Full opinion text
HULL, Circuit Judge: This consolidated appeal arises from five bribery and public corruption cases relating to the $3 billion repair and rehabilitation of a sewer and wastewater treatment system in Jefferson County, Alabama. A 127-count Second Superseding Indictment (the “Indictment”) charged sixteen defendants (eleven individuals and five corporate firms) with conspiracy to commit bribery, substantive offenses of bribery, honest services mail fraud, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice. Nine defendants appeal their convictions here. Three of those nine defendants appeal their sentences. Specifically, the nine defendant-appellants are: two former County officials, three corporate contractors, and four individuals who owned these respective contractors. The two defendant County officials were in charge of the sewer program and received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes from the defendant contractors. In many cases, the contractors disguised these payments by altering invoices or hiding costs within their accounting systems. In turn, the defendant contractors obtained hundreds of millions of dollars worth of payments on construction and engineering contracts with the County. The County officials approved the contractors’ pay requests, change orders, time extensions, and/or requests for field directives, all of which financially benefitted the defendant contractors. After review and oral argument, we conclude the evidence at the trials overwhelmingly established the defendant-appellants’ guilt, and they have shown no reversible error in the district courts’ rulings, pretrial or in the trials, in the cases consolidated on appeal. Thus, we affirm all of the defendant-appellants’ convictions except Roland Pugh Construction, Inc.’s conviction on Count 75, which is barred by the statute of limitations. We also affirm Jewell C. “Chris” McNair’s sentence in full. We affirm Jack W. Swann’s sentence in part but remand for further proceedings as to the amount of the fine. As to the sentence of Roland Pugh Construction, Inc., we (1) affirm the district court’s findings of fact as supported by the record; and (2) conclude there was no error in the district court’s calculations under the sentencing guidelines; but (3) in light of the reversal of its Count 75 conviction, we vacate its sentence and remand for resentencing without Count 75. I. BACKGROUND A. Jefferson County Officials The defendant County officials implicated in the bribery scandal are: Defendant McNair: Jewell C. “Chris” McNair (“McNair”) was a Jefferson County Commissioner. McNair was responsible for overseeing the operation of the Jefferson County Environmental Services Division (“JCESD”), which included the sewer system. Defendant Swann: Jack W. Swann (“Swann”) was the Director of the JCESD. Defendant Wilson: Ronald K. Wilson (“Wilson”) was Chief Civil Engineer for the JCESD and served on the Product Review Committee (“PRC”). After leaving the JCESD in 1999, Wilson formed his own firm, Civil Engineering Design Services, Inc. (“CEDS”). Defendant Barber. Clarence R. Barber (“Barber”) was Chief Construction Maintenance Supervisor for the JCESD and served on the PRC. B. Contractors These defendant corporate firms and individuals had either construction or engineering contracts with the JCESD and were implicated in the bribery scandal. Pugh defendants: Roland Pugh Construction, Inc. (“PUGH”); Grady Roland Pugh, Sr. (“Roland Pugh”), founder, board chairman, and 70% owner of PUGH; and Joseph E. “Eddie” Yessick (“Yessick”), President and 10% owner of PUGH. PUGH had $178 million in sewer construction contracts with Jefferson County between August 1999 and January 2002. PUGH was a “dig-and-replace” contractor. Rast defendants: Rast Construction, Inc. (“RAST”); Bobby J. Rast (“Bobby Rast”), President and co-owner of RAST; and his brother Daniel B. Rast (“Danny Rast”), Vice President and co-owner of RAST. RAST had about $100 million in sewer construction contracts with Jefferson County during the same period. RAST was another “dig-and-replace” contractor. Dougherty defendants: F.W. Dougherty Engineering & Associates, Inc. (“FWDE”) and Floyd W. “Pat” Dougherty (“Dougherty”), President and owner. FWDE received $11.4 million in no-bid engineering contracts with Jefferson County during the same period. USI defendants: US Infrastructure, Inc. (“USI”); Sohan Singh (“Singh”), President of USI; and Edward Key (“Key”), Vice President of USI. USI received about $50 million in engineering contracts with Jefferson County between 1999 and 2003. C. Co-conspirators Five other individual co-conspirators pled guilty and testified for the government in one or more of the five trials: Grady Pugh: Grady Roland Pugh, Jr. (“Grady Pugh”) was CEO and 10% owner of PUGH. He is the defendant Roland Pugh’s son. Chandler: Harry T. Chandler (“Chandler”) was Assistant Director of the JCESD and served on the PRC. Ellis: Donald R. Ellis (“Ellis”) was an engineer for the JCESD and Chairman of the PRC. Creel: Larry P. Creel (“Creel”) was a Maintenance Supervisor for the JCESD and served on the PRC. Dawson: William H. Dawson (“Dawson”) was the owner of Dawson Engineering, Inc. (“Dawson Engineering”), which received at least $20 million worth of no-bid engineering contracts from Jefferson County. While the Indictment alleges certain conduct by these five individuals as co-conspirators, they are not named defendants in the Indictment at issue in this appeal. D. The Indictment The Indictment contained 127 counts. Six of the counts charged a bribery conspiracy. Specifically, Counts 1 (against McNair and the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants), 32 (against McNair and the USI defendants), 50 (against McNair and the USI defendants), 51 (against Swann and the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants, except for Roland Pugh), 75 (against Wilson and PUGH), and 78 (against Barber and the Pugh defendants) charged conspiracy to commit bribery under 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 666. Counts 2-31, 33-49, 52-74, 76-77, and 79-89 charged one or more defendants with substantive bribery offenses (or aiding and abetting bribery) under 18 U.S.C. § 666. For the most part, these substantive bribery offenses were the overt acts charged in the conspiracy counts. Counts 90-101 charged honest services mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1346 against defendants Swann, Yessick, and PUGH. Counts 102-121 charged honest services mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1346 against defendants Swann, Wilson, CEDS, FWDE, and Dougherty. Counts 122-124 charged mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341 against the Dougherty defendants. Counts 125-127 charged obstruction of justice against certain defendants under 18 U.S.C. § 1503. Some of these counts were dismissed before trial, and other counts were dismissed prior to jury deliberations. And some defendants, such as Roland Pugh, were dismissed from some of the counts that went to the jury. This opinion addresses only the counts that were actually submitted to the jury. E. Five Trials The 127-eount Indictment was severed into five separate cases for trial: McNair (05-061), Swann (05-544), Barber (05-542), Wilson (05-545), and USI (05-543). The McNair trial involved bribes by the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants primarily to McNair but also to Chandler and Ellis. The USI trial involved bribes to McNair by