v. Blakey, 14 F.3d 1557, 1560 (11th Cir.1994). L. Jury Charges—Tokars's Theory of the Case Tokars contends that the district court erred in refusing to give his theory of the case charges and in giving a willful blindness instruction.23 The court originally rejected all of Tokars's so-called theory-of-the-case charges because they were argumentative of the evidence. Upon reconsideration, the court decided to give its own version of the first charge regarding foreign accounts information on an IRS 1040 tax return. Our review of the record persuades us that the district court did not abuse its discretion. Tokars also argues that the district court erred in giving the willful blindness charge. Even if there is no evidence of whether they are in upscale neighborhoods. He has violated laws of ages. Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not kill. He has violated the law of the United States. James Mason has violated the law of the United States. R76-5375. 23 Tokars's requested charges included: (1) a charge regarding IRS form 8300, a statement of law regarding disclosure of Foreign Accounts on a 1040 tax return, and a charge that routine legal service does not constitute directing the affairs of an enterprise; (2) a charge relating to the Canons of Ethics requiring an attorney to represent his client zealously; and (3) a charge regarding the disclosure obligation with respect to foreign investments on a 1040 tax return. deliberate ignorance, reversal is not required if there is overwhelming evidence of actual knowledge. See United States v. Stone, 9 F.3d 934, 937 (11th Cir.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ---- , 115 S.Ct. 111, 130 L.Ed.2d 58 (1994). Our review of the record convinces us that there was overwhelming evidence that Tokars had actual knowledge. Therefore, we see no abuse of discretion. M. Due Process and Comments on Dismissed Charges Tokars contends that the district court erred in refusing to give his requested charge informing the jury that Counts VIII and IX of the indictment had been dismissed and in refusing his request that the court tell the jury what specific evidence pertaining to these two counts should not be held against Tokars. The district court refused to give the charges and instructed Tokars's counsel not to mention the dismissed counts to the jury. However, the district court provided the jury with a redacted indictment. The district court correctly concluded that even if the counts were dismissed, the jury could still consider evidence of those crimes as evidence of the existence of the enterprise. See United States v. Weiner, 3 F.3d 17, 22 (1st Cir.1993) (evidence of dismissed charges relevant to remaining RICO charges against defendant); United States v. Gonzalez, 921 F.2d 1530, 1546-47 (11th Cir.) (testimony regarding uncharged acts permissible to establish continuity of RICO entity), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 860, 112 S.Ct. 178, 116 L.Ed.2d 140, and cert. denied, 502 U.S. 827, 112 S.Ct. 96, 116 L.Ed.2d 68 (1991). Accordingly, there was no abuse of discretion. N. Mason's Sentence Mason argues that the district court erred in calculating his base offense level by converting the $160,000 laundered into a quantity of cocaine. The government argues that note 12 to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 allows a court making a drug approximation to consider the price generally obtained for the drug. Application note 12 to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 states: Where there is no drug seizure or the amount seized does not reflect the scale of the offense, the court shall approximate the quantity of the controlled substance. In making this determination, the court may consider, for example, the price generally obtained for the controlled substance.... Several other circuits have approved the procedure of converting cash to the amount of cocaine necessary to generate that amount of money. See United States v. Ferguson, 35 F.3d 327, 333 (7th Cir.1994) (no error in estimating the amount of cocaine needed to generate the amount of cash laundered), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 1832, 131 L.Ed.2d 752 (1995); United States v. Rios, 22 F.3d 1024, 1027-28 (10th Cir.1994) (when cash seized and either no drug is seized or the amount seized does not reflect the scale of the offense, conversion of cash to quantity of drugs appropriate so long as cash is attributable to drug sales that are a part of same course of conduct or common scheme of conviction); United States v. Rivera, 6 F.3d 431, 446 (7th Cir.1993) (approving conversion of seized currency to cocaine equivalent as long as there is proof of the connection between the money seized and the drug-related activity), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1130, 114 S.Ct. 1098, 127 L.Ed.2d 411 (1994); United States v. Jackson, 3 F.3d 506, 511 (1st Cir.1993) (same); United States v. Hicks, 948 F.2d 877, 882 (4th Cir.1991) (same); United States v. Stephenson, 924 F.2d 753, 764-65 (8th Cir.) (converting seized cash to equivalent drug amount), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 813, 112 S.Ct. 63, 116 L.Ed.2d 39, and cert. denied, 502 U.S. 916, 112 S.Ct. 321, 116 L.Ed.2d 262 (1991). But see United States v. Gonzalez-Sanchez, 953 F.2d 1184, 1187 (9th Cir.1992) (conversion improper where no factual finding that money was connected to the drug business). We are persuaded by our sister circuits that hold that money attributable to the drug transactions may be converted to the equivalent amount of drugs for purposes of determining the drug quantity. Mason expresses the concern that in most cases there is corroborative evidence of the amount of drugs involved, which he claims was not available in this case. Admittedly, only one of the above cases addresses a money laundering situation. However, the evidence here clearly showed that Mason was involved in laundering drug money. Consequently, it was reasonable for the district court to convert the laundered money to an equivalent amount of cocaine. We review the district court's factual determination regarding the quantity of drugs used to establish a base offense level for clear error. United States v. Taffe, 36 F.3d at 1050. We conclude that the district court did not clearly err. Furthermore, the district court was extremely cautious and found a higher conversion figure of $25,000 a fairer standard than the $20,000 conversion figure suggested in the presentence report. Mason also complains that the district court failed to make the necessary factual findings to support the quantity of cocaine attributed to him as required by United States v. Ismond, 993 F.2d 1498 (11th Cir.1993). However, Ismond is not applicable to this case, because it dealt with the determination of a defendant's liability for the acts of others. Mason was held accountable only for cocaine money attributable to him. Nevertheless, even if Ismond did control, we hold that the district court made sufficient factual findings regarding the extent of Mason's involvement to support its calculation of the quantity of drugs involved. Finally, Mason argues that the district court should have sentenced him for Count VI and Racketeering Act Two using U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1 (laundering of monetary instruments) instead of U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 (drug offenses). Mason contends that since no guideline has been expressly promulgated for defendants convicted of a drug conspiracy based solely on money laundering activity, he should have been sentenced under the most analogous offense guideline. However, there is a guideline expressly promulgated on this issue. Mason was convicted of conspiring to violate 21 U.S.C. § 841. Section 1B1.2(a) directs a district court that is deciding the applicable guideline to [d]etermine the offense guideline section in Chapter Two (Offense Conduct) most applicable to the offense of conviction. Application Note 1 to § 1B1.2 refers to the Statutory Index, and the Statutory Index for 21 U.S.C. § 846 refers to, among other sections, U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1. Section 2D1.1 itself contains the word conspiracy in its heading. The district court thus did not err in applying § 2D1.1 when sentencing Mason.