United States v. Karen Hanover

MEMORANDUM

After a short bench trial, the district court convicted Defendant-Appellant Karen Hanover of violating 18 U.S.C. § 912 by pretending to be an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in order to demand information from — and make threats to — a victim living in Southern California. The district court imposed a sentence of six months imprisonment, a $5,000 fine, and a year of supervised release. Owing to the circumstances by which Hanover came to be acquainted with the victim (and others like the victim), the district court forbade Hanover from being “self-employed, or employed by a business owned by a family member or close personal friend” during her period of supervised release, “without prior approval of the Probation Officer.” Hanover appeals, arguing the district court lacked sufficient evidence to convict her of violating Section 912, that she was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct (warranting dismissal of her indictment), and that the aforementioned condition of supervised release is unconstitutionally vague. We affirm the district court.

We review de novo the sufficiency of the evidence to convict Hanover, and ask “whether, ‘after viewing the evidence…