United States v. Garrido, No. 06-50717 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendants' convictions arose out of a series of events that took place while Defendant Robles was Treasurer of the City of South Gate, California. Robles, along with Defendant Garrido, a local businessman and friend, were implicated in two schemes to award city contracts to particular companies while reaping substantial benefits for themselves. On appeal, defendants challenged their convictions. In light of the the Supreme Court's decision in Skilling v. United States, which narrowed the scope of 18 U.S.C. 1346 to include only honest services fraud based on bribery and kickback schemes, the court reversed Robles's and Garrido's honest services fraud convictions and reversed Robles's money laundering convictions. The court affirmed Robles's bribery convictions under 18 U.S.C. 666 because such convictions did not required the defendant to be engaged in an official act. Accordingly, the court remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel reversed Albert Robles’s and George Garrido’s honest services fraud convictions, reversed Robles’s money laundering convictions, and affirmed Garrido’s bribery convictions in a case that arose out of events that took place while Robles was Treasurer of the City of South Gate, California. Robles and Garrido, a local businessman and friend of Robles, were implicated in two schemes to award city contracts to particular companies while reaping substantial benefits for themselves. The panel reversed Robles’s 18 U.S.C. § 1346 honest services fraud convictions with respect to Counts 1 through 11, 13 through 15, 17, and 23 through 25, and Garrido’s § 1346 honest services fraud conviction with respect to Counts 23 through 25 because, under Skilling v. United States, 130 S. Ct. 2896 (2010), the jury instructions erroneously permitted convictions on the unconstitutional theory of a failure to disclose a conflict of interest. The panel reversed Robles’s § 1346 honest services fraud convictions with respect to Counts 16, 22, and 27 and Garrido’s honest services fraud convictions with respect to Counts 22 and 27, and acquitted Robles on Counts 16, 22, and 27, and acquitted Garrido on Counts 22 and 27 because these counts are based on Skilling’s unconstitutional theory of a failure to disclose a conflict of interest in a state disclosure form, and because there is insufficient evidence to support Counts 16 and 27. The panel reversed Robles’s 18 U.S.C. § 1957 money laundering convictions with respect to Counts 18 through 21 because they are predicated on the flawed honest services fraud convictions. The panel affirmed Robles’s 18 U.S.C. § 666 bribery convictions with respect to Counts 33 through 37 because § 666 convictions do not require the defendant to be influenced in an official act.
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