United States v. Fattah (223 F. Supp. 3d 336, 2016)

MEMORANDUM

Bartle, District Judge.

This action is the story of political corruption involving five criminal schemes. Following their convictions by a jury after a lengthy trial, the defendants have filed motions for judgments of acquittal under Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or in the alternative for a new trial under Rule 33.

Congressman Chaka Fattah, Sr., Herbert Vederman, Robert Brand, Karen Nicholas, and Bonnie Bowser were charged in a twenty-nine count indictment with conspiracy to commit racketeering (18 U.S.C. § 1962(d)) as well as an array of other crimes. The indictment, which was returned on July 29, 2015, also accused the defendants of one or more of the following offenses: conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1349); conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1346, and 1349); conspiracy to commit mail fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1349); mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341); falsification of records (18 U.S.C. §§ 1519 and 2); bribery conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 371); bribery (18 U.S.C. § 201); bank fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 2); false statements to financial institutions (18 U.S.C. §.§ 1014 and 2); money laundering (18 U.S.C. §§ 1957 and 2); money laundering conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 1956(h)); and wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343).

Fattah, at all times relevant, represented the Second Congressional District of Pennsylvania which currently encompasses parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties. Prior to taking his seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1995, he served as a Representative and later as a Senator in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Vederman, a former Deputy Mayor of Philadelphia and lobbyist, was close to Fattah and was a longtime Fattah supporter and contributor. Brand, whose wife was at one point a member of Fattah’s congressional staff, was a Philadelphia businessman and also a long-time Fattah supporter. Nicholas was formerly, employed as a member of Fat-tah’s congressional staff and at the time of the events in question was the chief executive officer of Educational Advancement Alliance (“EAA”), a non-profit entity established by Fattah. Finally, Bowser held the position of chief of staff of Fattah’s congressional office in Philadelphia for many years and served at times as the treasurer of the Fattah for Mayor campaign and the Fattah for Congress campaign. She had a close working relationship with Fattah and held a power of attorney for him personally.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty against Fattah on all twenty-two counts in which he was named. Specifically, it found against him on Count One (conspiracy to commit racketeering), Count Two (conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Count Three (conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud), Count Four (conspiracy to commit mail fraud), Counts Five through Ten (mail fraud), Counts Eleven through Fifteen (falsification of records), Count Sixteen (bribery conspiracy), Count Seventeen (bribery), Count Nineteen (bank fraud), Count Twenty (false statements to a financial institution), Count Twenty-One (falsification of records), Count Twenty-Two (money laundering), and Count Twenty-Three (money laundering conspiracy).

Vederman was found guilty on all eight counts against him. They were Count One (conspiracy to commit racketeering), Count Sixteen (bribery conspiracy), Count Eighteen (bribery), Count Nineteen (bank fraud), Count Twenty (false statements to a financial institution), Count Twenty-One (falsification of records), Count Twenty-Two (money laundering), and Count Twenty-Three (money laundering conspiracy).

Brand was named in Count One (conspiracy to commit racketeering) and Count Two (conspiracy to commit wire fraud). The verdict was guilty on both counts'.

As to Nicholas, the jury convicted her on Count One (conspiracy to commit racketeering), Count Two (conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Counts Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six (wire fraud), and Counts Twenty-Eight and Twenty-Nine (falsification of records) but acquitted her on Count Twenty-Four (wire fraud).

The jury found Bowser guilty on Count Sixteen (bribery conspiracy), Count Nineteen (bank fraud), Count Twenty (false statements to a financial institution), Count Twenty-One (falsification of records), and Count Twenty-Two (money laundering). She was found not guilty on Count One (conspiracy to commit racketeering), Count Two (conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Count Three (conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud), Count Four (conspiracy to commit mail fraud), Counts Five through Ten (mail fraud), Counts Eleven through Fifteen (falsification of records), and Count Twenty-Three (money laundering conspiracy).

The defendants, as noted above, have pending motions under Rules 29 and 33. Under Rule 29, the court must “enter judgment of acquittal of any offense for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction.” The court must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government to determine whether a rational jury could have found a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Wolfe, 245 F.3d 257, 261 (3d Cir. 2001). All reasonable inferences, of course, are drawn in favor of the jury’s verdict. A defendant carries a heavy burden when challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. See United States v. Lore, 430 F.3d 190, 205 (3d. Cir. 2005).

Pursuant to Rule 33, the court may grant a new trial “if the interest of justice so requires.” The standard of review under Rule 33 is different than under Rule 29. Here, the evidence is not evaluated in the light most favorable to the Government. Instead, a new trial may be granted if in the view of the court the verdict is against the weight of the evidence. See United States v. Johnson, 302 F.3d 139, 150 (3d Cir. 2002). The court must consider whether there is “a serious danger that a miscarriage of justice has occurred.” See United States v. Silveus, 542 F.3d 993, 1004-05 (3d Cir. 2008).

I.

The first criminal scheme charged in the indictment centered on a $1,000,000 illegal loan to the unsuccessful campaign of Fat-tah to become Mayor of Philadelphia in 2007. The evidence, taken in the light most favorable to the Government, established the following facts.

In the spring of 2007, Fattah, a member of Congress, was in need of funds for his faltering primary campaign for Mayor of Philadelphia. To remedy the situation, Fattah arranged for an illegal campaign loan of $1,000,000 from a wealthy donor. This sum far exceeded the amount allowed under the recently enacted City of Philadelphia ordinance which provided for a maximum individual campaign contribution of $2,500 for city-wide races for office. To conceal the loan, Fattah had the donor wire the $1,000,000 to LSG Strategies Services Corporation (“LSG”), the Washington, D.C. political consulting firm of Thomas Lindenfeld. At Fattah’s direction, Lindenfeld signed a promissory note with the donor for the $1,000,000. Fattah assured Lindenfeld that he, Fattah, would cover the debt.