the USI defendants. The other trials involved bribes to Swann, Barber, and Wilson, respectively. In the USI trial, defendants USI, Key, and Singh were convicted of, among other things, conspiracy to commit bribery and substantive bribery offenses for making payments to defendant Commissioner McNair and the JCESD’s Chandler and Ellis. This Court affirmed defendants USI, Key, and Singh’s convictions and sentences in United States v. US Infrastructure, 576 F.3d 1195 (11th Cir.2009), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 130 S.Ct. 1918, 176 L.Ed.2d 368 (2010). Defendant McNair entered a conditional guilty plea to Count 32 (conspiracy to accept a $140,000 bribe from the USI defendants). McNair reserved the right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss Count 32. McNair’s appeal in the USI case has been consolidated with the present appeal. F. Nine Parties to This Appeal This present consolidated appeal involves not only defendant McNair’s appeal in the USI case but also these defendants’ appeals in the other four trials: (1) McNair trial: defendants McNair, PUGH, Roland Pugh, RAST, Bobby Rast, Danny Rast, FWDE, and Dougherty. Defendant Yessick (President of PUGH) was convicted at trial and does not appeal. (2) Swann trial: defendants Swann, PUGH, RAST, Bobby Rast, FWDE, and Dougherty. Defendant Yessick was convicted at trial and does not appeal. (3) Barber trial: defendant PUGH. Defendants Barber and Yessick pled guilty and do not appeal. (4) Wilson trial: defendant PUGH. Defendant Wilson was convicted at trial and does not appeal. Albeit from five separate cases, the defendant-appellants raise many of the same issues. We discuss (1) the evidence in the McNair, Swann, Barber, and Wilson trials, and (2) the issues commonly raised by the defendants, followed by (3) certain issues pertaining to particular defendants. II. THE McNAIR TRIAL (05-061) The McNair trial, held from April 6 to 21, 2006, involved over $350,000 in bribes the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants paid to Commissioner McNair and $6,600 in bribes they paid to County employees Chandler and Ellis. The government called 36 witnesses, including Chandler, Ellis, Dawson, Creel, and Grady Pugh. The defense called 23 witnesses. No named defendant testified. The government’s witnesses described in great detail the bribes to McNair, Chandler, and Ellis, and how those three County officials financially helped the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants in their contracts with and payments from Jefferson County. Because the defendant contractors in the McNair trial claimed they paid McNair only out of a long-time friendship and lacked corrupt intent, the district court admitted certain evidence, under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), about how these same defendants bribed Swann and other County employees in order to show the defendants’ corrupt intent and common plan. Thus, our recitation of evidence in the McNair trial covers bribes given not only to McNair but also to Swann and other County employees. A. McNair Helps Contractor-Defendants Jefferson County was governed by five elected Commissioners, each of whom had a different area of responsibility. Defendant McNair held office as a County Commissioner from 1996 until his retirement in March 2001. McNair was responsible for overseeing the JCESD, which included the sewer systems. McNair had authority to approve pay requests from the sewer construction contractors, to approve change orders increasing the contract price paid to those contractors, to approve change orders modifying the contract terms in favor of those contractors, to approve emergency payments to contractors, to select consulting engineers through a no-bid process, and to approve the engineers’ contracts and payments. Although final approval required the vote of the entire Commission, there was no evidence that the Commission questioned or disapproved of any pay request or change order approved by McNair or any selection or award of a contract recommended by McNair. McNair’s nickname among the contractors was “Big Man.” McNair approved payments (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) to the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants (the “contractor-defendants”), approved change orders (in the millions of dollars) benefitting PUGH and RAST, and approved no-bid engineering contracts (in the millions of dollars) to FWDE, all while these defendants were paying for materials and labor to expand and renovate McNair’s photography studio. Each item requiring Commission approval, such as contract awards or modifications, needed McNair to approve it first and then to put it on the Commission’s agenda for further approval. The sewer construction contracts were awarded through a sealed bid process and would go to the lowest bidder. But the prospective contractors had to satisfy technical standards set by the PRC before they would be eligible to bid. Once a new contract was awarded and in place, Chandler and other supervisors, such as Ellis, could approve changed or additional work as “field directives.” If a requested change exceeded the original contract amount, Chandler and Ellis could recommend “change orders” (requests for additional funds), which McNair would then approve and place on the Commission’s agenda, without further competitive bidding. The JCESD also could award “emergency” work to construction contractors without competitive bidding. For emergency jobs, Barber typically selected the contractor, negotiated the price, and then sent the pay requests to McNair, Swann, and Chandler for approval. Together, McNair, Swann, and Chandler approved a variety of contracts for the sewer project. The construction contractors’ work was supervised by independent consulting engineers, whose jobs were to make sure the contractors performed according to specifications and to sign off on payments and requests for change orders. This supervision was provided by engineering firms such as FWDE, USI, and Dawson Engineering. The engineering consultant contracts were awarded without bidding. Swann and Chandler selected engineering firms, negotiated their contracts, and recommended them to McNair for final approval. The County’s PRC initially decided to qualify only three contractors to do “cured-in-place” work: W.L. Hailey (“Hailey”), Insituform, and Reynolds. Because the traditional “dig-and-replace” work was grouped with “cured-in-place” work for all the major construction contracts, this PRC decision effectively limited the “big jobs” to only three bidders: a RAST-Hailey joint venture, a PUGH-Insituform joint venture, and Reynolds, which did its own dig-and-replace work. In late 1999, the PRC changed the criteria, making it more difficult for other contractors to pre-qualify for “cured-in-place” work, and potentially delaying by two years the qualification of otherwise qualified contractors. Contractor PUGH’s CEO Grady Pugh admitted to receiving a “general benefit” from giving McNair “envelopes of cash,” in that “Jefferson County treated us real well. We had an opportunity to do a tremendous amount of work there. The work that we did there generated huge profits ... [I]t took our company [PUGH] from a normal struggling contracting company in [the] mid to late ’90s, to a thriving, wealthy, strong construction company.” During the relevant period, PUGH dedicated about 70% of its work to the Jefferson County sewer rehabilitation and received tens of