United States v. Dennis Leveque, United States of America v. John Kevin Moore

This case arises from a six-day outfitted archery elk hunt in Montana. Dennis Le-Veque and John Moore were convicted by jury on one count of mail fraud for devising a scheme to obtain money or property, namely outfitting or guiding fees and a hunting license, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 & 1341. Moore was also convicted on one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the Lacey Act, under 18 U.S.C. § 371 , 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372 (a)(2)(A) & 3373(d)(1)(B), in connection with taking a prohibited type of elk during the hunt. On appeal, LeVeque and Moore challenge the sufficiency of the evidence and the district court’s jury instructions. Moore also challenges the validity of the Superseding Indictment. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse on all counts and remand the mail fraud count for retrial.

I

Dennis LeVeque was licensed by the State of Montana to provide outfitting services for hunting expeditions under the name of DL Elk Outfitters, Inc. Kevin Moore was licensed by the State of Montana to provide guide services. Moore, while not a licensed outfitter, nonetheless recruited hunters, organized hunts, and collected monies for the hunts under the name…