Lindenfeld distributed some of the $1,000,000 to Gregory Naylor, a Lindenfeld friend and long-time Fattah confidant, who paid various Fattah campaign expenses through his political consulting firm Sidney Lei & Associates (“SLA”). Naylor had known Fattah for more than thirty years and had served for a period of time as the district director of Fattah’s congressional office in Philadelphia. Naylor used $200,000 of this sum to pay “walking around money” in cash to a large group of campaign workers on the eve of the primary election on May 15, 2007. To camouflage that this widely known expenditure came from an illegal loan, Naylor submitted a false SLA invoice dated June 1, 2007 to the Fattah mayoral campaign for approximately $193,000. The invoice stated it was for election-day campaign expenses, although SLA itself never incurred any. Naylor sent the invoice at the instruction of Fattah.

After Fattah’s defeat, Lindenfeld mailed back to the donor a check for $400,000 which represented the portion of the $1,000,000 loan that was never spent. The donor, however, also pressed for the return of the remaining $600,000. Lindenfeld reported this development to Fattah who told Lindenfeld that he would take care of it. Fattah arranged for the non-profit EAA to provide the money to pay the debt. EAA, which Fattah had established, was headed by Nicholas, his former staffer. She proceeded to misappropriate a $500,000 charitable grant from Sallie Mae and a $100,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space- Administration (“NASA”) for this purpose. Both grants to EAA were intended to support the nonprofit’s educational work.

On January 24, 2008, Nicholas, using funds from Sallie Mae, transmitted a check for $500,000 from EAA to Solutions for Progress (“SFP”), a company in Philadelphia led by Brand. Several days later, Brand had $600,000 wired to Lindenfeld’s firm. Lindenfeld then returned the money by wire to the donor the same day that he received it. The wired funds were sent from SFP’s bank account in Pennsylvania through Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. to LSG’s bank account and then from LSG’s bank account through Vederman to the donor’s bank account. Nicholas later defrauded NASA of $100,000 and forwarded this sum to Brand in May 2008 to make him whole.

Nicholas and Brand attempted to disguise the purpose of the transfer of the $600,000 from EAA to SFP with a $600,000 sham contract for software to be provided by SFP to EAA. The contract, however, was not signed until August 2008, months after EAA had forwarded the $600,000 to SFP and only after a Department of Justice audit of EAA had begun and a subpoena had been served on SFP by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice. SFP never provided anything of value to EAA under their contract.

Brand and Lindenfeld likewise entered into a fake contract to cover up the real reason for the movement of the money from SFP to Lindenfeld’s firm, LSG. Under the contract, LSG purportedly would provide SFP with services for $600,000. SFP paid LSG upfront the entire $600,000, but LSG never did anything of value for SFP in return. This subterfuge was concocted at the initiation of Brand. Throughout, Lindenfeld kept Fattah apprised about the transfer of money from Brand to the donor.

Steps were taken by the Fattah for Mayor campaign to address the June 1, 2007 invoice for $193,000 from SLA, Nay-lor’s consulting firm. This invoice, as noted above, had been designed to conceal a portion of the illegal loan. As requii-ed by local law, this debt was included in the campaign’s public filings. It was important for an elected official to pay off or write down his campaign debts in order to maintain his political standing. To wipe the debt from the campaign’s books and to avoid the appearance that Fattah could not raise money and satisfy his obligations, the Fat-tah for Mayor campaign began to write down the $198,000 bogus obligation in $20,000 annual increments. This was the limit of annual debt forgiveness allowed under local election law. These annual write-downs of the debt, recorded in public filings with local election officials, continued through 2014 even though there was in fact no actual debt to retire. In filing the campaign finance reports, Fattah swore or affirmed on the face of each filing “that to the best of my knowledge and belief this political committee has not violated any provisions of the Act of June 8, 1937 (P.L. 1333, No. 320) as amended.”

II.

The Government has established the following facts as to the “Blue Guardians” scheme, which involved a promise by Fat-tah to obtain a federal appropriation for Lindenfeld in return for Lindenfeld’s forgiveness of a campaign debt owed to his consulting firm.

After Fattah lost the primary election for Mayor of Philadelphia on May 15, 2007, he continued to serve in Congress. According to campaign filings, his mayoral campaign still owed Lindenfeld and LSG some $130,000 for their work on that failed effort. Lindenfeld met with Fattah in 2008 and pressed for payment. Fattah responded that his campaign did not have the funds to pay the debt. Fattah also explained that he needed to write down the obligation on his campaign finance reports. Because these reports are a matter of public record, ignoring the campaign debts or having a large unpaid balance affects the electoral strength of a candidate and makes it harder to raise funds for future campaigns. Since his campaign could not pay what it owed LSG, Fattah promised to obtain a $15,000,000 federal appropriation for Lindenfeld’s benefit in return for LSG’s forgiveness of the debt. Fattah proposed that the appropriation be funneled through a nonprofit corporation called Blue Guardians to be created by Linden-feld. The purpose of Blue Guardians would be to promote coastal environmental preservation along the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the United States islands in the Caribbean Sea. Lindenfeld, a political consultant, had no experience or expertise in the environmental field.

In early 2010, Lindenfeld, following Fat-tah’s instruction, created Blue Guardians as a nonprofit corporation. For political reasons, Fattah needed it to have a Philadelphia address. At Fattah’s direction and with the concurrence of Brand, Lindenfeld used the South Broad Street address of Brand’s company SFP in Philadelphia even though Lindenfeld was in Washington, D.C.

Lindenfeld took a number of additional steps to activate Blue Guardians. He sent via the internet an application for Blue Guardians for an Employer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service. The transmission went from Washington, D.C. to Cincinnati, Ohio. An LSG employee also sent an application on behalf of Blue Guardians for an identification number from the Data Universal Numbering System, which is required for all federal grant applications. The application was transmitted by the internet from Washington, D.C. to Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. In addition, Lindenfeld opened a bank account for Blue Guardians.

Lindenfeld and LSG, with the guidance of Fattah, submitted to the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives in 2009 a “FY 2010 Appropriations Project Questionnaire” seeking $15,000,000 for Blue Guardians. This was done even before Blue Guardians came into existence. In 2010, Lindenfeld on behalf of “Blue Guardians” submitted a completed questionnaire for a $8,000,000 appropriation for the fiscal year 2011. Fattah’s staff helped formulate the answers on the questionnaires.

