United States v. Harms

442 F.3d 367, 69 Fed. R. Serv. 684, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 6622, 2006 WL 533832
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMarch 6, 2006
Docket04-10631
StatusPublished
Cited by72 cases

This text of 442 F.3d 367 (United States v. Harms) 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. Harms, 442 F.3d 367, 69 Fed. R. Serv. 684, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 6622, 2006 WL 533832 (5th Cir. 2006).

Opinions

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

A jury convicted Michael Lee Harms of three counts of mail fraud and three counts of perjury in connection with the receipt of workers’ compensation benefits. The district court sentenced him to 33 months imprisonment and ordered restitution of $354,389.61. Harms’s appeal challenges the sufficiency of the indictment and the evidence against him, the prosecution’s use of summary evidence, exclusion of defense evidence, and the denial of his motion for mistrial. He also appeals his sentence.

I

Harms suffered a back injury in 1996 while employed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an air traffic controller. Unable to return to work, he began receiving workers’ compensation benefits from the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, an office of the Department of Labor (DOL). Except during an unsuccessful attempt to return to work in 1997, Harms continued to receive benefits until he returned to work in February 2002. As required by federal regulation, Harms periodically provided to the DOL a “Form 1032,” a questionnaire regarding a recipient’s employment, business, and related activities. These forms instructed Harms to disclose, among other things: (1) all employment for which he received a salary, wages, income, sales commissions, piecework, or payment of any kind; (2) all self-employment or involvement in business enterprises, including managing or overseeing a business of any kind; (3) any work or ownership interest in any business enterprise, even if the business lost money or performed duties for which he was not paid; (4) and any volunteer work for which any form of monetary or in-kind compensation was received. The forms cautioned that false or evasive answers might result in forfeiture of compensation benefits, civil liability, and criminal prosecution.

[371]*371While receiving workers’ compensation benefits, Harms served on the board of directors for Challenge Air for Kids (“Challenge Air”), a non-profit organization. He also served as president, chief executive office, and part owner of Amber Aviation, Inc. (“Amber Aviation”), a for-profit corporation closely associated with Challenge Air. Harms also flew planes for IFL Group (“IFL”) and Hall Airways, Inc. (“Hall Airways”), two charter airline companies. He failed to disclose any of these activities on the 1032 forms he submitted to the DOL.

In 2003, Harms was charged with three counts of mail fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341,1 and three counts of perjury for the purpose of obtaining workers’ compensation benefits, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1920,2 based on 1032 forms Harms submitted to the DOL via the United States Postal Service in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

A jury convicted Harms on all six counts. The presentence report (PSR) calculated the amount of loss for sentencing purposes as $354,389.61, the amount paid to Harms between February 1997 and March 2002. The PSR also increased Harms’s offense level for obstruction of justice, finding that Harms had concealed or destroyed subpoenaed documents and instructed others to do likewise. The jury made no factual findings regarding amount of loss or obstruction of justice. Harms objected to the loss calculation, the obstruction of justice enhancement, the amount of restitution, and the use of the 2003 edition of the Sentencing Guidelines. The district court overruled these objections and sentenced Harms to 33 months imprisonment, the bottom of the applicable Guideline range, and ordered restitution of benefits received.

II

Harms claims that the superseding indictment3 was deficient. In the mail fraud counts, the indictment alleged that Harms engaged in a scheme to defraud the government by working as a pilot for Hall Airways, having Hall Airways give checks to Challenge Air in the amount of his pay, and having Challenge Air pay funds to the defendant. The indictment further alleged that Harms worked for IFL and had IFL’s [372]*372owner pay him in a lump sum, which Harms endorsed over to his father so that his father could send funds in the same amount to pay Harms’s credit card bill. Finally, the mail fraud counts alleged that Harms served on the board of Challenge Air and as president and CEO of Amber Aviation and failed to disclose any of these facts in the 1032 forms he mailed to the DOL. Similarly, in the perjury counts, the superseding indictment alleged that Harms “falsified, concealed and covered up his true employment status, involvement in business enterprises of volunteer work for compensation” in the 1032 forms. Specifically, the indictment alleged that Harms failed to disclose in his 1999 and 2000 forms that: (1) he was employed as a pilot at Hall Airways; (2) acted as president and CEO of Amber Aviation; (3) was a member of the Challenge Air board of directors; and (4) received funds from Challenge Air and Amber Aviation. With respect to the 2001 form, the indictment additionally alleged that Harms failed to disclose that he was an employee of IFL. Harms contends that the indictment fails to state an offense for either mail fraud or perjury because it alleges that he received “funds” from Charter Air and Amber Aviation rather than alleging that he received “compensation.”4 Thus, he argues, the indictment effectively shifted the burden to him to prove that the funds he received were “reimbursements” rather than compensation.

We review the sufficiency of an indictment de novo. United States v. Kay, 359 F.3d 738, 742 (5th Cir.2004). “An indictment is sufficient if it contains the elements of the charged offense, fairly informs the defendant of the charges against him, and ensures that there is no risk of future prosecutions for the same offense.” United States v. Sims. Bros. Constr., Inc., 277 F.3d 734, 741 (5th Cir.2001). We are not concerned with whether the indictment could have been better framed, or whether it invokes a particular “ritual of words,” but whether it conforms to the minimal standards required by the Constitution. United States v. Wilson, 884 F.2d 174, 179 (5th Cir.1989). Thus, an exact recitation of an element of the charged crime is not required, provided the indictment as a whole “fairly imports” the element. Id.

To prove the offense of mail fraud under § 1341, the Government must show “(1) a scheme to defraud; (2) use of the mails to execute that scheme; and (3) the specific intent to defraud.” United States v. Bieganowski, 313 F.3d 264, 275 (5th Cir.2002). The Government must also prove that the scheme to defraud involved a materially false statement. Id. A statement is material if its has a natural tendency to influence, or is capable of influencing, the decision of the decision-making body to which it was addressed. United States v. Brown, 303 F.3d 582, 601 (5th Cir.2002) (citing United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 509, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995)).

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Bluebook (online)
442 F.3d 367, 69 Fed. R. Serv. 684, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 6622, 2006 WL 533832, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-harms-ca5-2006.