United States v. Dianne Winzer

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedNovember 11, 2009
Docket08-20508
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Dianne Winzer (United States v. Dianne Winzer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Dianne Winzer, (5th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED November 11, 2009

No. 08-20458 Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Plaintiff - Appellee v.

DEANDREA S WADE; ERIC AMOAKO

Defendants - Appellants

_______________________________________________________________ Consolidated w/ Case No. 08-20508

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

DIANNE WINZER

Defendant - Appellant

Appeal from the United States United States District, Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:07-CR-00351-4

Before BENAVIDES, DENNIS, and ELROD, Circuit Judges. No. 08-20458

PER CURIAM:* Defendant-Appellants: Eric Amoako, Dianne Winzer, and Deandrea Wade, were indicted in the district court for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1341 (Count I); conspiracy to launder funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) (Count II); and several individual counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1341 (Counts III-XX). The jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts as to Amoako and Winzer, but only convicted Wade on Counts I, II, XVI, and XVII (charging conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two individual counts of mail fraud). On appeal, all three appellants argue both that the district court erred in excluding the testimony of two mental health experts, and that the indictment was defective for failure to sufficiently allege the mens rea of the offense charged in Count II. Additionally, Wade appeals the district court’s denial of her Rule 29 motion, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to sustain her convictions on Counts I, II, XVI, and XVII. I. The gravamen of the Government’s case against the three co- defendants consisted of testimony given by two of the defendants’ co- conspirators, Theresa Williams and Sandra Johnson. Prior to January, 2006, Theresa Williams owned accident injury clinics in Houston, Texas, and Sandra Johnson was an adjuster in the Houston Workers’ Compensation Claim Center of the Hartford Insurance Company (Hartford). In January, 2006, Johnson began issuing checks from Hartford to Williams’s clinics in Houston—for services not actually rendered. Initially, Johnson and Williams split these proceeds in half, equally amongst the two women. Later, when the

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.

2 No. 08-20458

two incorporated other co-conspirators into their scheme, they decided they would split the fraudulently issued checks three ways between Johnson, Williams, and whichever co-conspirator owned the address purported to be a “clinic.” In total, Johnson caused 188 checks to be issued by Hartford from January, 2006, to June, 2006, to fake clinics—amounting to approximately $1,717,000.00. During the trial, Williams testified that prior to the conception of the charged conspiracy, the first named appellant, Amoako, had been her “boyfriend, [her] business partner, [and her] best friend.” Amoako was a personal injury lawyer, and Williams and Amoako had previously arranged a business agreement by which Williams would send Amoako patients from her clinic and Amoako would send his injured clients to Williams’ clinic. At trial, Johnson testified that she first approached Amoako about joining their money laundering/mail fraud conspiracy. According to Johnson’s testimony, Amoako and Johnson agreed that Johnson would send checks payable to Gulfway Medical and Rehab Center, a Port Arthur clinic that Amoako owned. Thus, the two agreed that Johnson and Williams would each get a percentage of the Hartford insurance money that Johnson caused to be sent to Amoako’s defunct clinic. Amoako disputes the credibility of Johnson’s and Williams’ testimonies, and instead, contends he was oblivious to the fraud and thought Johnson and Williams were billing for services actually rendered. Williams also testified that Winzer, the second appellant in the instant appeal, had been her friend for “maybe eighteen years.” Winzer had been Williams’ accountant, handling her taxes, as well as her personal and business accounting. In 2004, Williams sold an accident and injury clinic she owned, known as “Amigos,” to Winzer. Deandrea Wade (the third appellant in this case and Winzer’s daughter) worked as the office manager of the clinic.

3 No. 08-20458

Williams testified that Winzer also owns Brighter Days, a tax business and a daycare all in the same building, in Houston, Texas. Additionally, Winzer is claimed to own a clinic called Total Rehab of Monroe, also known as Winzer Total Rehab, located in Monroe, Louisiana. After discussing the idea with Williams, Johnson invited Winzer to join the money laundering/mail fraud scheme. Johnson and Winzer agreed that Johnson would cause Hartford to send fraudulent checks to Winzer’s clinics and that Winzer would then distribute one-third of the proceeds to Williams and one-third to Johnson. Winzer disputes Williams’ and Johnson’s version of events–contending instead that she was duped and controlled by Williams during the entirety of their business dealings. During the trial, Johnson offered testimony regarding a meeting that took place between Winzer, Williams, and herself, during which Winzer distributed the allotted funds from the first fraudulent check Winzer’s Brighter Days clinic received from Hartford. Johnson stated that Wade was present at that meeting. According to Johnson, Wade asked how she could “get in on it.” Johnson and Williams then explained to Wade “how the process was going to work . . . [Johnson] would issue the checks and once she got them, then [Wade] would pay [Johnson], and that the checks would be made out to C. Johnson Claims Service.” Subsequent to that meeting, Johnson caused checks to be sent from Hartford to Total Rehab of Monroe, P.O. Box 4941, in Monroe, Louisiana. The application for this post office box was filled out and signed in the name of Deandrea Wade, 6422 Mosswood Drive. Wade avers that although she did accept the checks from Hartford on behalf of her mother’s clinics, she was merely performing her job as the Amigos office manager and was oblivious to the fact that the checks were fraudulent. Eric Amoako, Theresa Williams, Dianne Winzer, and Deandrea Wade all proceeded to trial in the district court on January 22, 2008. Johnson,

4 No. 08-20458

however, entered a plea of guilty as to the government’s charges against her for conspiracy and mail fraud. Johnson testified at trial that her plea agreement with the government included a cooperation agreement, by which she would be eligible for a reduced sentence in exchange for her truthful testimony regarding the conspiracy she entered into with her co-defendants. On the morning of the sixth day of trial, Amoako’s counsel informed the court that he had “a few miscellaneous type witnesses,” and that he would like to “put them on.” He then proceeded to call to the stand Deborah Drake, a witness that counsel had failed to disclose in compliance with the district court’s previously issued Scheduling Order. Drake is a clinical social worker and a marriage and family therapist who testified that Johnson was her client.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Krenning
93 F.3d 1257 (Fifth Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Threadgill
172 F.3d 357 (Fifth Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Wise
221 F.3d 140 (Fifth Circuit, 2000)
United States v. Hart
295 F.3d 451 (Fifth Circuit, 2002)
United States v. Kay
513 F.3d 432 (Fifth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Crawley
533 F.3d 349 (Fifth Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Armstrong
550 F.3d 382 (Fifth Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Ollison
555 F.3d 152 (Fifth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Stephens
571 F.3d 401 (Fifth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Edward Grady Partin
493 F.2d 750 (Fifth Circuit, 1974)
United States v. Thomas J. Purvis
580 F.2d 853 (Fifth Circuit, 1978)
United States v. Jack Graves
669 F.2d 964 (Fifth Circuit, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
United States v. Dianne Winzer, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dianne-winzer-ca5-2009.