In the spring of 2010, an investigative reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer got wind of Blue Guardians and asked Lindenfeld about it. Lindenfeld reported the inquiry to Fattah, and the project was abandoned. Blue Guardians never reached the operational stage.

In the meantime, beginning in 2010, as part of the bargain to eliminate the $130,000 debt owed by the Fattah for May- or campaign to Lindenfeld, Fattah began to write down the debt in $20,000 increments in his annual campaign finance reports. This was the maximum yearly deduction allowed under local election law. These public filings continued through 2014 and in each instance Fattah certified them as not in violation of Pennsylvania law.

III.

The third scheme described Fattah’s use of campaign funds to pay the student debts of his son and the contemporaneous deception of campaign creditors. The facts are outlined in the light most favorable to the Government.

Fattah directed that funds from the Fat-tah for Mayor campaign and the Fattah for Congress campaign be diverted for the payment of some of the student debts that his son, Chaka Fattah, Jr., owed to Drexel University and to Sallie Mae. From January 2008 into November 2010, Fattah had Bowser, his Fattah for Mayor and Fattah for Congress treasurer, transmit to Naylor checks payable to SLA from the Fattah for Mayor campaign account. On occasion, those funds had first been moved from the Fattah for Congress account to the Fattah for Mayor account. At Fattah’s instruction, Naylor then used these funds to satisfy the student debts of Chaka Fattah, Jr. Naylor, through SLA, mailed thirty-five payments totaling in excess of $20,000 to Drexel University and Sallie Mae on behalf of Fattah’s son from the summer of 2007 into the spring of 2011.

To conceal the use of Fattah for Mayor and Fattah for Congress funds to pay off the student debts of Fattah’s son, Fattah made false filings with state and local election officials. The filings falsely documented the payments as expenditures to SLA against the June 1, 2007 bogus invoice that Naylor had sent to the Fattah for Mayor campaign for approximately $193,000. Naylor improperly provided Chaka Fattah, Jr. with copies of Internal Revenue Service 1099 forms to cover the money used to pay the latter’s debt.

While Naylor was paying the obligations of Fattah’s son with campaign funds, the Fattah for Mayor campaign owed the law firm of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, LLP $84,667.35 for legal services it had rendered in connection with the 2007 mayoral campaign. In 2008, Veder-man, a close and active financial supporter of Fattah and the Fattah for Mayor campaign, approached the firm to settle the debt. The firm agreed to do so by foregoing $40,000 over a two-year period. Veder-man told the attorney of the firm with whom he met that it would be very difficult for Fattah to raise the funds needed to meet this entire obligation. The firm was never advised that Fattah for Mayor campaign funds were being used to pay Chaka Fattah, Jr.’s college debt. This information would have been material to the firm in deciding whether to compromise the campaign debt.

In 2009, the Fattah for Mayor campaign still owed $55,000 to a small printing company for campaign mailings it had created in 2007. Before the printing company performed the work in issue, Fattah had made personal contact with the owner and had signed a personal guarantee in early May 2007 to pay all the sums due. In 2010, Vederman met with the owner on behalf of Fattah and the Fattah for Mayor campaign about retiring the debt. Several subsequent meetings and other interactions occurred between the owner and Veder-man. In December 2011, the owner finally settled the debt for a payment of $25,000. Again, no one ever told him that Fattah for Mayor campaign funds were being siphoned off to satisfy the college debt of Chaka Fattah, Jr. If he had known this, he never would have entered into the compromise.

There is no evidence that Vederman knew anything about the payment of Cha-ka Fattah, Jr.’s student debts by the Fat-tah for Mayor campaign.

IV.

The indictment also alleged a bribery scheme involving Fattah, Vederman, and Bowser. Accepting the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, the record demonstrated that Fattah, as a Congressman, made a focused effort to secure an ambassadorship for Vederman from late 2008 through late 2010 and hired Vederman’s girlfriend as a low-show employee on his staff in January 2012. In return, Vederman provided things of value to Fattah.

In November 2008, shortly after the election of Barack Obama, Fattah wrote the following letter on official letterhead to Senator Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in which he “strongly recommend[ed]” Ved-erman as an “unquestionably exceptional candidate” for an ambassadorship:

Dear Bob:

I am writing to strongly recommend Mr. Herb Vederman for an opportunity to represent our country through an ambassadorship.

Mr. Vederman is willing to serve in any location that would be helpful to the Obama Administration. His resume is attached, however I felt it important to highlight his experience as a member of the Mayor of Philadelphia’s cabinet for 8 years and the Governor’s cabinet, as well. Mr. Vederman has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia on diplomatic missions, government related trade delegations and for personal business. This direct contact and experience has provided him with the diplomatic knowledge and tools necessary on cultural, governmental and business customs. On governmental travel alone, Mr. Vederman visited nearly 20 different countries representing, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s interests, and worked with foreign trade and business officials. In addition to this wealth of experience, Mr. Vederman serves as an adjunct professor of government, at Drexel University, an opportunity that came in recognition of his expertise in working with legislators and public policy formulators.

Mr. Vederman has devoted most of his career to public service. He has worked tirelessly to make a difference and is so committed that in each position, he has requested an annual salary of $1.00. He now offers his services to our president-elect for this same sum.

Mr. Vederman is an unquestionably exceptional candidate for an ambassadorship, particularly when considering the importance of diplomatic relations at this time. Based on my direct involvement both personally and professionally, he has proven himself to have both the initiative and the intellectual creativity necessary for this position. His communication skills are clear and concise, both essential elements as he ensures the interests of our nation while effectively representing our president.

I look forward to hearing from you or a member of your staff after you have had an opportunity to review his resume.

The letter was accompanied by a copy of Vederman’s resume. Á professor of international relations at American University also sent a letter of recommendation to Senator Casey. It turned out that the Senator was not prepared to recommend Ved-erman to be an ambassador and had no further contact with Fattah about the matter.

For several years before Fattah sent his letter to Senator Casey, Fattah and his wife had had an au pair from South Africa living with them. In August 2009, the au pair applied for a student visa to study at the Community College of Philadelphia. On the application, she had to provide information as to where' she was staying and how she would finance' her education while in the United States. She declared that the Fattahs would be her host family but that her financial sponsor would be Vederman.