millions of dollars in revenue from that sewer work. In 1996 and 1997, at the sewer rehabilitation’s outset, PUGH made gross profits of 10%, and as the project continued and payments were made to JCESD officials, the company’s sewer rehabilitation profits increased to 50% in 1999, 40% in 2000, and 45% in 2001, making PUGH tens of millions of dollars each of these years. RAST also received tens of millions of dollars in revenue per year from its Jefferson County sewer work. And the engineering firms, including FWDE, received revenue in millions of dollars per year from their work on the sewer rehabilitation. McNair made the decision every time FWDE or Dawson Engineering was selected as the outside consulting engineer and awarded a professional service contract. After electrical contractor Gus Henson did some work for McNair without charge, McNair had Swann arrange a County contract for him, even though the County did not normally hire electrical engineers for sewer work. In total, from August 1999 to January 2002, Jefferson County paid $178 million to PUGH, $100 million to RAST, $11.4 million to FWDE, and $8 million to Dawson Engineering. B. Bribes of McNair McNair owned a small photography business called McNair Frame & Photo Art, Inc. (“McNair’s studio”). Between 1999 and early 2002, McNair started a major expansion and renovation of the studio, which would more than double its size. McNair’s expansion included adding extras to the studio, such as an apartment for his daughter, a second-story deck, external stairs, a “guard shack,” and a security gate. All contractor-defendants in this case generously contributed to the renovation and expansion of McNair’s studio. In 1999, FWDE’s President Dougherty sent Bill Bailey, an FWDE employee initially hired as an inspector for County jobs, to work as the construction superintendent for the studio’s renovation. FWDE paid Bailey for the approximately 18 months he spent working at McNair’s studio. During that time, FWDE paid Bailey $74,240. Although some of his time was charged to “administration,” FWDE President Dougherty charged some of Bailey’s studio time to a JCESD sewer project. McNair was not charged for Bailey’s work. As superintendent, FWDE’s Bailey oversaw construction at McNair’s studio by numerous other contractors, including PUGH and RAST. RAST excavated for the expansion’s footings for McNair’s studio. In July-1999, PUGH ordered concrete and for four weeks had a four-man crew pour concrete walls and do other work on the studio, paying the crew $11,709. PUGH’s crew supervisor talked to McNair while the concrete work was in progress, but McNair did not question why he was there or where he was from, nor did McNair offer to pay for this work. In late 1999, FWDE’s Bailey asked Barry Mosley of Mosley Construction to do wood framing and other finish work at McNair’s studio. McNair initially paid Mosley, first with a check and then with cash, but eventually McNair stopped paying. Bobby Rast then told Bailey that “McNair was running out of funds” and that RAST would begin paying Mosley directly. From July 2000 to December 2000, RAST wrote 20 checks totaling $52,990 to Mosley as his work at the studio progressed, and, at Bobby Rast’s direction, coded these payments as expenses on a JCESD sewer project. Either Bailey or someone from RAST’s office, such as Danny Rast, brought Mosley the checks. In January 2002, RAST gave Mosley two more checks totaling $7,200 for work he and his crew did on the studio’s “guard shack,” a two-story, 12 x 12 building designed by defendant Dougherty, and built, in part, by defendants RAST and FWDE. Bobby Rast caused these payments to be coded as expenses on the “Upper Valley Rehab” or Kilsby contract, a JCESD sewer project. For tax purposes, all payments to Mosley were deducted as business expenses on sewer projects. Mosley did no work on those projects. After a local newspaper reported RAST’s construction work at JCESD Director Swann’s home, RAST amended its tax returns for 1998-2000 and 2002 to eliminate these and other deductions. The deductions, which totaled over $140,000, were based on expenditures for McNair’s studio and Swann’s home that had been cost-coded to sewer projects and treated as business expenses. After the publicity, Bobby Rast told his bookkeeper in “effect that we really didn’t need any document invoices in the files with Jack Swann’s or Chris McNair’s shipping address on them.” The bookkeeper then located and discarded several invoices related to work at McNair’s studio and Swann’s home. RAST furnished the labor and PUGH furnished the materials to construct a second-story deck for the rear of McNair’s studio. Bailey handwrote a list of materials and ordered the necessary steel. When Besco Steel Supply (“Besco”) delivered the steel, its delivery tickets identified PUGH and Yessick as its customers and indicated some of the steel was for the Valley Creek Treatment Plant, a JCESD sewer job on which PUGH was the contractor and FWDE the consulting engineer. In September 2000, PUGH paid Besco and charged the JCESD for $3,773 worth of steel with FWDE’s approval, and RAST poured the concrete deck and stairs, set the handrails, and built the steps. Around September 2000, FWDE employee Dave Bechtel ordered two sets of aluminum handrails for the studio deck and a staircase from Thompson Fabricating, which was directed to bill PUGH. The $5,500 invoice for the first set of handrails charged the work as performed on the Valley Creek Treatment Plant and falsely indicated that the handrails were shipped there. In February 2001, an $11,700 invoice for the second set of handrails referenced “CHRIS MC.” as the customer, but also falsely indicated that the handrails were shipped to Valley Creek when in fact they were shipped to McNair’s studio. PUGH paid both invoices and billed the County for the first set of handrails after adding a markup and charges for labor and equipment. RAST installed the handrails. In May 2000, at McNair’s request to Roland Pugh, Grady Pugh flew McNair’s daughter and FWDE’s Bailey on PUGH’s airplane to Georgia, where they picked out carpet for McNair’s studio. Before takeoff, Roland Pugh told his son Grady Pugh that “McNair has called [again] and says that he’s broke and he doesn’t have enough money to leave for the deposit on the carpet” and “[s]o, if you would, write a check for the deposit.” Grady Pugh paid the deposit with a $4,820 PUGH check made out to the Mill Store and had it treated on PUGH’s books as an expense on the “last rehab contract.” FWDE’s Bailey hired subcontractor Clint Gilley to install the carpet at McNair’s studio. In October 2000, FWDE’s Bailey called RAST to request checks for subcontractor Gilley. After Bobby Rast was consulted, RAST gave Gilley two checks totaling $5,301 for his work at McNair’s studio. In addition to paying for materials and providing work crews, PUGH also made other contributions to McNair’s studio. When the project began in 1999, Roland Pugh told PUGH’s other three owners, Grady Pugh, Andy Pugh, and Yessick, they had to give money to McNair because he was building a studio and, as 10% owners of the PUGH company, they had to “kick in” their share. Grady Pugh gave approximately $1,500 in cash to Roland Pugh’s secretary that time. McNair also wanted a security gate for the studio. In August 2000, Danny Rast hired subcontractor Master Access Controls (“MAC”) to install an electronic gate and agreed that RAST would provide the electrical conduit, wiring, and concrete pad