United States v. Fruchter

137 F. App'x 390
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedJune 14, 2005
DocketNos. 02-1422(L), 02-145KCON), 02-1474(CON), 02-1542CCON), 02-1552(CON), 02-156KCON)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 137 F. App'x 390 (United States v. Fruchter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second 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. Fruchter, 137 F. App'x 390 (2d Cir. 2005).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Defendant-appellants appeal their convictions, following an eleven-week jury trial, for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act [392]*392(“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq., the federal mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1341, and the federal conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371. We have issued today an opinion that addresses and rejects appellant Braun’s claim under Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), and United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. -, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), that the district court’s criminal forfeiture order violated the Sixth Amendment. We address in this summary order appellants’ other contentions. Familiarity with the facts and procedural background is presumed.

Principal among appellants’ claims on appeal is that the prosecution’s introduction into evidence of the plea allocution of co-defendant Steven Fruchter, who pled guilty mid-way through trial, violated the rule announced in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), a case that was decided after defendants were convicted. Because it is unclear from the record whether appellants preserved their Confrontation Clause claim, we review under the relatively more lenient harmless-error standard. See, e.g., United States v. McClain, 377 F.3d 219, 222 (2d Cir.2004). The Government concedes that the introduction of the allocution was error, but maintains that the error was harmless. See, e.g., id.; see also Coy v. Iowa, 487 U.S. 1012, 1021, 108 S.Ct. 2798, 101 L.Ed.2d 857 (1988) (denial of face-to-face confrontation subject to harmless error analysis). We agree with the Government. The substance of the allocution was cumulative of other evidence that had been presented at trial and was fully corroborated. Moreover, the plea allocution was admitted only to show the existence of the conspiracy, a fact that was not seriously contested by anyone and was supported by an overwhelming body of other evidence. Accordingly, the error was “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 684, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986).

Appellant Braun also challenges the sufficiency of the Government’s evidence against him as to (1) his conviction for mail fraud against API’s customers, (2) his convictions for RICO and general conspiracy, and (3) his role in “operating] or manag[ing]” a racketeering enterprise. Reves v. Ernst & Young, 507 U.S. 170, 179, 113 S.Ct. 1163, 122 L.Ed.2d 525 (1993). Braun fails to meet the “very heavy burden” imposed on insufficiency claims. United States v. Desena, 287 F.3d 170, 177 (2d Cir.2002). The jury was entitled to infer (1) that Taylor and Braun’s discussion of throttling in the context of cost-savings meant that Braun was aware of the illegal throttling occurring at API, and (2) that Braun was aware that the significant delays in completion of yellow sheets, of which he complained, was due to illegitimate activity. As to the RICO and general conspiracy convictions, the jury was also entitled to infer from Braun’s central role in the management of API’s finances, and from the fact that he reaped a third of API’s profits, that Braun did more than merely associate with conspirators under suspicious circumstances. Finally, as to Braun’s role in API’s activities, the jury was entitled to find that it rose to the level of “operation or management.” Reves, 507 U.S. at 179, 113 S.Ct. 1163. As chief financial officer, for example, Braun supervised the billing of customers and the underpayment of the Postal Service and advised Taylor about how he should record bribes. Accordingly, we reject Braun’s sufficiency claims.

We find similarly unavailing appellant Singh’s sufficiency claims. The evidence presented at trial was sufficient to prove that Singh was (1) aware of the general thrust of the RICO conspiracy, and (2) an operator or manager of the [393]*393RICO enterprise. Specifically, Singh conceded that he was involved in the bundling and burying activities at API, and the evidence at trial showed that he helped direct those activities. The evidence at trial also showed that Singh was aware of other schemes, such as illegal throttling, intended to defraud the Postal Service. The jury was therefore entitled to conclude that he was guilty of RICO violations and RICO conspiracy.

We also reject appellant Sylla’s sufficiency challenge to his RICO conviction. Sylla not only supervised bundling and burying activities at API, but also had responsibility for throttling decisions and devised the “dropping-counts” scheme that API implemented following reclassification. Accordingly, the jury was entitled to find that he satisfied the Reves test and had violated 18 U.S.C. § 1962.

Appellants also contend that the Government’s comments about Steven Fruchter’s plea allocution and Yague’s post-arrest confession during summation constituted prosecutorial misconduct. We disagree. We see nothing improper in the prosecutor’s closing remarks, and certainly nothing “so severe and significant as to result in the denial of [the defendants’] right to a fair trial.” United States v. Locascio, 6 F.3d 924, 945 (2d Cir.1993).

Appellant Yague also argues that the district court committed reversible error when it denied his motion to suppress a confession he made in the wake of his arrest, after he had been given his Miranda warnings. We disagree. The district court properly found that no police overreaching or misconduct occurred during Yague’s interrogation and that, in the absence of coercion, the statement was not involuntary. See Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986); see also United States v. Cristobal, 293 F.3d 134, 141 (4th Cir.2002); United States v. Genao, 281 F.3d 305, 310 (1st Cir.2002).

Appellant William argues that the prosecutor’s inadvertent failure to turn over a handwritten note that he had scribbled during a short telephone conversation with Leonard Taylor, the Government’s star witness, violated his due process rights under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500.

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Bluebook (online)
137 F. App'x 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-fruchter-ca2-2005.