In January 2010, Fattah signed a certification stating that he had the ability to satisfy the au pair’s financial commitments when she sought a transfer to Philadelphia University. However, he did not submit the requested supporting bank statements or other documentation. Fattah explained that he did not provide the bank statements “for confidentiality reasons.” Instead, he supplied a letter dated January 14, 2010 from Vederman’s bank in .New York “to back this pledge.” Philadelphia University accepted this arrangement. Without Vederman’s letter the au pair would not have been able to study at Philadelphia University or remain in the United States. When she did transfer, Vederman paid her tuition balance of $3,000.

In February 2010, the month Vederman paid the tuition for Fattah’s au pair, Fat-tah obtained a teleconference with White House deputy chief of staff James Messina to press for the naming of Vederman to an ambassadorship. Fattah enlisted Edward Rendell, the former Governor of Pennsylvania and former Mayor of Philadelphia, to join him on the call as an additional advocate for Vederman. Messina did not usually agree to a telephone conference of this kind with a congressman about a political appointment. It only happened because Fattah had a relationship with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, who told Messina to do so.

Shortly thereafter, in March 2010, a member of Fattah’s staff sent a follow-up email to the White House concerning the appointment of Vederman. Attached was a copy of the letter Fattah had sent to Senator Casey, the biography of Vederman, and the letter of recommendation from the American University professor. A few weeks later, Fattah’s staff sent yet another email to the White House on the same subject.

In April 2010, Fattah found himself in need of funds to pay his wage taxes in the amount of $2,381 owed to the City of Philadelphia. Again, Vederman came to the rescue. On April 9, 2010, Vederman wrote a check for $3,500 payable to Fattah’s son, Chaka Fattah, Jr. On April 15, the date the wage taxes were due, Chaka Fattah, Jr. made cash deposits totaling $2,310 into his father’s bank account, and Fattah wrote a check that day to the City of Philadelphia in payment of his tax bill. Without the deposits by his son, Fattah did not have sufficient funds in his account to cover the check.

Fattah continued to press hard for the ambassadorship for Vederman. He took the unusual step of hand-delivering to the President of the United States a letter on his official stationery dated October 30, 2010. Fattah urged the President to name Vederman as an ambassador. The letter read:

Mr. President:

Governor Rendell and I have written letters and made phone calls to recommend Mr. Herb Vederman for an opportunity to represent our country through an ambassadorship. I’m writing this note to follow-up on this matter.

Mr. Vederman is willing to serve in any location that would be helpful to the Obama Administration. His resume was submitted to your staff, however I feel it important to highlight his experience as a member of the Mayor of Philadelphia’s cabinet for 8 years and the Governor’s cabinet, as well. Mr. Vederman has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia on diplomatic missions, government related trade delegations and for personal business. This direct contact and experience has provided him with the diplomatic knowledge and tools necessary on cultural, governmental and business customs. On governmental travel alone, Mr. Vederman visited nearly 20 different countries representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s interests, and worked with foreign trade and business officials. In addition to this wealth of experience, Mr. Vederman serves as an adjunct professor of government at Drexel University, an opportunity that came in recognition of his expertise in working with legislators and public policy formulators.

Mr. Vederman has devoted most of his career to public service. He has worked tirelessly to make a difference and is so committed that in each position, he has requested an annual salary of $1.00. He now offers his services to your administration for this same sum.

Mr. Vederman is an unquestionably exceptional candidate for an ambassadorship. He has proven himself to have both the initiative and intellectual creativity necessary for this position.

Governor Rendell and I look forward to hearing from a member of your staff soon.

On the same day as Fattah dated his letter to the President, Vederman opened his wallet once more. He sent a check to Cha-ka Fattah, Jr. for $2,800.

Several weeks later, on November 18, 2010, Fattah’s chief of staff in Washington sent another email to the White House concerning Vederman. The email stated: Kristin,

I hope all is well.

Congressman Fattah was with the President a few weeks ago and gave him a note following up on Herb Vederman’s interest in serving the nation. The note is attached.

This note is a follow-up to a few calls with Mr. Messina, Congressman Fattah and Governor Rendell. It is our hope that Mr. Vederman will have an opportunity to discuss this opportunity with Mr. Messina. If I can be of any assistance, please let me know.

Despite Fattah’s persistent efforts, Veder-man was never named as an ambassador.

At the end of 2011, Vederman’s girlfriend lost her long-time job as a law clerk to a federal magistrate judge in Florida. At the time of her termination, she only needed ten months of federal service for her pension to vest. Vederman contacted Fattah about hiring her on his congressional staff in Philadelphia. She herself spoke to Fattah on the phone on Christmas Day, and during that conversation he told her that it should not be a problem for her to work for him. On ■ December 26, 2011, at Fattah’s suggestion, she sent Bow-ser, chief of staff of Fattah’s Philadelphia office, an email addressed to Fattah describing her situation. She included a resume, a letter of recommendation, and several writing samples.

In December 2011, while Vederman’s girlfriend was seeking employment on Fat-tah’s staff, Fattah again found himself in need of money, and he and his wife, Renee Chenault-Fattah, turned again to Veder-man. The Fattahs had decided to purchase a vacation home in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania and were short of funds to be able to close on the property. It so happened that Chenaultr-Fattah owned a 1989 Porsche. On January 12, 2012, she offered by email to sell it to Vederman for $18,000. Several hours later, Vederman responded that he would “love to purchase” it.

On December 13, 2011, Bowser, at Fat-tah’s request, had faxed the realty agreement for the Pocono home to Credit Union Mortgage Association (“CUMA”), the mortgage loan processing organization, and to the realtor. Bowser had a close working relationship with Fattah as the long-time chief of staff of his Philadelphia office and held a personal power of attorney for him. On January 13, 2012, the day after Vederman agreed to purchase the Porsche, Bowser emailed Vederman with instructions on how to wire the money to Fattah’s Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union account. Vederman wired the money that same day.

