Yamukian

MEMORANDUM ***

Ghugas Yamukian was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 , and four counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 . The government alleged that between March and June of 1995 Yamukian, who owned and operated a gas station, conspired with others to evade California state fuel excise taxes. He was prosecuted for using the United States mail to file forms with the State of California on which he misrepresented the amount of diesel fuel he sold and the taxes due the state. The district court sentenced him to five concurrent terms of eighteen months imprisonment, three years supervised release, and full restitution of unpaid taxes. Yamukian now appeals, asserting that the trial court erred by admitting evidence that in August 1995 he purchased jet fuel but did not report the purchases to the state as required. 1 We reject his contentions and affirm.

Yamukian objected to, and moved to exclude, evidence submitted by the government that in August 1995 he failed to report several jet fuel purchases from a federal undercover oil company, pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). 2 The government argued that the…