UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JONATHAN N. PINSON
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Per Curiam, June 19, 2017,
RICO – A RICO charge requires proof that at least two people were involved, encouraged, or participated in at least two criminal schemes

Facts: A board member of South Carolina State University (SCSU) was indicted for various kickback and fraud schemes related to his role with SCSU, his diaper business, and a real estate development company. At one point as an SCSU board member he got a concert promoter a job for the school’s homecoming and then texted the promoter his bank account information so that he could get his $500 kickback transferred.

Pinson was convicted of both RICO violations as well as theft and fraud charges. Pinson appealed, arguing that there was no proof that others were involved in the various schemes. He also argued that there was not enough evidence presented to prove fraud.

Held: The Fourth Circuit agreed in part. Because there was no evidence that Pinson worked with the same people across various schemes, there was not enough evidence to find him guilty of a RICO violation. However, they found that there was more than enough evidence to convict Pinson of fraud charges.

RICO- to prove a RICO conspiracy, evidence must show the existence of a RICO “enterprise” in which the defendant conspired to participate, and that the defendant conspired that a member of the enterprise would perform at least two racketeering acts constituting a “pattern of racketeering activity.”

RICO- A RICO enterprise is “a group of persons associated together for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct.”

RICO- To prove “a pattern of racketeering activity,” the evidence “must show that the racketeering predicates are related, and that they amount to or pose a threat of continued criminal activity.”

Mail/Wire Fraud– To convict a person of mail fraud or wire fraud, the government must show that the defendant (1) devised or intended to devise a scheme to defraud and (2) used the mail or wire communications in furtherance of the scheme.

Mail/Wire Fraud– One aspect of mail/wire fraud is “honest services fraud,” which includes bribery and kickback schemes.