United States v. Pedroni

45 F. App'x 103
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedApril 18, 2002
DocketNo. 99-5182
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 45 F. App'x 103 (United States v. Pedroni) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Pedroni, 45 F. App'x 103 (3d Cir. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

COWEN, Circuit Judge.

Richard Pedroni was found guilty of violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 by conspiring to defraud the United States, and to commit tax evasion (in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201), wire fraud on the State of New Jersey (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343), and money laundering (in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957). He was acquitted on all other counts. The District Court sentenced Pedroni to 37 months and ordered him to pay $500,000 in restitution. He [106]*106challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, some of the evi-dentiary rulings and jury instructions, as well as his sentence. We will affirm.

I.

Pedroni and his coconspirators participated in a “daisy chain” scheme to evade excise taxes on the sale of certain kinds of fuel. The elements of such schemes have been detailed sufficiently elsewhere. See, e.g., United States v. Morelli, 169 F.3d 798, 801 (3d Cir.1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 820, 120 S.Ct. 63, 145 L.Ed.2d 54 (1999) (citations omitted). From 1989 until at least 1993, Pedroni operated as the president of Pedroni Fuels, a fuel supply company operating at the top of the daisy chain. We will add further factual detail below as it becomes necessary to the legal discussion.

II.

A. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Pedroni first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, we must ask whether any rational jury could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government. See United States v. Veksler, 62 F.3d 544, 551 (3d Cir.1995) (citations omitted). Count One of the Superseding Indictment charged the conspirators with a multiple-object conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit tax evasion, wire fraud on the State of New Jersey, and money laundering. The Government was required to prove three elements: “(1) the existence of an agreement, (2) an overt act by one of the conspirators in furtherance of the objectives, and (3) an intent on the part of the conspirators to agree, as well as to defraud the United States” or to commit an underlying offense. United States v. Shoup, 608 F.2d 950, 955-56 (3d Cir.1979). Pedroni challenges the sufficiency of the first and third elements, arguing that he had no actual knowledge of the illegal objective of the conspiracy nor the requisite intent required.

We are satisfied that a rational finder of fact could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the Government met its burden of proof. A jury could rationally infer that Pedroni had actual knowledge of the conspiracy, and that he intended that excise taxes would not be paid on the fuel Pedro-ni supplied to the daisy chain. For example, Pedroni stock-transferred fuel into Pe-tro Plus’ account at the terminal despite invoicing the fuel to a middle company in the chain. He called Kings to determine which company to invoice for the fuel, and it was Kings (and not Petro Plus) that paid Pedroni for the fuel before Pedroni even sent invoices for the middle companies to Kings. When documents and certification were lacking, Pedroni called personnel at Kings, instead of calling the actual purchaser, to give that particular purchasing company an opportunity to provide correct documentation. It did not matter that Pe-droni sold to middle companies in the daisy chain that had 637 Licenses (making the initial transactions tax-exempt) because Pedroni clearly knew that he was in effect selling to PetroPlus and that taxes were not being payed along the chain. The record reflects numerous examples of similar deceptions. It is apparent from the record that the trial provided sufficient evidence from which a rational jury could find the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

B. Jury Instructions

Pedroni argues that the District Court erred when it did not deliver a charge [107]*107which included instructions on good-faith defense, willfulness, multiple conspiracy, missing witness, and unity of purpose instructions. Additional error is alleged because the District Court did not instruct the jury that each element must be found unanimously and advised the jury to disregard the evidence that Pedroni lacked a stake in the venture. “We will reverse the [District [Cjourt’s denial to charge a specific jury instruction only when the requested instruction was correct, not substantially covered by the instructions given, and was so consequential that the refusal to give the instruction was prejudicial to the defendant.” United States v. Phillips, 959 F.2d 1187, 1191 (3d Cir.1992). In determining whether the District Court stated the appropriate legal standards in its charge, our review is plenary. United States v. Johnstone, 107 F.3d 200, 204 (3d Cir.1997). The jury charge must clearly articulate the legal standards at issue and be structured to avoid confusion, we examine the charge in its entirety. Id.

We have previously made clear that a District Court’s failure to give a good-faith defense instruction does not constitute an abuse of discretion, so long as the charge included detailed instructions on the elements of the crime. Gross, 961 F.2d at 1103 (“[A] jury finding of good faith is inconsistent with a finding that the defendant acted knowingly and willfully.”). Consistent with our practice to review the entire jury charge as a whole, the record is clear that the District Court adequately charged the jury on willfulness. It was not in error to refuse to charge the defense of good faith.

As to the failure to charge on multiple conspiracies, the District Court did instruct the jury that the “first element for you to determine is whether the conspiracy charged in Count One existed” and that “[i]n order to find a defendant guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States, you must find that he was a participant in the scheme to defraud the United States set forth in the Indictment, and not some other scheme.” App. at 627, 630. The District Court further instructed the jury that it could not consider whether a defendant was a member of the conspiracy unless it found that “the evidence shows that the conspiracy charged in Count One existed.” App. at 633. The charge, viewed in its entirety, substantially covered the instruction Pedroni argues should have been included. See, e.g., Phillips, 959 F.2d at 1191.

Pedroni argues that the District Court should have given a missing witness instruction because the government chose not to call three of its cooperating witnesses.

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Related

United States v. Francis
50 V.I. 922 (Virgin Islands, 2008)
Pedroni v. United States
537 U.S. 1045 (Supreme Court, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
45 F. App'x 103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-pedroni-ca3-2002.