United States Third Circuit

Convictions former Philadelphia treasurer and other defendants resulting from an investigation into city government corruption are affirmed over claims that: 1) the government failed to present sufficient evidence to support one defendant's convictions for mail fraud relating to his asset-locator business; 2) the indictment failed to state an offense with regard to two defendants' wire fraud convictions; 3) the district court erroneously instructed the jury; 4) insufficient evidence supported those wire fraud convictions; 5) conspiracy convictions must be vacated because there was a prejudicial variance between the crime charged in the indictment and the evidence adduced at trial; 6) insufficient evidence to support one defendant's convictions for wire fraud and perjury; 7) jury instructions on wire fraud omitted an essential element; 8) several forms of unfairly prejudicial evidence were wrongly admitted; and 9) the district court erred by individually questioning the jurors upon receiving complaints of juror misconduct and then discharging one juror.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/05/2007
• Decided 08/27/2007
• Published 08/27/2007

Judges

• BEFORE:  SMITH and COWEN, and SILER , Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Lloyd G. Parry, Esq., Davis, Parry & Tyler, William R. Spade, Jr., Esq., Philadelphia, PA, for Appellant Corey Kemp., Nino V. Tinari, Esq., Philadelphia, PA, for Appellant Janice Renee Knight., Timothy K. Lewis, Esq. (Argued), Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, Washington, DC, Elizabeth K. Ainslie, Esq., Nancy Winkelman, Esq., Bruce P. Merenstein, Esq., Schnader Harrison, Segal & Lewis, Philadelphia, PA, Nathaniel E. Jones, Esq., James H. Fields, Esq., Jones & Associates, Baltimore, MD, for Appellant Lavan Hawkins., Lawrence S. Lustberg, Esq. (Argued), Kevin McNulty, Esq., Gibbons, P.C., Newark, NJ, for Appellant Stephen M. Umbrell., Kevin H. Marino, Esq. (Argued), John D. Tortorella, Esq., Marino Tortorella, Chatham, NJ, for Appellant Glenn K. Holck.


• For Appellees:
  
• Robert A. Zauzmer, Esq. (Argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Philadelphia, PA, for Appellee United States of America.