After Vederman wired the $18,000 into Fattah’s Wright Patman account, thus making it available to help fund the purchase of the vacation home, Victoria Souza, the mortgage loan processor for CUMA, informed Fattah that she needed documentation of the source of the money. Fattah then rapidly began to generate that documentation. He responded to Souza on January 17, 2012 that the funds had resulted from the sale of a car and that the “paper work is in process.” On January 17, 2012, Souza emailed Fattah that CUMA needed the bill of sale signed by the seller and purchaser and documentation as to the source of the wired funds.

Later that day, Bowser emailed the unsigned bill of sale for the Porsche to Ved-erman to sign. At that time, he was in Florida. She also emailed Fattah the link to instructions on selling a car and asked him for the title number and odometer reading for the Porsche. The next day, January 18, 2012, Vederman returned to Bowser the bill of sale signed and undated. Thereafter, on the same day, Bowser obtained the signature of Chenault-Fattah on the bill of sale and signed the bill of sale herself as a witness even though she never saw Vederman affix his signature. The bill of sale was backdated to January 16, 2012, the day before CUMA had requested documentation about the car. The backdating occurred sometime after Ved-erman had signed and returned it to Bow-ser and before Fattah forwarded it to Sou-za. The record does not reveal who added the date.

On January 19, 2012, Bowser had the title with the signatures of Vederman and Chenault-Fattah notarized but without either signatory appearing before the notary. Fattah emailed the title and bill of sale to Souza that same day.

The jury had more than enough evidence to find that the sale of the Porsche was a sham. Vederman never picked up the car or took possession of it. Chenault-Fattah continued to hold herself out as the owner. The Porsche remained with the Fattahs at their home as before. In May 2012, Chenault-Fattah renewed the registration as owner of the Porsche with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. In June 2012, she had the car serviced at a Porsche dealership in Con-shohocken, Pennsylvania for $1,575. She continued to pay the insurance on the car after the ostensible sale. In November 2012, in a recorded conversation with a representative of the insurance company, she stated: “We have the Porsche which we take off of insurance during the winter because we have it just in the garage.” She never mentioned any sale and continued to insure the car into 2015.

On January 19, 2012, less than a week after Vederman wired the $18,000 to Fat-tah and the same day that Fattah emailed the false title and bill of sale to CUMA, Vederman’s girlfriend received a letter from Bowser welcoming her as an employee in Fattah’s Philadelphia office. Bowser knew she was “Herb’s [Vederman’s] lady.” Vederman’s girlfriend remained employed for only two months and during this period spent half of her time in Florida. Although she was under the supervision Of Bowser when she was at Fattah’s Philadelphia office, no one there seemed to know what she did. She testified that she spent what time she was in the office largely on a project to archive Fattah’s plaques and awards with Temple University. Nonetheless, her contact with Temple consisted of only one brief phone call and two emails. Nothing ever came of this project. She left her job in Fattah’s office in late March 2012 when she took a position with a congressman in Florida. Fattah’s hiring of Vederman’s girlfriend had put Fattah over budget for his office staff and her departure was documented with a letter of termination citing budgetary. considerations.

V.

The final scheme charged in the indictment involved the defrauding of and false statements to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) by Nicholas, the chief executive officer of EAA. The facts are narrated in the light most favorable to the Government.

In December 2011, EAA, a nonprofit entity which Fattah had founded, was experiencing financial difficulties. Accordingly, Nicholas requested a special grant of $409,000 from NOAA for the annual Fat-tah-founded National Conference on Higher Education, previously denominated the “Fattah Conference on Higher Education.” Regardless of the good works EAA and its annual conference may have accomplished, one of EAA’s purposes was to advance the political standing of Fattah. Fattah had served as the conference’s keynote speaker and at that event t-shirts and other mo-mentos with Fattah’s name imprinted on them were handed out.

In her December 2011 email, Nicholas advised NOAA that the annual conference was to be held from February 17, 2012 through February 19, 2012 at the Sheraton Hotel in Philadelphia although Nicholas had missed the deadline for any application for the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year. NOAA responded in mid-January that it agreed in principle to provide $50,000 for the conference.

In May 2012, Nicholas wired a formal application to NOAA for a grant of $50,000. The application stated that the funds would be used between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012 although she did not state the actual dates of the Conference on Higher Education. NOAA then sought the exact dates of the conference because by that time it was too late to provide funds for an event which had already taken place. Nicholas stated that the conference was to take place from October 19, 2012 through October 21, 2012 at Philadelphia’s Sheraton, Thereafter, she emailed to NOAA the criteria for the student participants purportedly attending the October 2012 conference. Nicholas also certified her agreement to abide by the award conditions. Based on these representations, NOAA approved the grant for the purported October 2012 conference and sent the $50,000 to EAA.

In November 2013, Nicholas wired false documentation to NOAA that the funds had been used as intended for the October 2012 conference although no such conference ever took place. In January 2014, she submitted a final progress report describing the non-existent conference purportedly held in October 2012. In that report, she also falsely stated that Congressman Cha-ka Fattah had been the featured speaker.

Nicholas kept some of the $50,000 grant on herself and forwarded $20,000 to Nay-lor in March 2013 in partial payment of money EAA owed to Naylor’s firm SLA for services it had performed more than a year before.

VI.

Fattah, Brand, and Nicholas have moved for judgments of acquittal or in the alternative for a new trial on Count Two of the indictment which charged them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1349. Count Two averred that they, as well as Bowser and others, agreed to execute a scheme to defraud EAA and NASA. The scheme aimed to obtain money and property by fraud, and to use interstate wires in furtherance of the conspiracy in connection with an illegal $1,000,000 loan to the Fattah mayoral campaign and its repayment.

Section 1343 provides in relevant part: Whoever, having devised or intended to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire ... communication in interstate .., commerce any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned, not more than 20 years, or both.

See 18 U.S.C. § 1343.

Section 1349 reads:

Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offense under this chapter ... shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the attempt or conspiracy.

See 18 U.S.C. § 1349.

In support of his motion for judgment of acquittal, Brand argues that there was insufficient evidence that he participated in a conspiracy to defraud EAA and NASA, that he knew of the $1,000,000 illegal loan, or that he was aware of the campaign finance reports that contained the annual $20,000 write down of SLA’s $193,000 phony invoice.

