United States v. James Sutera

933 F.2d 641, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 9794, 1991 WL 77524
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMay 15, 1991
Docket90-2479
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 933 F.2d 641 (United States v. James Sutera) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. James Sutera, 933 F.2d 641, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 9794, 1991 WL 77524 (8th Cir. 1991).

Opinion

SNEED, Senior Circuit Judge:

James Sutera appeals his convictions under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1955, 1084, 1956(a)(l)(B)(i) (1988) for money laundering and various gambling related offenses. We affirm.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

The investigation leading to Sutera’s convictions began in the spring of 1988. At that time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) commenced surveillance of Carlo Cavallaro, a Kansas City bookmaker and a *643 suspected organized crime figure who frequently was seen entering a restaurant owned by appellant’s family, the Sutera Old San Francisco Restaurant, located in the “west bottoms” area of Kansas City. This led to an investigation of possible gambling activity at another Sutera family-owned restaurant, the Brookside Restaurant. An FBI agent and a detective from the Kansas City Police Department frequented this restaurant where they witnessed sports gambling activity in the bar of the restaurant. There was frequent discussion of past and upcoming games; employees of the restaurant were seen passing “line” sheets to customers; and both saw occasional exchanges of envelopes that appeared to contain money.

Thereafter, the FBI placed court authorized pen registers and wiretaps on the Brookside restaurant, James Sutera’s home phone, and phones belonging to other defendants named in the indictment. These devices revealed that Edward Searing was operating a central bookmaking network consisting of other bookmakers, of which Sutera was one, and numerous players. Sutera received bets for the Searing network and his “own” players. Some who placed bets with Sutera on their own behalf also placed bets with him on behalf of a group of players.

On October 13, 1989, the grand jury indicted Sutera, Searing, and four others, for various offenses related to their gambling business. Sutera was indicted for the following four offenses:

1) Operating an illegal gambling business.
2) Using interstate wire facilities to transmit betting information while engaged in the business of gambling.
3) Failure to pay a special gambling tax.
4) Money laundering.

Sutera’s case was tried before a jury which returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment in March, 1990. Under the sentencing guidelines, Sutera was sentenced to thirty-three months for the money laundering charge. 1

II.

JURISDICTION

We have jurisdiction over this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988).

III.

DISCUSSION

Sutera alleges that the trial court made four errors, each of which would provide a basis for reversal:

1) That the trial court’s instruction to the jury on money laundering constituted an impermissible amendment of the indictment.
2) That the trial court erred in failing to grant defendant’s motion to suppress statements made by Sutera to the FBI.
3) That the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction for money laundering.
4) That the trial court erred when it enhanced Sutera’s offense levels based on his level of participation in the various gambling enterprises.

We find that none constitutes reversible error.

A. The Indictment Issue

This issue can best be presented by setting forth, first, the indictment and, next, the alleged faulty jury charge. Count twenty-four of the indictment reads:

On or about February 10, 1988 ... defendant JAMES SUTERA, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represented the proceeds of an unlawful activity as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(c)(1), that is, an illegal gambling business in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1955, did deposit a check which was the proceeds of the *644 illegal gambling business into a bank account in the name of Sutera’s Enterprises, knowing that the transaction was designed in whole or part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the proceeds of the illegal gambling business.
All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a)(l)(B)(i).

Appendix for Appellant at 29 (emphasis added). Counts twenty-five and twenty-six are identical except the dates are different.

The jury charge on money laundering is as follows:

Four essential elements are required to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in order to establish the offenses charged in Counts Twenty-four, Twenty-five and Twenty-six of the Indictment:
One: that the defendant Sutera conducted a financial transaction through or by a financial institution which is engaged in or whose activities affect interstate commerce in any way or degree;
Two: that the defendant Sutera knew that the checks involved were the proceeds of a bookmaking activity;
Three: that the defendant Sutera knew the transaction was designed in whole or in part to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership or control of the proceeds; and Four: that the transaction did involve the proceeds of illegal bookmaking activity.

Jury Instruction No. CC, Appendix for Appellant at 58 (emphasis added). Appellant contends that the above instruction improperly amended the indictment because it embraced proceeds of “a bookmaking activity” rather than an “illegal gambling business,” This change, he argues, violated his Fifth Amendment right to be charged by a grand jury. 2 We disagree.

To understand the statutory framework fixing the form of the indictment we begin by noting that Sutera was specifically charged with violating section 1956(a)(1), which reads:

Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity ... knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part — (i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity ... shall be sentenced to a fine ... or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both, (emphasis added).

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Bluebook (online)
933 F.2d 641, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 9794, 1991 WL 77524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-james-sutera-ca8-1991.