United States v. Michael Eugene Savage

Michael Savage appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence following a jury trial. Savage defrauded people of over $6 million by claiming that if they sent him $5000, he could obtain foreign loans and eventually pay each investor $10 million. Savage was convicted of mail and wire fraud, international money laundering, transferring criminally derived proceeds, and several other counts not at issue on appeal. Savage’s appeal focuses solely on his convictions and sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 1956 , international money laundering, and 18 U.S.C. § 1957 , transfer of criminally derived proceeds. We have jurisdiction, and we affirm the judgment of conviction and the sentence.

From mid-1986 through mid-1991, Michael Savage defrauded investors by offering them the opportunity to participate in the “Savage Program,” an investment program that promised a return of $10 million for a $5000 fee. In the “funding agreement,” Savage provided the following explanation of the program. For each $5000 “unit” an investor purchased, Savage would negotiate an $80 million loan from unidentified foreign “principals” who wished to invest their vast wealth in the United States and Europe. Savage would…