United States v. Waldemar Ratzlaf, United States of America v. Loretta Ratzlaf

Defendants Loretta and Waldemar Ratz-laf appeal their convictions for structuring financial transactions to avoid currency reporting requirements, a violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5322 (a), 5324(3). They argue that Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192 , 111 S.Ct. 604 , 112 L.Ed.2d 617 (1991), overrules our holding in United States v. Hoyland, 914 F.2d 1125 (9th Cir.1990), that the government does not have to prove that the defendants knew structuring is illegal to convict. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I

Defendants Waldemar and Loretta Ratz-laf, residents of Portland, Oregon, are gamblers. To facilitate their enjoyment of such activity, they established lines of credit at fifteen casinos in New Jersey and Nevada. Mr. Ratzlaf, a regular customer and a “high roller” at the casinos, bet, won, and lost large amounts of money. The events that led to this case began on October 20th, 1988, at the High Sierra casino in Reno, Nevada. Mr. Ratzlaf had a bad night, losing $160,000 playing blackjack. Fortunately for him, the casino had increased his credit line from $25,000 to $160,000 earlier that day. When the casino learned about Lady Luck’s unkind treatment of…