United States v. Dukes

242 F. App'x 37
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJuly 3, 2007
Docket05-5266
StatusUnpublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 242 F. App'x 37 (United States v. Dukes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Dukes, 242 F. App'x 37 (4th Cir. 2007).

Opinions

WILLIAMS, Chief Judge:

A jury convicted Marcus Dukes of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1341 (West 2000 & Supp.2006); interstate transportation of property obtained by fraud, 18 U.S.C.A. § 2314 (West 2000 & Supp.2006); and [41]*41money laundering, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1957(a) (West 2000 & Supp.2006). These convictions relate to Dukes’s leadership in a fraudulent investment scheme that targeted the African-American church community. Dukes appeals his convictions on numerous evidentiary grounds and, alternatively, contends that the district court erred in applying certain U.S. Sentencing Guidelines enhancements to his sentence. We affirm Dukes’s convictions, finding no reversible error. We nevertheless vacate Dukes’s sentence and remand for resentencing because we conclude that the district court erred in applying the guideline enhancement for “aggravating role” to Dukes’s sentence.

I.

A.

In 2000, Dukes and his business partner, Teresa Hodge, founded Financial Warfare Club (FWC), a Maryland nonprofit corporation.1 They marketed FWC as a “synergistic financial network created specifically for the body of Christ.” (J.A. at 500.)2 Dukes and Hodge, who are both African-American, claimed that FWC was created to generate wealth within the African-American community by promoting investment literacy among those who typically lacked knowledge of financial markets and by providing investment opportunities in companies that would purportedly generate revenue that would stay within the African-American community.

To that end, Dukes and Hodge primarily sought to grow FWC through presentations to African-American clergy and church groups. Invitations to FWC presentations were typically distributed during church services, and the pastor of the hosting church would usually introduce Dukes and Hodge to the attendees. Dukes littered FWC presentations with biblical references, often underscoring FWC’s purported goal of community financial empowerment by referencing the biblical passage Hosea 4:6, which states, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.”

FWC offered three membership levels. The top level, known as the “Founders Level,” required an initial payment of $2,550 and entitled the member to three financial literacy courses; 2,000 shares of stock in Global Com InterNetworks, Inc. (“GCI”), Integrated Solutions International, Inc. (“ISI”), and Genex, Inc., three “infrastructure” companies that Dukes and Hodge purportedly were developing; and the opportunity to buy additional shares of stock in the companies at preferred prices before their initial public offerings (IPOs). The intermediate level, known as the “Warriors” level, required an initial payment of $1,050 and entitled the member to two financial literacy courses, 500 shares of stock in each of the three companies, and the same opportunity to purchase more shares at preferred prices. The least expensive level, known as the “Believers” level, required an initial payment of $550 and entitled the member to one financial literacy course, 250 shares of stock in each of the three companies, and the opportunity to buy more shares at preIPO prices.

B.

Dukes and Hodge initially marketed FWC to smaller African-American Pentecostal churches. Their first church pres[42]*42entation was on September 27, 2000, at the Victorious Church of Jesus Christ in Camp Springs, Maryland. Dukes later hired Sam Hairston, the church’s pastor, to assist with marketing FWC in the greater church community.3

Dukes and Hodge presented FWC at churches around six or seven more times before the end of 2000. At the beginning of 2001, Dukes took FWC on the road, giving presentations at numerous churches throughout Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, and Alabama.

Aside from appealing to potential investors’ religious feelings, Dukes and those who introduced him also told potential investors about his considerable investment experience, including experience at a Wall Street brokerage firm. Dukes told investors that he had extensive experience taking companies public, the most notable of which was a retail clothing store called Today’s Man. Dukes often noted in presentations that he had given financial advice to a church in Washington, D.C. and that, as a result, the church made $50,000 and two church members bought matching Porsche automobiles with their profits. To further assuage potential investors’ concerns, both Dukes and Hodge told investors that they personally invested a large amount of money — approximately $1,000,000 — in FWC. They also offered a money-back guarantee on any investment in FWC up to the time of the infrastructure companies’ IPOs.

FWC flyers and handouts explained to potential investors that the company was seeking 10,000 members. Dukes initially told potential investors that FWC would take GCI public sixty days after it had sold 5,000 FWC memberships, ISI public ninety days later, and Genex public ninety days after that. In later presentations, however, Dukes changed the projected timing of GCI’s IPO.4 Dukes also stated on multiple occasions that ISI was obtaining banking licenses with the assistance of a former Washington, D.C. banking commissioner, that ISI officials had talked to fifty top state banking regulators, and that ISI would soon be operating a national African-American owned bank. Dukes and Hodge told FWC members that financial literacy courses would start within a few months of their investments.

C.

When it became apparent that FWC’s promised benefits (financial literacy courses and IPO profits) were not forthcoming, a number of FWC members requested a refund of their investments. Only a handful of members actually received a refund. When Dukes failed to respond timely to some FWC members’ complaints, some of those members contacted the Maryland Attorney General’s office. On March 5, 2001, the Maryland Securities Commissioner issued a cease- and-desist order against Dukes and Hodge, ordering them to stop offering or selling unregistered securities, including memberships in FWC, and to stop violating the anti-fraud provision of the Maryland Securities Act, Md.Code Ann., Corps. & Ass’ns §§ 11-101 tp 11-805 (LexisNexis [43]*432005).5 Dukes was served with a copy of the order on March 7, 2001. On the same day, and after he had received notice of the order, Dukes presented FWC at a large church in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, collecting approximately $200,000 in membership fees. Dukes returned the membership applications and fees to FWC’s office in Maryland.

On March 13, 2001, Dukes incorporated a new FWC entity in Washington, D.C. Around the same time, Dukes moved FWC out of its Maryland office.

On April 10, 2002, Dukes and Hodge entered into a consent decree with the Maryland Securities Commission. Pursuant to the terms of the decree, Dukes admitted to the Commission’s findings of fact. The decree also contained the Securities Commission’s legal conclusions that Dukes and Hodge had committed securities and investment fraud under the Maryland Securities Act, which Dukes neither admitted nor denied. In the decree, the Commission also repeated its orders to Dukes and Hodge to cease and desist from engaging in fraudulent investment activities.6

D.

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Bluebook (online)
242 F. App'x 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dukes-ca4-2007.