United States v. Joseph Soriano Rickey Santos

This case arises out of transactions involving government officials in Guam. Jospeh Soriano and Ricky Santos were jointly indicted and tried. Soriano was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit extortion in violation of the Hobbs Act and five counts of mail fraud. Santos was convicted of two counts of mail fraud. In their joint appeal, Soriano and Santos raise six mutual issues and one issue pertains only to Soriano.

First, appellants argue that the district court erred in denying their motions to exclude from evidence mutually incriminating tape-recorded statements on Confrontation Clause grounds, or alternatively to sever their trials. Second, the defendants claim that their mail fraud convictions should be reversed because the indictment defines the offense as defrauding citizens’ rights to good government and is deficient under McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350 , 107 S.Ct. 2875 , 97 L.Ed.2d 292 (1987). Third, the defendants raise four issues concerning the district court’s denial of their motion for acquittal. Finally, Soriano challenges the sufficiency of the indictment with respect to the conspiracy charge. We reverse the mail fraud convictions based on McNally…