for the gate’s motor. MAC met with FWDE’s Bailey at McNair’s studio site, installed the gate, and sent its invoices to the attention of Danny Rast. RAST paid the subcontractor $5,866.92. McNair paid nothing. Also in December 2000, at Danny Rast’s request, RAST gave Bailey & Sons’ Bobcat Service, owned by Danny Bailey, a $5,500 check for landscaping at McNair’s studio. However, RAST’s records indicated Danny Bailey was working on a JCESD sewer project. Although Danny Bailey had done work for RAST before, he did not send the invoice for the studio work through regular billing, as he normally would, but instead sent it “Atten Dan Rast.” In November 2000, McNair asked Dawson Engineering to contribute to the studio’s renovation. After McNair called William Dawson, the founder of Dawson Engineering, the two met at McNair’s studio. McNair handed Dawson a brochure for an audiovisual system and told Dawson that, while McNair had “never asked [Dawson] for anything before,” he needed to ask Dawson to “help [him] with something.” McNair opened the brochure to a specific page, showed it to Dawson, and indicated he wanted Dawson to pay for the equipment and its installation. Dawson went to Holt Audio Video (“Holt”) and purchased the equipment for $16,400. Dawson testified he would not have done this for McNair if McNair had not been associated with the sewer rehabilitation process. When Dawson saw the invoice indicated the bill was for Dawson Engineering but the shipment was for McNair’s studio, he became “uncomfortable with the whole situation” and asked Holt to alter the shipping information by putting a sticker over the McNair studio’s address, which Holt did. Dawson later pled guilty to conspiring to commit bribery. Work at the studio continued after Commissioner McNair retired in March 2001. FWDE’s Bailey hired Buchanan Plumbing and Sewer Service (“Buchanan”) to plumb the “guard shack.” In November 2001, FWDE employees signed Buchanan’s $1,775 in invoices and sent them to RAST, which paid them. RAST recorded the payments as “Plumbing Work at Kilsby Circle,” a sewer project, even though Buchanan never did any work there. After McNair’s retirement, Roland Pugh told Grady Pugh “that GD [sic] McNair has called again, and he wants us to do some work over in Arkansas” and “surely this is the last time we’ll have to do anything for him since he’s out of office.” Grady Pugh flew with McNair to Arkansas to look at the site and plans. Following this visit, PUGH’s Yessick hired George Word, an Arkansas building contractor, in August 2001 to build a 3,000-square-foot retirement home for McNair. Both PUGH and FWDE paid for its construction. PUGH’s checkbook carried the notation “Gift per Eddie [Yessick]. No job.” After McNair’s retirement, RAST also continued to perform work at McNair’s studio and paid $8,135.78 for McNair and his wife to take a cruise to Alaska in September 2001. C. Bribes of Chandler and Ellis The Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants also gave, at no charge, goods, services, labor, materials, and other things of value to (1) JCESD Assistant Director Chandler, and (2) JCESD Engineer and PRC Director Ellis. At a lunch, PUGH’s President Yessick offered to landscape Chandler’s home. Chandler at first refused, but weeks later Yessick offered again, and Chandler accepted. PUGH provided crews and paid for the materials for the extensive landscaping, including grading, drainage work, and new sod, as well as construction of a patio, walkway, and retaining walls. Chandler paid nothing for that work. In October 2001, Yessick arranged and paid for a $610 condo rental for the Chandler family vacation at the Pelican Beach Resort in Destín, Florida. Chandler asked for, and PUGH delivered, a load of sand for Chandler’s house for free. In the spring of 2002, Chandler asked Bobby Rast to help with his expenses for a trip to Europe to attend technical conferences. Ellis planned to attend too. At RAST’s office, Bobby Rast gave Chandler an envelope containing $5,000 in cash and told Chandler to split the money with Ellis. Chandler had expected $250 to $500 and was “uncomfortable and thought about giving it back, but [he] didn’t.” Instead, Chandler “eventually gave half’ to Ellis. The Dougherty defendants also gave Chandler tickets to Disney World and a trip to San Antonio. D. The Defense For the most part, the defendants did not dispute that they provided, at no charge, these goods, services, labor, materials, and other things of value to Commissioner McNair. Instead, the defendants argued they lacked the “corrupt” intent necessary for bribery and that the government had failed to prove the required quid pro quo for the benefits provided to McNair. The defendants also asserted they helped McNair based on their friendship with him or for goodwill. In support, defense witnesses testified to McNair’s decades-long friendship with Roland Pugh, Dougherty, and the Rast family, and described how the contractor-defendants frequently performed work for McNair at no charge. The contractor-defendants also contended their experience, skills, and business reputation were strong enough so that they did not need to resort to bribery to win County contracts. The defense spent considerable time attacking the credibility of Grady Pugh, including inconsistencies in his testimony. The defense suggested he was lying out of hatred for his father Roland Pugh and to obtain a favorable sentence recommendation from the government. The government countered the defendants’ corrupt-intent arguments by offering 404(b) evidence of similar items of value the same contractors had provided for Swann, Wilson, and Barber (who were not defendants in the McNair trial). The government argued the large scale and overall pattern of these payments were inconsistent with the defendants’ claims that they were favors undertaken merely out of friendship for McNair. The government also presented evidence that McNair made numerous unexplained cash deposits. E. Jury’s Verdicts Before sending the case to the jury, the district court dismissed several substantive counts that charged bribes to McNair after his retirement in March 2001, and struck the corresponding overt acts from the conspiracy count (Count 1), reasoning that 18 U.S.C. § 666 (the bribery statute) could not apply when McNair was no longer a public official. In the McNair trial, the jury convicted defendants McNair, PUGH, Roland Pugh, Yessick, RAST, Bobby Rast, Danny Rast, FWDE, and Dougherty on Count 1 of conspiring to bribe McNair. Count 1 alleged 54 overt acts originally. Several overt acts were dismissed pre-trial, but Count 1, as submitted to the jury, charged 39 overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. As to bribes by the Pugh defendants, the jury convicted defendant McNair on these substantive bribery counts: 2 ($5,500 for hand railings) and 3 ($11,700 for hand railings). The jury convicted defendant PUGH on Count 15 (same hand railing facts as Counts 2 and 3). The jury convicted defendants PUGH and Yessick on Count 71 ($610 for Chandler condominium rental). As to bribes by the Rast defendants, the jury convicted defendant McNair on these substantive bribery counts: 5 ($52,990 for carpentry work by Barry Mosley), 6 ($5,866 for security gate installation by Master Access Controls), 7 ($5,300 for carpet installation by Clint Gilley), 8 ($5,500 for landscaping work by Bailey & Sons), 9 (several thousand dollars for fabrication and construction of stairs), and 10 (several thousand