Wicker

MEMORANDUM *

Defendant Duane Edward Wicker appeals his conviction, after a jury trial, for violating 18 U.S.C. § 1959 (“Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering” or “VCAR”). We affirm.

In a six-count indictment, Wicker and three others were charged under VCAR with committing violent crimes in order to maintain or increase their positions within a gang known as the West Coast Crips. *565 Count four of the indictment charged Wicker and Adams with conspiring to commit the murder of an unnamed member of a rival gang.

1. Wicker first argues that the government impermissibly amended the indictment at trial. A constructive amendment of an indictment occurs when:

United States v. Adamson, 291 F.3d 606, 615 (9th Cir.2002) (alterations in original) (quoting United States v. Von Stoll, 726 F.2d 584, 586 (9th Cir.1984)). The government presented evidence of crimes committed and conspiracies engaged in that were not included in the indictment against Wicker. However, that evidence was introduced for the limited purpose of proving that Wicker was engaged in a criminal conspiracy as defined in VCAR. Such evidence did not constitute an impermissible amendment of Wicker’s indictment.

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