United States v. Franco-Santiago, No. 10-2247 (1st Cir. 2012)
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Defendant was a police officer with the Puerto Rico police force from 1991 until September 2007, shortly after he was indicted on charges of conspiracy to engage in robberies (Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. 1951(a)). At his trial, the government put on evidence sufficient to prove that defendant participated in one of five robberies. On August 7, 2002, he assisted in the robbery of a private security firm's payroll by loaning the robbers his personal firearm and by driving a getaway car. He received $7,500. The First Circuit reversed. Even if there was sufficient evidence to convict him of conspiring to commit the payroll robbery of August 7, 2002, there was not legally sufficient evidence to convict him of participating in the charged broader multiple-robbery conspiracy, much less one that included the next and final robbery of September 25, 2002. His conviction for the August 7 robbery was barred by the five-year statute of limitations for non-capital federal crimes, 18 U.S.C. 3282(a). The government was two weeks too late in indicting him on August 22, 2007.
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