Wood

MEMORANDUM **

Gregg V. Wood appeals his conviction for wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 , his sentence of 21 months of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and an order to pay restitution. Because we hold that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for wire fraud, we reverse Wood’s conviction.

I. Background

The parties are familiar with the facts and thus we recite here only a few foundational facts. In July 2000, Wood reached an agreement with Sanford A. Mohr, founder and CEO of Pro Tour Hawaii, Inc. (“PTH”), to guarantee the prize money and operating expenses for the PTH 2001 International Golf Tour. However, as the opening of the golf tour grew closer, Wood still had not transferred any money to PTH. Wood later became Chief Financial Officer of PTH but at no time was he authorized to transfer PTH funds to his personal account. Yet he did so in January and February 2001. He also wired $5,000 from the PTH account to the attorney for California businessman Donald Courtney in order to entice Courtney to visit Hawaii to discuss a potential investment opportunity, the purchase of the Waikapu Country Club.

II. Analysis

“When, as in this…