NCJ Number
231921
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 47 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2010 Pages: 797-820
Date Published
2010
Length
24 pages
Annotation
An overview of the prosecution of offenses under the Federal mail and wire fraud statutes explains elements of offenses under these laws, defenses against charges brought under the laws, and sentencing.
Abstract
Currently, in order to be convicted of a mail or wire fraud offense, the prosecution must show beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant perpetuated a scheme to defraud that includes a material deception with the intent to defraud perpetrated through the mails, private commercial carriers, and/or wires in furtherance of that scheme. In addition, the prosecution must show that the defendant's actions did result or would have resulted in a victim's loss of money or property or the deprivation of honest services. In addition to the aforementioned elements of an offense, the prosecution must also prove that the communication at issue crossed State lines. Each use of the mail or wires constitutes a separate offense and can be a separate count in an indictment. Mail and wire fraud charges can be brought in conjunction with other offenses or more specific fraud offenses, such as insider trading and bank fraud. Two defenses are presented for alleged violations of mail and wire fraud. A defendant's good faith belief that allegedly "fraudulent" representations are true when made is an affirmative defense that negates the fraudulent intent. Another defense involves the statute of limitations for mail and wire fraud schemes, which is generally 5 years, but is 10 years for a scheme that affects a financial institution. The article's section on sentencing under mail and wire fraud statutes refers to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for these statutes. This section reviews sentencing in general for the statutes and enhanced penalties for telemarketing fraud. 162 notes