dollars for concrete deck construction). The jury also convicted defendants RAST and Bobby Rast on Counts 19-22 (same facts as Counts 5-8, respectively), 72 ($2,500 cash to Chandler by RAST and Bobby Rast), and 87 ($1,000 cash to Ellis by RAST and Bobby Rast). RAST was also convicted on Counts 23 (same facts as Count 9) and 24 (same facts as Count 10). The jury convicted defendant Danny Rast on Counts 19, 20, and 22 (same facts as Counts 5, 6, and 8). Defendant McNair was also convicted on Counts 11 ($27,434 by the Dougherty defendants for project management and supervision by Bailey) and 12 ($16,400 by Dawson for installation of audio visual system). The jury convicted defendants FWDE and Dougherty on Count 28 (same facts as Count ll). In summary, the jury convicted defendant McNair on the bribery conspiracy count and ten substantive bribery counts. The jury convicted defendants PUGH, Roland Pugh, and Yessick on the bribery conspiracy count; defendant PUGH on two substantive bribery counts; and defendant Yessick on one substantive bribery count. The jury convicted defendants RAST, Bobby Rast, and Danny Rast on the bribery conspiracy count; defendant RAST on eight substantive bribery counts; defendant Bobby Rast on six substantive bribery counts; and defendant Danny Rast on three substantive bribery counts. The jury convicted defendants FWDE and Dougherty on the bribery conspiracy count and on one substantive bribery count each. All defendants but Yessick appeal all conviction counts. III. THE SWANN TRIAL (05-544) The Swann trial, held from September 19 to October 2, 2006, involved more than $330,000 in bribes paid to County employee Swann by the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants. The government called 25 witnesses, including Wilson, Chandler, and Ellis. The defense called 20 witnesses, including Grady Pugh. No named defendants testified except for Swann. The government’s witnesses described in great detail the bribes to Swann and how Swann financially helped the Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants in their contracts with and payments from Jefferson County. And to counter the defendants’ lack-of-corrupt-intent defense, the government introduced 404(b) evidence describing bribes that the same Pugh, Rast, and Dougherty defendants gave to McNair, Barber, Wilson, and Chandler. A. Swann Helps Contractor-Defendants JCESD Director Jack Swann reported directly to Commissioner McNair. It was Swann’s responsibility to implement the EPA consent decree, which included recommending engineering firms to McNair and negotiating the scope and price of no-bid engineering contracts, such as with FWDE. Swann supervised the sewer work and made recommendations to McNair for payment approvals and change orders. Swann also was able to grant time extensions and field directives that greatly benefitted RAST and PUGH. For example, in May 1998, the JCESD awarded the Vestavia Trunk Sewer Replacement project to PUGH. PUGH’s failure to meet the project’s May 17, 2000 completion date would trigger a liquidated damages clause, obligating PUGH to pay $1,000 per day. In March 2000, PUGH was running far behind schedule on this project and requested a 120-day extension to the May 17 completion date. Swann initially denied PUGH’s request. On June 13, 2000, PUGH renewed its request, this time for a 180-day extension. On July 10 — five days after PUGH’s Yes-sick hired Guthrie Landscaping (“Guthrie”) to landscape Swann’s property— Swann granted PUGH’s request for a 180-day extension to the May 17 completion date. Swann’s extension saved PUGH $180,000 in potential liquidated damages. In July 2000, the JCESD awarded the Valley Creek Trunk Relief Tunnel project (designed by FWDE) to RAST and its joint venture partner W.L. Hailey. In December 2001, during the first phase of the project, RAST’s tunnel-boring machine became stuck in the ground. An independent engineer concluded the machine became stuck because RAST may have discounted certain information in a geotechnical survey. And the JCESD’s supervising engineer faulted RAST for using “the wrong machine.” Nevertheless, Swann authorized RAST to remove the machine at a cost of $2.6 million to Jefferson County. Further, Swann declined to invoke the performance bond against RAST, which would have guaranteed the project’s completion at the original contract price of $27.8 million. Instead, RAST won a re-bid for an additional contract worth $23.8 million. Consequently, the County effectively paid RAST over $50 million for work RAST was obligated to perform under the original $27.8 million contract. Swann also approved a lucrative field directive that benefitted PUGH ($827,417) and three that benefitted RAST ($2,020,-367). Although in the County’s internal accounting system Swann recorded the County’s payments to the RAST-Hailey joint venture for each of these field directives as payments for the Valley Creek Tunnel Relief project, none of the field directives involved work on that project. Swann also exercised great influence over the selection of engineers, like FWDE. B. Bribes of Swann In 1998, Swann and his wife Nila purchased a house two doors down from their own residence. The Swanns lived in them residence while they renovated their new home. Between September 1998 and June 2002, the Swanns put over $600,000 worth of additions and improvements into their new home. FWDE, RAST, and PUGH provided Swann, at no charge, more than $330,000 in goods, services, labor, and materials for that work. For certain improvements paid for by FWDE, Swann admitted he did not reimburse FWDE or Dougherty. As they had done for the McNair studio project, the contractor-defendants worked together on Swann’s new home. While the work was going on, Swann periodically came over to observe the work at the new home. While Swann was recommending and approving JCESD actions worth millions of dollars, the contractor-defendants were providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in materials and services to renovate and expand Swann’s new home. Specifically, in the fall of 1998, Dougherty sent FWDE supervisors Wayne Hendon and Bill Bailey to meet with Swann and his wife about plans to remodel their new home. Over the course of the three-year project, FWDE employees continually supervised the remodeling of the new home. From about October 1999 to March 2001, FWDE paid employee John Stanger $28,839 for his work at Swann’s home. During that time period, FWDE’s Hendon spent half of every work day supervising other contractors at Swann’s home and billed his time as a nonpaying job. FWDE paid Hendon $94,090 for his work at Swann’s home. In the fall of 1998, FWDE hired subcontractor Dudley Davis for framing, costing over $28,000. Dougherty visited the site periodically. In the winter of 1999, Bobby Rast sent RAST superintendent Luke Cobb to supervise RAST crews who did demolition work and poured concrete for Swann’s new home. Bobby Rast had RAST employee Derek Houston serve as a point of contact for RAST’s suppliers and subcontractors for Swann’s home and paid Houston $6,300 for his work there. In 2000, RAST paid its employees $18,867.20 in miscellaneous labor costs for their work on Swann’s home and McNair’s studio. RAST avoided using Swann’s name on invoices, delivery tickets, and internal accounting reports, instead using his nickname, “Little Big Man.” RAST also bought bricks and other materials, and paid different subcontractors for installation of hardwood floors and stairs and exterior