Ubah
United States v. Ubah
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Chris Obih Ubah (“Ubah”) appeals his jury trial conviction for mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 and credit card fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029 (a)(2). We affirm the convictions, but we refrain from deciding Ubah’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
Variance Claim
Ubah claims that his mail fraud conviction should be overturned because the government’s evidence and closing argument constituted a fatal variance from what was alleged in the superseding indictment. Ubah was charged with using the mails in connection with a scheme to defraud CalTrans of $250,000. He urges that his defense rested largely on evidence and arguments that he was not the “James McKenney” who appeared several times at the Portland bank branch to implement that fraud and, relatedly, that someone else committed the CalTrans fraud (for example, Ubah vigorously challenged the testimony of the U.S. Bank tellers who identified him). Ubah claims that a variance occurred because the government asserted a position that made it irrelevant whether Ubah engaged in the Portland banking transaction himself, thus undercutting his principal defense of misidentification.