United States v. Victor I. Chukwu

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJanuary 4, 2021
Docket20-11186
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Victor I. Chukwu (United States v. Victor I. Chukwu) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Victor I. Chukwu, (11th Cir. 2021).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 20-11186 Date Filed: 01/04/2021 Page: 1 of 19

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 20-11186 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 3:18-cr-00121-RV-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

VICTOR I. CHUKWU,

Defendant-Appellant. ________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida ________________________

(January 4, 2021)

Before JORDAN, GRANT, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Victor Chukwu was tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud,

in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1349, and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. USCA11 Case: 20-11186 Date Filed: 01/04/2021 Page: 2 of 19

§§ 2 and 1343, for his role in a “Nigerian romance scheme.” The district court then

sentenced Chukwu to 22 months imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently.

He now appeals both his conviction and sentence. Specifically, Chukwu appeals the

district court’s admission into evidence of screenshots and photographs from his

cellphone depicting various financial transactions and the court’s application of three

sentencing enhancements: (1) a four-level enhancement based on an “intended loss”

amount of $22,000, (2) a two-level enhancement based on “substantial financial

hardship” of a victim, and (3) a two-level enhancement based on “a substantial part

of a fraudulent scheme [being] committed from outside the United States.” Upon

consideration, we conclude that the district court neither abused its discretion by

admitting the challenged evidence nor erred by applying the sentencing

enhancements. Accordingly, we affirm.

I.

In early March 2017, Jenny Bui discovered that her Facebook page had been

hacked. Soon after that discovery, Bui began receiving messages on that account

from an individual purporting to be a man named “Oscar Chris.” The messages

began as professions of love, but soon turned threatening when Bui did not

reciprocate. “Oscar Chris” insisted that if Bui did not pay him money, her family

members would be harmed. Bui eventually deposited $4,500 in a Bank of America

2 USCA11 Case: 20-11186 Date Filed: 01/04/2021 Page: 3 of 19

account in an attempt to keep her family safe. That Bank of America account

belonged to Chukwu. Chukwu then transmitted the funds to a foreign bank account.

Chukwu was indicted in the Northern District of Florida on charges of

conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Before trial, the government filed

a Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) notice, stating that it planned to introduce

evidence tending to prove intent and/or absence of mistake. That evidence included

“[t]he illicit/fraudulent laundering of currency through the defendant’s bank

accounts during 2017 and 2018, to foreign countries, as disclosed in discovery to the

defense via certified bank account records.” The government contended that this

conduct was inextricably intertwined with the charged conduct but filed the notice

“in an abundance of caution.”

Chukwu filed a motion in limine challenging the admissibility of bank records

and related screenshots and photographs from outside of the time period of the

alleged offense conduct. He argued that the evidence was inadmissible under Rule

403 because its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair

prejudice. Chukwu further argued that the government had produced “no evidence

that the funds deposited into the accounts were the product of a fraudulent scheme,”

rendering the evidence inadmissible under Rule 404(b).

In response, the government argued that the records in question constituted

uncharged acts arising out of the same series of transactions as the charged offense

3 USCA11 Case: 20-11186 Date Filed: 01/04/2021 Page: 4 of 19

and were inextricably intertwined with the alleged conduct charged in the

indictment. Accordingly, the records’ admissibility should be analyzed under the

traditional Rule 401 and 403 balancing test. Alternatively, the government argued

that the records and photographs from Chukwu’s phone demonstrated unexplained

wealth and were, therefore, admissible under Rule 404(b) to prove his involvement

in a “Nigerian romance scheme.” Finally, the government argued that the bank

records and photographs implicated Chukwu’s father in the scheme, which helped

to establish the existence of a conspiracy.

The district court denied Chukwu’s motion. First, it held that the bank records

and related evidence were inextricably intertwined with the charged offense. Second,

the evidence established that Chukwu sent other funds to his father in Nigeria just

as he did with the victim’s funds. Third, the evidence would likely be admissible

under Rule 404(b) as proof of knowledge, intent, motive, absence of mistake, or lack

of accident even if it were not inextricably intertwined with the charged conduct.

Further, the court determined “that there is sufficient proof to permit the jury to find

that the defendant’s accounts were what the government represents; and that the

probative value of the evidence is not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice.”

The court declined to definitively rule on the evidence’s admissibility under Rule

404(b), however, until, and unless, it was raised at trial.

4 USCA11 Case: 20-11186 Date Filed: 01/04/2021 Page: 5 of 19

At trial, Chukwu renewed his objection to the bank records. Chukwu argued

that the evidence was not inextricably intertwined with the charged conduct because

it was “way beyond the time that the offense ends in this case.” He further contended

that the case was limited to the $4,500 that the victim deposited into his account, and

evidence of other funds with no proven link to fraudulent activity was irrelevant.

The district court disagreed, ruling that the evidence was “very probative that there

was a conspiracy and that [Chukwu] was an integral part of it because it went through

four accounts in his name.”

The government then preemptively argued for the admissibility of evidence

extracted from Chukwu’s cellphone. Specifically, the government sought to admit

into evidence screenshots of bank accounts showing incoming and outgoing funds

that were not reported on Chukwu’s tax returns, photographs of deposit slips related

to large sums shown on his bank records, screenshots of text messages in which

Chukwu discussed setting up “Yankee” bank accounts, screenshots of money

transfers to and from Nigeria, photographs of Chukwu, and photographs of large

amounts of United States and Nigerian currency. All of this evidence was from 2017,

the year in which Chukwu received the $4,500 from Bui. The government argued

that the evidence was not barred by either Rule 403 or 404(b).

Chukwu responded that the probative value of the screenshots and

photographs was substantially outweighed by their prejudicial impact, thus they

5 USCA11 Case: 20-11186 Date Filed: 01/04/2021 Page: 6 of 19

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