United States v. Williams

MEMORANDUM *

Defendants Ewa Batala and Cornelius Williams challenge their convictions and sentences arising out of a series of fraudulent credit card transactions. Batala was convicted of conspiracy to use an unauthorized access device knowingly and with intent to defraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1029 (b)(2), and use of an unauthorized access device knowingly and with intent to defraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1029 (a)(2). Batala was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Williams was convicted of the same two charges, plus two additional counts: structuring transactions knowingly and for the purpose of evading reporting requirements under 31 U.S.C. § 5324 (a)(3), (d)(2), and knowingly and willfully making a false material statement under 18 U.S.C, § 1001. The district court imposed a 41 months prison term and three years supervised released. It also ordered Williams to pay restitution in the amount of $186,339.30.

The facts and procedural history are known to the parties and are not recited here. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292 , and we hold as follows.

A. Batala’s Claims

Batala argues that the prosecutor improperly referred to the defendants collectively during closing arguments,…