United States v. Silveira

297 F. Supp. 2d 349, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23390, 2003 WL 23105452
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedNovember 19, 2003
DocketCRIM. 01-10385-NG
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 297 F. Supp. 2d 349 (United States v. Silveira) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Silveira, 297 F. Supp. 2d 349, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23390, 2003 WL 23105452 (D. Mass. 2003).

Opinion

SENTENCING MEMORANDUM

GERTNER, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

The focus of the government’s case against Larry Silveira (“Silveira”) was the allegation that he was a conspirator in a wide-ranging and fraudulent telemarketing scheme organized and managed by George Campbell (“Campbell”). 1 Silveira was acquitted of these charges.

Silveira, however, was convicted of perjury for one statement before the grand jury in an otherwise entirely true and lengthy presentation. Testifying without counsel, Silveira stated that certain monies given him by Campbell (which he recounted in detail) were loans which were to be repaid, rather than salary. The government had documents suggesting the opposite.

The major issues in Silveira’s sentencing concerned, a) the significance of Sil-veira’s trial testimony — whether repeating a statement at trial which the jury found to be false qualifies him for an enhancement for obstructing or impeding the administration of justice under United States Sentencing Guidelines § 3C1.1, and b) the significance of Silveira’s grand jury testimony — whether a conviction for false tes *351 timony with respect to one issue, in an otherwise truthful grand jury recitation, is within the “heartland” 2 of perjury convictions, and if not, whether it warrants a departure from the sentencing guidelines for perjury.

I agreed with the government concerning an enhancement for obstruction of justice, and that enhancement added two points to Silveira’s offense score for a total of 14. 3 But while I enhanced Silveira’s sentence because his trial conduct represented an obstruction of justice under the language of the Guidelines and the relevant case law, I also found that his offense conduct — his testimony before the grand jury — warranted a departure under the general departure authority of U.S.S.G. § 5K2.0. I evaluated Silveira’s testimony before the grand jury, and the evidence which I had heard at his trial. I reviewed not only the case law of perjury convictions in this and other circuits, but also, as is my wont, the presentence reports of other perjury cases within this jurisdiction. 4 I concluded that all perjury convictions are not alike, that there were factors present in the Silveira case which were unique and properly outside the “heartland” for perjury offenses' — where the overwhelming majority of his testimony was accurate, helpful to the government, and arguably incriminating to him (all without the benefit of counsel), where the single untruthful statement was at the margins of materiality, since it did not undermine the government’s case against Campbell, and simply served to link Sil-veira somewhat more directly to the Campbell conspiracy (a conspiracy for which he was acquitted); where the facts and jury instructions supported a finding, not of wilful misrepresentation, but rather, of a reckless disregard for the facts.

I would have departed downward to a level 12, from a level 14 (in Zone C) to reflect this analysis, but for one additional development, the announcement by the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) on December 13, 2002, that it would not accept judicial recommendations for community confinement for Zone C offenders. See Monahan v. Winn, 276 F.Supp.2d 196 (D.Mass.2003). Accordingly, I departed downward to a level 10, in Zone B, and imposed three years’ probation, with ten months in community confinement, and four months in home detention.

II. FACTS

A. The Indictment

1. The Campbell Conspiracy

George Campbell, Gail Costello and Larry Silveira were charged in a twenty count indictment with Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count 1); Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) and (a)(2) (Counts 2-14); Mail Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Counts 15-17); Destruction and Removal of Property to Prevent Seizure, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2232 (Counts 18 and 19); and False Declaration, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623 (Count 20). Costello was named in eighteen counts, Counts 1 through 17 and Count 19, but after obviously productive plea negotiations, she was charged with structuring under 31 U.S.C. § 5324, in a single count information. See *352 United States v. Costello, No. 01-10385-NG (October 28, 2003).

Far more peripheral to the Campbell operation than was Costello, Silveira was charged only in Count 1 (the conspiracy) and Count 20 (false statement), went to trial on both counts, and was convicted only on the latter.

The initial indictment charged that between October 1995 and December 1997, George Campbell owned and operated a telemarketing operation which solicited funds ostensibly on behalf of various charities. One of these charities was the American Veterans Wish Foundation (“AVWF”) which purported to grant the wishes of dying veterans. Although a substantial amount of money was collected, little if any made it to reputable legitimate charitable organizations.

Campbell was in total charge of the operation. Witness after witness described him as controlling, even abusive, screaming when things were not done his way. He intimidated nearly everyone around him, both verbally and even physically.

Campbell’s operation involved various “boiler rooms,” offices and maildrops in the Northeast, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Florida. The boiler rooms used numerous telephone solicitors to give deceptive pitches to solicit donations from prospective donors. Campbell collected the donations through the mail or had couriers retrieve them.

To the extent that anyone had a more substantial role in the operation, it was William Twohig (“Twohig”) and Gail Costello (“Costello”). Twohig, at Campbell’s direction, had day-to-day responsibility for staffing and running the boiler rooms. Costello was George Campbell’s sister and the bookkeeper for the operation. She received the solicited funds, deposited the funds into bank accounts, arranged to have checks cashed, and moved, or wire-transferred funds from one bank account to another, using nominee names or straws. All of the accounts were in fact controlled entirely by Campbell.

The nominees, or straws, were paid for allowing Campbell to use their names, either a flat rate per week or a percentage of the particular boiler room.

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Related

United States v. Silveira
426 F.3d 514 (First Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Smith
311 F. Supp. 2d 801 (E.D. Wisconsin, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
297 F. Supp. 2d 349, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23390, 2003 WL 23105452, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-silveira-mad-2003.