It is well established that a conspirator does not have to be aware of all aspects or details of the conspiracy. See United States v. Bailey, 840 F.3d 99, 2016 WL 6081354, at *3 (3d. Cir. Oct. 18, 2016). Moreover, “the very nature of the crime of conspiracy is such that it often may be established only by indirect and circumstantial evidence.” See United States v. Brodie, 403 F.3d 123, 134 (3d Cir. 2005).

The evidence established that Nicholas, at Fattah’s direction, provided Brand’s company, SFP, with $600,000 of EAA’s money without SFP ever performing any services to EAA. A bogus contract between SFP and EAA was not signed by Brand and Nicholas until many months thereafter and only then after Government investigators were zeroing in on EAA and SFP. As part of Fattah’s plan, Brand also promptly wired $600,000 in interstate commerce to LSG, again without LSG ever doing any work for his company under their bogus contract. This money, as Brand knew, was then used to pay off the debt to the donor. The evidence is more than sufficient for the jury to have found him guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Nicholas, like Brand, also asserts that there was insufficient evidence to convict her of wire fraud conspiracy. Her argument, like his, is totally without merit. As the chief executive officer of EAA, she misappropriated $600,000 received from Sallie Mae and NASA and transferred the money to Brand at Fattah’s direction. She attempted to conceal the transfer as a legitimate payment on a contract with Brand’s SFP. Again, no contract was signed until months after the transfer and then only when Government investigators were hot on her trail. We repeat that no work was ever done for EAA for the $600,000.

Fattah, Brand, and Nicholas further contend that no interstate wire was involved. They are incorrect. The parties stipulated at trial that a wire transfer of $600,000 was sent from SFP’s bank account in Pennsylvania through Rhode Island and Virginia to LSG’s bank account in Washington, D.C. It was further stipulated that LSG wired the money from Washington, D.C. through Virginia to the bank account of the donor to repay him for the illegal loan to the Fattah for Mayor campaign. These wires to repay the illegal loan all took place in early 2008. Brand was responsible for sending the wire from SFP to Lindenfeld at LSG, and Lindenfeld was responsible for sending the wire to the donor.

The defendants also maintain that the proof with respect to Count Two fails because it is time barred. The applicable statute of limitations is five years. See 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a). Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is a continuing offense, and the limitation period does not begin to run until the completion of the last act overt that is part of the offense. See United States v. Amirnazmi, 645 F.3d 564, 592 (3d Cir. 2011); United States v. Jake, 281 F.3d 123, 129 n.6 (3d Cir. 2002). The indictment was filed on July 29, 2015. Thus, an overt act must have occurred on or after July 29, 2010 for the count to be timely. See United States v. Bornman, 559 F.3d 150, 153 (3d Cir. 2009).

The Supreme Court ruled in Grunewald v. United States, 353 U.S. 391, 77 S.Ct. 963, 1 L.Ed.2d 931 (1957), that “the crucial question in determining whether the statute of limitations has run is the scope of the conspiratorial agreement, for it is that which determines both the duration of the conspiracy, and whether the act relied on as an overt act may properly be regarded as in furtherance of the conspiracy.” See id. at 397, 77 S.Ct. 963. An act of concealment brings the conspiracy within the statute of limitations when “done in furtherance of the main objectives of the conspiracy.” See id. at 405, 77 S.Ct. 963. Concealment activities after the purpose of the conspiracy has been attained “for the purpose only of covering up after the crime” do not extend the time to file an indictment. See id. In compliance with Grüne-wald, this court instructed the jury:

The Government charges that the filing of Fattah for Mayor campaign finance reports on or after July 29, 2010 brings Count Two within the five-year period because the reports concealed the alleged scheme to defraud charged as the object of the conspiracy. However, in order to bring an alleged fraud within the five-year period, you must find that when the alleged conspiracy was formed, the defendants expressly agreed to conceal the alleged fraud, and that their acts on or after July 29, 2010 furthered that purpose.

It is not enough for the Government to offer circumstantial evidence permitting an inference of an agreement to conceal, and it is not enough for the Government to offer direct evidence that the defendants implicitly agreed to conceal. The Government must prove by direct evidence that the conspirators originally expressly agreed to conceal the conspiracy.

The indictment alleged and the Government proved that the central objective of the conspiracy was to maintain and enhance the stature of Fattah as a political figure. Integral to this objective was the need to demonstrate that he could meet his financial obligations to his vendors and retire his campaign debts. The record contains evidence that it was a sign of weakness for a candidate or holder of public office to be unable to raise funds or to eliminate campaign obligations. Fattah obtained the $1,000,000 loan from the donor to help finance his run for Mayor. When the primary campaign ended in defeat in May 2007, it was necessary to pay off or appear to pay off or reduce his debts to maintain Fattah’s political strength.

In June 2007, long before the repayment of the $1,000,000 loan in January 2008, Fattah had Naylor prepare a $193,000 invoice to the Fattah for Mayor campaign to conceal most of the $200,000 that Naylor had distributed as “walking around money” using a portion of the illegal loan funds. Naylor had handed out this money in cash to dozens of election workers on the eve of the May 15, 2007 primary. It was well known in the community that these payments had been made and clearly questions would be asked as to the source of the funds. Thus, those expenditures were described in the fake invoice and included in the public Fattah for Mayor campaign filings. These steps made it appear that SLA, not the donor, was the source of the money.

Fattah, Lindenfeld, and Naylor, all experienced political operatives, knew from the outset that this non-existent debt to SLA would then need to be written off for Fattah to avoid appearing financially vulnerable, which would politically undermine Fattah. They also knew from the outset, as experienced political operatives, that the law only permitted a maximum of $20,000 to be written off each year and thus that it would take almost ten years of annual campaign filings to erase the debt. The campaign filings through 2014 concealing the fraudulent nature of the invoice and a part of the illegal $1,000,000 loan were clearly a central aim of this conspiracy to maintain the position of Fattah, a Congressman, as a viable political figure. Consequently, Count Two is not barred by the statute of limitations because overt acts, that is campaign filings, occurred as part of the plan of the conspiracy within five years of the filing of the indictment on July 29, 2015.