brickwork, plumbing work, and painting. RAST paid $3,535 for flooring and stairs installation that Don’s Carpet One performed at Swann’s new home in 2000 or 2001. In the fall of 1999, RAST paid $1,964 for brick and mortar work by Alabama Brick Delivery. In the fall of 2000, RAST paid Kimro Painting & Services, Inc. (“Kimro Painting”) $9,733 for painting work at Swann’s new home. In May 2001, RAST paid $4,441.50 to Sherman International for concrete work. The delivery ticket for ready-mix concrete RAST purchased from Sherman International directed delivery to the Swann address but identified it as the “Rast Residence.” In October 2001, RAST paid Brown Mechanical Contractors, Inc. (“Brown Mechanical”) for $9,540 worth of plumbing work performed at Swann’s new home. Bobby Rast had the payments to Brown Mechanical coded as expenses to RAST’s Jefferson County contracts for “Annual Rehab” and “Minor Pump Station.” In the summer of 2000, PUGH began contributing to Swann’s new home remodeling. PUGH’s President Yessick hired subcontractor Aquatic Gardens to install a waterfall and koi pond at a cost of $7,422. Yessick told Aquatic Gardens to send its invoices to PUGH and not mention Swann by name. Yessick hired other subcontractors for various work after Swann claimed to have overpaid for the remodeling. Yessick hired Guthrie to help landscape Swann’s new home, and in July 2000 Guthrie gave an initial estimate of $40,000. PUGH’s book entries and invoices for Guthrie’s work on Swann’s home were never kept in Swann’s name, but always under some other code. Yessick had PUGH’s accountant charge Guthrie’s expenses to “Metro Park Roadway,” a Jefferson County job. By December 2001, PUGH had paid Guthrie $93,680 for its landscaping work at the Swann home, which included $1,200 a month for ongoing weekly yard maintenance. In January 2002, PUGH’s President Yessick asked Guthrie to stop submitting invoices to PUGH, and instead PUGH advanced Guthrie $47,000 for three years worth of landscaping and maintenance on Swann’s new home; and Guthrie performed about $10,000 worth of work. Although PUGH’s manager of accounts testified she filed Guthrie’s invoices regularly and that PUGH kept these records for 5 to 7 years, the invoices were not found during the government’s investigation. In December 2001, Yessick used a PUGH check to buy $1,000 worth of bookstore gift certificates for Swann. In August 2002, after Grady Pugh and Yessick heard rumors of a government investigation, Guthrie was asked to stop working on Swann’s property, even though there was a balance remaining on the advance Yessick had given to Guthrie. At that time, Yessick directed his assistant to send an invoice to Swann’s mother-in-law for $12,572 for tree removal and “remodeling work.” In September 2002, Yessick instructed his assistant to create an invoice, this time to Swann’s mother, for $46,684 of landscaping work. In November 2002, the Swanns paid PUGH this amount with checks drawn from joint checking accounts the Swanns had taken out with their mothers, after taking out two home equity loans in each of their mothers’ names. C. The Defense In the Swann trial, the defense basically was that the defendants lacked the corrupt intent to commit bribery and acted at all times in good faith. The contractor-defendants contended they performed work on Swann’s home out of goodwill and without expecting anything in return. Swann- argued he did not have an intent to be influenced by the things the contractor-defendants gave him. In addition, the defendants presented evidence showing that Nila Swann (Swann’s wife) had an engineering background, acted as her own general contractor, hired and supervised subcontractors, and initially paid the bills for the work on the Swann home. Swann testified that Nila handled all of the couple’s financial matters and that he assumed she was paying for the work. According to Swann, Nila frequently changed her mind, was not a good manager, and disputed the cost and scope of the work with the subcontractors. Dougherty and the Rast brothers were longtime friends of Nila and Jack Swann. Swann stated that Dougherty and the Rast brothers stepped in only to offer advice and take over supervision to make the work go more smoothly. The contractor-defendants claimed that they paid several of these disputed bills to preserve their own business relationships with the subcontractors and their expectation was. that the Swanns would eventually reimburse them. However, with the sole exception of PUGH’s belated invoices to Swann for landscaping and remodeling work, there was no evidence that the Swanns paid the contractor-defendants for the work at their new home. As to the conspiracy charge, the defendants also claimed that the government had not presented sufficient evidence to show an unlawful agreement between Swann and any of the contractor-defendants. In the Swann trial, the government presented 404(b) evidence about similar items of value the same contractor-defendants had provided to McNair for his studio, their help with McNair’s home in Arkansas, and other benefits they provided for McNair, Barber, and Chandler. D. Jury’s Verdicts The jury convicted defendants Swann, PUGH, Yessick, RAST, Bobby Rast, FWDE, and Dougherty of conspiring to bribe Swann (Count 51). The jury convicted Swann on these substantive bribery counts: 52 ($100,000 from PUGH through subcontractor Guthrie Landscaping), 53 ($7,422 from PUGH through subcontractor Aquatic Gardens), and 54 ($1,000 in gift certificates to Alabama Book Smith from PUGH). The jury convicted defendants PUGH and Yessiek on Counts 61-63 (same facts as 52-54, respectively). The jury convicted defendants Swann, PUGH, and Yessiek on Counts 90-100 (honest services mail fraud involving PUGH’s paying $93,680 in checks to Guthrie for landscaping work performed for Swann). The jury also convicted defendant Swann on Counts 57 ($9,733 in painting by Kimro Painting from RAST) and 58 ($8,940 in plumbing by Brown Mechanical from RAST) and defendants RAST and Bobby Rast on Counts 66 and 67 (same facts as Counts 57 and 58, respectively). The jury also convicted defendant Swann on Count 60 ($24,176 for construction supervision by FWDE’s Stanger) and defendants FWDE and Dougherty on Count 69 (same facts as Count 60). In summary, the jury convicted defendant Swann on the bribery conspiracy count, six substantive bribery counts, and eleven honest services mail fraud counts. The jury convicted defendants PUGH and Yessiek on the bribery conspiracy count, three substantive bribery counts, and eleven honest services mail fraud counts. The jury convicted defendants RAST and Bobby Rast on the bribery conspiracy count and two substantive bribery counts. The jury convicted FWDE and Dougherty on the bribery conspiracy count and one substantive bribery count. Defendants Swann, PUGH, RAST, Bobby Rast, FWDE, and Dougherty appeal all conviction counts. IV. THE WILSON TRIAL (05-545) In the Wilson trial, held from June 1 to 13, 2006, defendants Wilson and PUGH were charged with conspiring to commit bribery (Count 75). Defendant Wilson was charged with accepting from PUGH a $4,500 bribe in the form of a scholarship for his son to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham (“UAB”) (Count 76). The defense argued that the scholarship was not intended as a bribe. The government called 9 witnesses, including Chandler, Grady Pugh, and Roland Pugh’s secretary Janice Kuykendall. The defense called 3 witnesses. A Wilson Helps PUGH Defendant