Strange

MEMORANDUM

Following a six-week jury trial, Jeffrey Strange was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 371 , and of seventy-eight counts of submitting false claims to the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287 . Strange appeals his conviction and sentence on several grounds. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1291 , and affirm.

Strange first contends that the evidence to support his conviction of conspiracy was insufficient because there was inadequate evidence of agreement between him and his alleged co-conspirators. When we review a conviction for sufficiency of the evidence, we must examine the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, and decide whether a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Riggins, 40 F.3d 1055, 1057 (9th Cir.1994). Evidence showing agreement to participate in a conspiracy may be either direct or circumstantial, see United States v. Lennick, 18 F.3d 814, 817 (9th Cir.1994), but must show more than mere “knowledge, approval of, or acquiesence in the object or purpose of a conspiracy .” Id. (quoting United…