The defendants next argue that Count Two improperly alleged two conspiracies, one involving Fattah, Bowser, Lindenfeld, and Naylor in obtaining and spending the $1,000,000 loan and the other involving Fattah, Lindenfeld, Brand, and Nicholas in misappropriating Sallie Mae and NASA funds to repay the loan. A duplicitous indictment violates a defendant’s constitutional right to notice of charges against him or her and undermines the right to assert a double jeopardy defense in a subsequent action. See United States v. Moloney, 287 F.3d 236, 239 (2d Cir. 2002); United States v. Crisci, 273 F.3d 235, 238 (2d. Cir. 2001). Our Court of Appeals has cautioned against formalism in resolving issues of duplicity. It explained: “a single count of an indictment should not be found impermissibly duplicitous whenever it contains several allegations that could have been stated as separate offenses, but only when the failure to do so risks unfairness to the defendant.” United States v. Root, 585 F.3d 145, 155 (3d Cir. 2009).

Here, the jury could and did reasonably find that there was one conspiracy involving the obtaining, repayment, and concealment of the illegal loan with the aim of maintaining and enhancing Fattah’s political stature in the community. The SLA invoice and the public campaign filings were all part of this objective. Simply because Brand or Nicholas may not have known or been involved in all the details of the conspiracy is of no consequence. See Bailey. 840 F.3d 99, 2016 WL 6081354, at *3. The indictment gave all defendants proper notice of the conspiracy allegation, and they experienced no unfairness in the way Count Two was framed.

Finally, defendants contend a new trial is required on Count Two because they were unfairly prejudiced by the introduction of evidence on other counts where guilty verdicts must be reversed. This spillover argument is without merit as we explain in Section XVI of this Memorandum.

The evidence was overwhelming that Fattah, Brand, and Nicholas were guilty of the timely charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Their motions for judgments of acquittal or for a new trial on Count Two will be denied.

VII.

Count Three charged Fattah and Bow-ser with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1346, and 1349. Specifically, it alleged that the Blue Guardians scheme deprived the citizens of the Second Congressional District of Pennsylvania of their right to the honest services of Congressman Fattah through bribery and that in furtherance of the scheme interstate wires were used. Fattah seeks a judgment of acquittal or in the alternative a new trial on this count.

Section 1346 provides that “a scheme or artifice to defraud,” as used in § 1343, the wire fraud statute, “includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.” See 18 U.S.C. § 1346. The Supreme Court held in Skilling v. United States, 561 U.S. 358, 130 S.Ct. 2896, 177 L.Ed.2d 619 (2010), that “§ 1346 covers only bribery and kickback schemes.” Id. at 367, 130 S.Ct. 2896. Under the bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. § 201, it is unlawful for a public official to accept anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act. A promise to perform an official act is sufficient to constitute a bribery offense if done in exchange for a thing of value, whether or not the official act ever occurs. See McDonnell v. United States, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 2355, 2371, 195 L.Ed.2d 639 (2016). The Supreme Court in McDonnell reiterated: “Under this Court’s precedents, a public official is not required to actually make a decision or take an action on a ‘question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy’; it is enough that the official agreed to do so.” Id. An act to be official “must involve a formal exercise of governmental power” and be something specific and focused. See id. at 2372; United States v. Birdsall, 233 U.S. 223, 234, 34 S.Ct. 512, 58 L.Ed. 930 (1914).

Fattah argues that any promise to obtain an appropriation was not an official act as a matter of law. This argument is without merit. The evidence proved overwhelmingly that Fattah promised Linden-feld a federal appropriation for Blue Guardians, a corporation to be set up by Lindenfeld, in return for Lindenfeld’s forgiveness of the $130,000 debt that the Fat-tah for Mayor campaign owed him and his consulting firm. The conspiracy continued into 2014 while Fattah was writing down the debt in his annual campaign filings.

It is hard to imagine a more quintessential official act than that which occurred here. Fattah, as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, agreed to obtain an appropriation for Lindenfeld’s benefit. He promised a formal exercise of specific and focused governmental power. See McDonnell, 136 S.Ct. at 2371.

The facts here are quite similar to those charged in United States v. Brewster, 408 U.S. 501, 92 S.Ct. 2531, 33 L.Ed.2d 507 (1972). There the Supreme Court upheld the indictment of a former United States Senator for bribery under § 201. It charged him -with accepting money while in office in return for promising to be influenced with respect to postage rate legislation pending in Congress. The Court stated:

The illegal conduct is taking or agreeing to take money for a promise to act in a certain way. There is no need for the Government to show that appellee [the Senator] fulfilled the alleged illegal bargain; acceptance of the bribe is the violation of the statute, not performance of the illegal promise.

Nor does it matter if the Member defaults on his illegal bargain.... If, for example, there were undisputed evidence that a Member took a bribe in exchange for an agreement to vote for a given bill and if there were also undisputed evidence that he, in fact, voted against the bill, can it be thought that this alters the nature of the bribery or removes it from the area of wrongdoing the Congress sought to make a crime?

See id. at 526-27.

Fattah also argues that the Government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the conspiracy involved any wires across state lines. This is incorrect. The Government established that Lindenfeld did indeed use the internet across state lines in organizing and readying Blue Guardians to do business. Specifically, he sent an email to obtain an IRS identification number. The wire was transmitted from Washington, D.C. to Cincinnati, Ohio. He also sought a special identification number for federal grant applications by sending a wire from Washington, D.C. to Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.

Consistent with McDonnell, this court instructed the jury that one of the elements of honest services wire fraud to be proven for a conviction was a “scheme to exchange an agreement to forgive a Fattah for Mayor campaign debt owed to Thomas Lindenfeld for a promise to secure an earmark for a nonprofit entity called Blue Guardians.” The court directed the jury to the specific conduct of Fattah in issue and the thing of value alleged to be provided by Lindenfeld. See United States v. Kemp, 500 F.3d 257, 281 (3d Cir. 2007). As more fully outlined in Section X of this Memorandum, the narrowing of the definition of official act in McDonnell does not require a new trial on Count Three since the only official act involved in the Blue Guardians scheme squarely meets that narrowed definition. Charging the jury in strict compliance with McDonnell would have made absolutely no difference in the outcome of the jury’s verdict on this Count. Any error was harmless. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a).