Wilson was the Chief Civil Engineer for the JCESD and served on the PRC. As Chief Civil Engineer, Wilson was in charge of all sewer line work. Wilson was also the project engineer on several construction contracts, including some of PUGH’s. As project engineer, defendant Wilson approved all sewer contractor pay requests, which were submitted monthly, before sending them on to Chandler, the JCESD’s Assistant Director. Project engineers also approved requests for extensions of time to complete contracts. Contractors were subject to a penalty of $1,000 per day if they failed to complete a contract on time. On July 26, 1999, PUGH submitted to USI — the outside consulting engineer for the “Village East 3” contract — a request for a 175-day extension to complete work on the project. The completion date was May 11, 1999. On July 27, 1999, USI forwarded the request to defendant Wilson. When PUGH requested the 175-day extension on July 26, it was already 76 days overdue. PUGH was at risk for a $76,000 penalty — $1,000 in liquidated damages for each of the 76 days. On August 20, 1999, defendant Wilson faxed Grady Pugh a letter instructing him to send $4,500 to UAB for Wilson’s son. On August 23, defendant Wilson approved the extension. This saved PUGH not only the $76,000 penalty for the delay from May 11 to July 26 but also $1,000 per day for each day until PUGH completed the job. On August 24, 1999, PUGH sent a $4,500 check to UAB for Wilson’s son. In addition, defendant Wilson served on the PRC, which set technical standards for construction firms who bid on contracts for the County’s sewer project. Some of the projects called for “eured-in-place” (“CIP”) or “trenchless” techniques for replacing existing sewer lines. In the late 1990s, this was a relatively new technology, and only a handful of contractors had the expertise to do it properly. Like other municipalities, Jefferson County required contractors to meet specified minimum requirements for prior experience before they were permitted to bid on CIP work. In September 1999, the PRC significantly tightened these requirements, making it more difficult for new contractors to prequalify. However, the three contractors who were already doing CIP work in Jefferson County were grandfathered in and did not have to go through the pre-qualification process. Two of those three CIP contractors were joint venture partners with RAST and PUGH. Although the three contractors did compete against each other in a sealed bidding process, Jefferson County’s qualification requirements cut down the number of competitors and enabled these CIP contractors to charge Jefferson County higher prices than they could charge other municipalities for similar work. When two non-local competitors finally qualified to join the bidding in 2001, prices quickly dropped from over $50 per linear foot to about $28. The government also offered 404(b) evidence showing certain items of value that PUGH provided for McNair, Chandler, and Barber, and that RAST provided for Wilson, and the favorable decisions PUGH obtained from the JCESD. Grady Pugh offered similar testimony, and, as in the McNair trial, the defense again attempted to impeach Grady Pugh by pointing out inconsistencies in his testimony, his hatred of his father (Roland Pugh), and his efforts to obtain a favorable sentencing recommendation from the government. B. Bribes of Wilson Sometime in mid-1999, defendant Wilson complained to Grady Pugh over lunch about the cost of college and that he might not be able to afford to send his son Justin to UAB for the upcoming semester (fall 1999). Grady Pugh responded that PUGH “had done a lot” for “colleges and education” and suggested PUGH might “sponsor a scholarship,” but wanted to make sure “we couldn’t get in any trouble for it.” Sometime in August 1999, Wilson called Grady Pugh to accept the scholarship offer. As noted above, on August 20, 1999, defendant Wilson used a JCESD fax machine to send Grady Pugh a letter expressing his gratitude and instructing him to send a $4,500 check to UAB to credit Wilson’s son’s account. PUGH sent the check to UAB four days later. There was no evidence that the son ever sent PUGH an application for the scholarship. Grady Pugh’s secretary typed the letter and signed Grady Pugh’s name. Grady Pugh never met nor spoke with Wilson’s son before sending the $4,500 check to UAB on August 24, 1999. The accompanying letter simply asked UAB to credit the payment to Wilson’s son’s account and gave no other instructions. Although PUGH had made charitable contributions to schools and colleges, including UAB, it had never previously awarded a scholarship to an individual student. Grady Pugh thought the money would go toward “books and tuition” but could not remember exactly what Wilson had said to him. Grady Pugh was unaware that FWDE had already paid Wilson’s son’s tuition and fees for the 1999-2000 school year. UAB applied PUGH’s scholarship money to Wilson’s son’s account in four quarterly installments of $1,125 per installment, as was its standard practice for scholarships when a donor did not instruct otherwise. UAB took about one third of the PUGH money to cover the son’s housing and other fees, and disbursed the remainder of the PUGH money directly to the son each quarter. The installments were disbursed to the son in September 1999, December 1999, March 2000, and June 2000. Wilson’s son signed a receipt each time. Grady Pugh testified that he never did anything after August 1999 to follow up on the “scholarship” and he did not know that UAB would defer full payment into the following year. The government did not present any evidence that Wilson was aware of UAB’s payment arrangements. Grady Pugh explained his intent in giving the scholarship to Wilson’s son: When you offer somebody something like that ... you expect them to help you if they can. And when I did that for [Wilson], I felt like if he got a chance to help us, he would. Grady Pugh explained that giving things of value to County employees provided PUGH with the “general benefit” of “havfing] preferential treatment and, you know, if we had problems it would help resolve the problems. Numerous ways that things could be made easier.” C. Jury’s Verdicts The jury convicted defendants Wilson and PUGH on Count 75 and defendant Wilson on Count 76. Wilson has not appealed. PUGH appeals as to Count 75. V. THE BARBER TRIAL (05-542) In the Barber trial, held from January 8 to 17, 2007, defendants Barber, PUGH, Roland Pugh, and Yessick were charged with conspiring to bribe Barber by, among other things, PUGH’s paying and Barber’s accepting $47,927 in real property and nearly $1,200 in trips to casinos and beaches (Count 78). Defendants PUGH and Roland Pugh were also charged with bribing Barber by giving him that $47,927 property (Count 83), and defendant PUGH was charged with paying for these trips (Counts 84-86). Defendants Barber and Yessick pled guilty to Count 78. Only PUGH and Roland Pugh went to trial. The government called 7 witnesses, including Chandler, Grady Pugh, and Yessick. The defense called 7 witnesses, including Barber. A. Barber Helps PUGH Barber supervised the JCESD’s twenty-six job-site County inspectors. Barber was responsible for hiring sewer contractors to do no-bid emergency work, approving contractors’ paperwork, and certifying their expenses before sending the expenses to JCESD Assistant Director Chandler. In January 2000, Barber determined the sewer pipes in the Paradise Lake subdivision should be