United States v. Loren Balthazor

MEMORANDUM

Loren Balthazor (“Balthazor”) was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 , and seventeen counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. The district court denied Balthazor’s motion for a judgment of acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 made at the close of the government’s case in chief. On appeal, Balthazor claims that the evidence was insufficient to convict him, and thus that the district court erred by denying his motion for acquittal. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

We review challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence de novo. United States v. Sullivan, 522 F.3d 967, 974 (9th Cir.2008). There is sufficient evidence to support a conviction if, “after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 , 99 S.Ct. 2781 , 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). We generally review a district court’s denial of a Rule 29 motion for plain error or to prevent a miscarriage…