The motion of Fattah for judgment of acquittal or a new trial on Count Three will be denied.

VHI.

The jury found Fattah guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1349 in Count Four of the indictment and of mail fraud under § 1341 in Counts Five through Ten, all in connection with Fattah’s causing the use of Fat-tah for Mayor and Fattah for Congress campaign funds to pay the student debts of his son, Chaka Fattah, Jr. He seeks judgments of acquittal or a new trial on these counts.

Section 1341 provides:

Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises ... for the purposes of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by the Postal Service ... or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

See 18 U.S.C. § 1341.

The evidence is overwhelming that Fattah orchestrated the use of these campaign funds to pay his son’s college debts. He directed Bowser, his campaign treasurer, to send the campaign funds to Naylor, and he had Naylor pay the debts through Naylor’s consulting firm’s bank account. The transmissions to SLA were disguised as payments due for work on the Fattah for Mayor campaign. The scheme involved at the very least fraud on the Fattah for Mayor campaign and the Fat-tah for Congress campaign. Two of the Fattah for Mayor campaign creditors—one a Philadelphia law firm and the other a small printing company—were also misled by omission. The creditors agreed to compromise their debts without being told that campaign funds were being used to help Chaka Fattah, Jr. Both creditors considered the omission to be material.

Counts Five, Six, Seven, Nine, and Ten charged Fattah with mail fraud with respect to the following checks mailed at Fattah’s instigation by Naylor from SLA’s bank account to Sallie Mae to pay off Chaka Fattah, Jr.’s student debt:

Count Mailing Date

Five Check to Sallie Mae for September 20, 2010 $1,051.03 drawn on SLA's bank account at PNC Bank and signed and mailed by Gregory Naylor

Six Check to Sallie Mae for $525.52 drawn on SLA's bank account at PNC Bank and signed and mailed by Gregory Naylor November 8, 2010

Seven Check to Sallie Mae for $525.52 drawn on SLA's bank account at PNC Bank and signed and mailed by Gregory Naylor November 18, 2010

Nine Check to Sallie Mae for $525.52 December 17, 2010 drawn on SLA's bank account at PNC Bank and signed and mailed by Gregory Naylor

Ten Check to Sallie Mae for April 6, 2011 $2,102.08 drawn on SLA's bank account at PNC Bank and signed and mailed by Gregory Naylor

Fattah contends that the statements made to the campaign creditors charged in Counts Four through Ten to induce them to compromise the amount owed by the Fattah for Mayor campaign were not false or fraudulent. Even if he is correct, these counts, as noted previously, specifically charged as part of the scheme that Fattah defrauded the Fattah for Mayor campaign and the Fattah for Congress campaign by directing Naylor to use these funds to pay the student debts of Fattah’s son. Naylor in turn paid Sallie Mae and Drexel University by sending checks through the mail. Fattah does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence that he directed Bowser to mail these campaign funds to Naylor and that Naylor mailed checks backed by those funds to Sallie Mae and Drexel as part of a conspiracy in which he was involved with Fattah. That evidence more than suffices for convictions for mail fraud and for conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Fattah further asserts that he is entitled to a new trial on these counts because there was a prejudicial spillover effect from the evidence on other counts where the convictions must be reversed. As explained in Section XVI of this Memorandum, we reject this argument on prejudicial spillover.

Fattah does contend that the Government has not proven all the elements required in Count Eight. He maintains that the Government has not established beyond a reasonable doubt that Bowser mailed the check in issue to Naylor. The Count Eight check, unlike the others which are the subject of Counts Five, Six, Seven, Nine, and Ten, was drawn on the bank account of the Fattah for Mayor campaign. Naylor was the recipient, not the sender. The check was signed by Bow-ser, payable to SLA in the amount of $5,000, and dated November 22, 2010.

The use of the mails in furtherance of the scheme to defraud is an essential element of the offense under § 1341. See United States v. Hannigan, 27 F.3d 890, 892 (3d Cir. 1994). Naylor received five Fattah for Mayor campaign checks which were involved in the scheme, including the one charged in Count Eight. The others, which were outside the statute of limitations, were not charged in the indictment. Naylor testified that Bowser usually called him to let him know the check was coming. Naylor recalled that he “received most of them by mail, one or two may have been dropped off at the office.” He further stated that he was “not exactly sure as to which ones [of the checks received from Bowser] were mailed and which ones [he] picked up personally.”

We start with the principle, stated in Hannigan and cited by the Government, that “[i]t is well-established that evidence of business practice or office custom supports a finding of the mailing element of § 1341.” See Hannigan, 27 F.3d at 892. Naylor, however, did not testify about the business practice or office custom of the sender, that is Bowser, the treasurer of the Fattah for Mayor campaign. Indeed, he would have been in no position to do so. All he could possibly know is how he received the five checks from Bowser. While he remembered that most were received by mail, he also testified that one or two may have been hand-delivered or picked up. We need not delve into the propriety of statistics or probabilities in proving an element of a criminal offense, particularly where the sample was so small. In our view, Naylor’s testimony that there was a 60% to 80% probability that the November 22, 2010 check was mailed to him is not enough to find Fattah guilty of mail fraud on Count Eight beyond a reasonable doubt.

Accordingly, we will deny the motion of Fattah for judgments of acquittal or new trial on Counts Four, Five, Six, Seven, Nine, and Ten and will grant his motion for judgment of acquittal on Count Eight.

IX.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty against Fattah on Counts Eleven through Fifteen charging him with falsification of records under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1519 and 2. He seeks judgments of acquittal or a new trial on these counts.

Section 1519 provides:

Whoever knowingly ,.. conceals ... falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States ... or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

See 18 U.S.C. § 1519.

Counts Eleven through Fourteen alleged, in essence, that the Fattah for May- or Committee falsified the Pennsylvania campaign