United States v. Carlotta Santana Saavedra

Saavedra appeals from her judgments of conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 , and three substantive counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 . We note jurisdiction and affirm.

The charges arose out of Saavedra’s participation in a scheme to fraudulently obtain Western Union money orders by using improperly acquired credit card numbers. Saavedra contends that her constitutional and statutory rights to a speedy trial were violated due to a delay in the trial after the jury had been impaneled. She also claims that there was insufficient evidence to support her convictions on the substantive wire fraud counts, that she was prejudiced by the erroneous admission of hearsay evidence and improper statements by the Government’s counsel during closing argument, and that her double jeopardy rights were violated. We reject each of these claims.

I. BACKGROUND

The underlying fraud involved wrongfully charging Western Union money orders to improperly obtained Master Charge numbers. The principal architects of the fraud were inmates in the pro. per. section of the Los Angeles County Jail. The inmates would telephone individuals whose…