replaced on an emergency basis instead of being repaired. On January 7, Barber told City Inspector Hodges that Barber had chosen a contractor who could do the job in about 45 days. PUGH’s President Yessick sent Barber a letter, dated January 27, 2000, offering that PUGH could do the job for about $1.2 million. That same day, Yessick also sent Hodges a letter, dated January 27, 2000, stating that PUGH would be performing the job. Given that emergency work contracts were limited to $50,000 or less, PUGH eventually received a no-bid field directive in the amount of $857,000, on which PUGH made a 50% profit. However, because Barber had classified the work as an emergency, there was no contract for Paradise Lake on which to put the field directive. The emergency work contract therefore was placed on the unrelated multi-million-dollar Cahaba River project. B. Bribes of Barber Beginning in 1997 and continuing through 2001, PUGH’s President Yessick caused PUGH to pay to send Barber on an annual beach resort or casino vacation in locations including Orange Beach, Alabama and Biloxi and Vicksburg, Mississippi. PUGH paid $148 for Barber’s stay in Vicksburg, $546 for his stay in Biloxi, and $481 for his stay at the Phoenix III Condominiums in Orange Beach, Alabama. PUGH recorded the payments for the trips to Orange Beach and Biloxi in PUGH’s books as sewer “rehab” projects. In the spring of 2000, Barber asked PUGH’s Yessick if he would find and purchase a piece of property in McCalla, Alabama on which Barber could retire. Yes-sick consulted a realtor for this purpose, visited several properties himself, and, in November 2000, signed a contract to purchase land in the name of “Roland Pugh” for $47,500. The next week, Yessick gave the realtor a check for $1,000, signed by PUGH’s CFO Lorelei Heglas. In anticipation of the cost PUGH would incur for the land purchase, Yessick instructed PUGH CFO Heglas to charge $45,000 to the Paradise Lake project. However, days before closing, Roland Pugh’s administrative assistant Janice Kuykendall told Yessick that PUGH no longer intended to buy the land in PUGH’s name but instead planned to give Barber a cashier’s check to buy the land in his own name. PUGH assistant Kuykendall told Yessick to travel to Tuscaloosa to get the check and then take back from the realtor all documents referring to PUGH. PUGH’s Yessick got the check, which was made out to the settlement attorney for $46,877, and on which the “NAME OF REMITTER” line was left blank. Yessick then gave Barber the check. Barber closed on the land contract in his own name on December 18, 2000. Yessick also gave Barber a cashier’s check for $1,050 to replace the check he gave to the realtor. The realtor prepared papers to refund PUGH’s deposit. In September 2002, a newspaper article revealed an investigation into PUGH and Barber. Six months later, over a seven-week period, Barber sent PUGH a series of cheeks amounting to $46,877. Yet Barber paid no interest, and there was no evidence of any document indicating a loan. At trial Yessick testified that he paid the charged bribes in the hope that Barber, who supervised the JCESD’s job-site inspectors, would assist if PUGH were to have a problem with an inspector being “irrational.” Counsel for PUGH and Roland Pugh argued that they did not provide things to Barber with the intent to influence him. The government presented 404(b) evidence showing that PUGH’s Yessick paid for Chandler to go on a fishing vacation, that Grady Pugh bought a carpet for McNair, that Grady Pugh made cash payments to McNair, and that PUGH worked on McNair’s home in Arkansas. C. Jury’s Verdicts The jury convicted PUGH on Counts 78 (bribery conspiracy), 83 ($47,927 in real property), and 84-86 (trips). Roland Pugh was acquitted on Counts 78 and 83, the only counts against him in the Barber trial. PUGH appeals all conviction counts. VI. QUID PRO QUO ISSUES All defendant-appellants argue that their bribery convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 666 must be vacated because the Indictment failed to allege, and the government failed to prove, the contractor-defendants gave specific benefits to County employees in exchange for, and with the intent that, the employees perform a specific official act, termed a quid pro quo. The defendant-appellants also argue the district court erred, at a minimum, by refusing to charge the jury that the government must prove a specific quid pro quo. We begin by reviewing the relevant parts of § 666. A. 18 U.S.C. § 666 Section 666 proscribes theft and bribery in connection with programs of local governments receiving federal funds. Section 666(a)(1)(B) criminalizes a local government employee’s “corruptly” soliciting or accepting a bribe: (a) Whoever ... (1) being an agent[] of [a] local ... government, or any agency thereof— (B) corruptly solicits or demands for the benefit of any person, or accepts or agrees to accept, anything of value from any person, intending to be influenced or rewarded in connection with any business, transaction, or series of transactions of such ... government, or agency involving anything'of value of $5,000 or more; or shall be fined ..., imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B). Defendants McNair, Swann, Wilson, and Barber, as Jefferson County employees, violated § 666(a)(1)(B) if: (1) they solicited or accepted anything of value; (2) with the corrupt intent to be influenced or rewarded; (3) in connection with any business, transaction, or series of transactions of Jefferson County involving anything of value of $5,000 or more. Id. The counts in the Indictment as to McNair and Swann track the language of the statute. Section 666(a)(2) also criminalizes “corruptly” offering or giving a bribe to a local government employee: (a) Whoever ... (2) corruptly gives, offers, or agrees to give anything of value to any person, with intent to influence or reward an agent of [a] ... local ... government, or any agency thereof, in connection with any business, transaction, or series of transactions of such organization, government, or agency involving anything of value of $5,000 or more; shall be fined ..., imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. Id. § 666(a)(2). The contractor-defendants — PUGH, Roland Pugh, RAST, Bobby Rast, Danny Rast, FWDE, and Dougherty — violated § 666(a)(2) if: (1) they gave to a County employee anything of value; (2) with the corrupt intent to influence or reward them; (3) in connection with any business, transaction, or series of transactions of Jefferson County involving anything of value of $5,000 or more. Id. The counts in the Indictment as to these contractor-defendants also track the language of § 666(a)(2). It is well established in this Circuit that an indictment is sufficient if it tracks the language of the statute and provides a statement of facts that gives notice of the offense to the accused. See United States v. Jordan, 582 F.3d 1239, 1246 (11th Cir.2009); United States v. Walker, 490 F.3d 1282, 1296 (11th Cir. 2007); United States v. Sharpe, 438 F.3d 1257, 1263 (11th Cir.2006); United States v. Ndiaye, 434 F.3d 1270, 1299 (11th Cir. 2006). By listing the items of value received or given by the defendants, each count of the Indictment provides sufficient facts and circumstances to give adequate notice of the charges to be defended against. Thus, we readily determine the Indictment itself was not defective for failure to allege a specific quid pro quo. B. Parodies and US Infrastructure Deci