United States v. Adrian Wilson

Mr. Wilson appeals here from the granting of the government’s motion to forfeit certain bribe moneys paid by him to a Nevada State official. For his bribery, he was convicted of having violated the “Travel Act”, 18 U.S.C. § 1952 , which prohibits the use of the facilities of interstate commerce to commit any unlawful act (defined to include, inter alia, bribery). The conviction was affirmed in United States v. Ryan, 548 F.2d 782 (9th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 939 , 97 S.Ct. 354 , 50 L.Ed.2d 308 (1977). Thereafter, the United States government applied to have the bribe money forfeited to it under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3612 , a statute which has been interpreted to confer power on the courts to order money used to bribe federal officials forfeited to the government. United States v. Iovenelli, 403 F.2d 468 (7th Cir. 1968); United States v. Thomas, 75 F.2d 369 (5th Cir. 1935).

In this appeal, Mr. Wilson argues that the forfeiture provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3612 should not apply to actions involving bribery or alleged bribery of public officials other than federal officials. The government disagrees. By stipulation of the parties, no other issue is in dispute. We hold…