Full opinion text
WELLFORD, Senior Circuit Judge: Defendants Ira Jackson, Daniel Paradies, The Paradies Shops, Inc., and Paradies Midfield Corp., were convicted pursuant to a 133 count indictment charging them with various offenses arising out of the operation of the concessions at the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport. The bullí of the charges involved mail fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341,1346, and 2), conspiring to make corrupt payments to public officials (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 666), and tax fraud (26 U.S.C. § 7206). The defendants challenge their convictions and their sentences, which were imposed after a lengthy jury trial, on several grounds. Two fraudulent schemes were involved in the indictment. In the first, the government alleged that Jackson and D. Paradies, the largest subconcessionaire at the Atlanta airport, conspired to profit from Jackson’s influence as an Atlanta City Council member and as the Commissioner of Aviation. According to the government’s theory, Jackson used his political position to reduce the rent of the concessionaires, including the Paradies defendants, by very substantial amounts. In return Jackson, who allegedly owned an interest in the Paradies businesses, reaped benefits through payments from D. Paradies, which purported to be fees and dividends. In the second alleged scheme, which was much less complicated, D. Paradies and another subconcessionaire, Harold Echols, regularly gave cash to Jackson and other City Council members for favorable votes in matters before the Council in which the Paradies defendants (and other concession operators) had an interest. The particulart circumtances suroundingfraudulent schemes were fervently disputed at trial. The facts set out below are those which the jury might reasonably have found from the evidence properly admitted at trial. I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE A. The Airport Concessions Program The City of Atlanta owns and controls the Atlanta airport. From its opening in 1980, Dobbs Paschal Midfield Corp. (“Dobbs”) was the principal concessionaire, managing all the airport concessions under contract with the City. Dobbs contracted with various subcon-cessionaires, including the Paradies defendants, to provide food, merchandise, and services. The subconcessionaires paid rent to Dobbs based on the greater of a percentage of sales or a guaranteed minimum. In turn, Dobbs agreed to pay the city a percentage of sales or a guaranteed minimum of $240 million over the first 15 years of operation. Dobbs’ agreement with the City required that at least twenty percent of the total dollar volume of the concessions program be produced or controlled by minority controlled enterprises. That contractual provision provided the defendants an incentive to work out their schemes. D. Paradies was president and principal shareholder of Shops, a major gift shop chain at airports across the country. D. Paradies was also president of Midfield, a company which contracted to operate exclusively the gift shops in the airport in 1979. Shops owned sixty-five percent of Midfield’s stock, and the other thirty-five percent was owned by minority controlled businesses in accordance with the minority participation requirement. That thirty-five percent was comprised of three corporations that were wholly owned by black persons, Mack Wilb-ourn, Nathaniel Goldston, and Joanne MeClinton. Wilbourn’s business, Kinley Enterprises, Inc. (“Kinley”), held 18.3% of Midfield stock; Goldston’s business, Airport Enterprises, Inc. (“AEI”), held 13.7%; and McClinton’s business, Estate Management (“Estate”), held 3%. As was provided for in the shareholder agreements, the minority members supposedly received a management fee of 1.1% of Midfield’s gross receipts. Midfield also paid Shops a management fee of 9% by mailing checks on a monthly basis. B. Jackson’s Loan/Purchase from Goldston and Wilboum By the spring of 1985, D. Paradies’ relationship with the first minority shareholders group soured. At that point, the government contends, D. Paradies sought to include defendant Jackson as a minority participant in Midfield. D. Paradies and Jackson were close personal friends. In 1980, Paradies and Echols hosted the wedding reception for Jackson and his bride, Maudestine “Mimi” Simmons. In April of 1985, Paradies wrote a “personal and confidential” letter to Jackson requesting Jackson’s assistance in obtaining space for additional shops in the airport. If the space was obtained by October 1, 1985, Paradies stated, the minority shareholders would receive an increase in management fees to 2%. If the space were not obtained, the fee would remain at 1.1% for those shareholders. Under the government’s theory, D. Paradies’ letter was an invitation to Jackson to capitalize on a near doubling of the minority participants’ management fee increase. Soon thereafter, Jackson began to negotiate with Goldston to purchase his interest in Midfield. Goldston told Jackson that he was experiencing financial difficulty, and purportedly offered to sell Jackson his stock in Midfield for $50,000. Jackson made a “loan” to Gold-ston for $50,000 through his wife Mimi, operating as Metro Consultants, Inc. The government maintained that the purported loan was, in fact, a purchase by Jackson of Gold-ston’s interest. Indeed, Jackson’s check to Goldston on his personal checking account specified: “For Metro Consultants — Purchase Stock.” The government also introduced agreements which purportedly transferred Goldston’s Midfield stock in the name of AEI to Metro Consultants. On October 1, 1985, moreover, Midfield terminated its management agreement with Goldston and entered into a new comparable agreement with Jackson’s wife. Mrs. Jackson was to render administrative assistance in return for her portion of the 1.1% management fee. Also, in order to qualify as a minority business, Metro Consultants had to be certified as a minority-owned company. Jackson asked the Atlanta Office of Contract Compliance to expedite the certification for Metro Consultants because his wife wanted to “buy out” Goldston and Wilbourn. After Jackson had already distributed the “loan proceeds,” he appeared before the City’s Board of Ethics for an opinion on the propriety of his “loan.” Jackson told the Board that he had loaned $50,000 to Gold-ston, and that his wife wished to purchase Goldston’s and Wilbourn’s interests in Midfield. He also stated that Wilboum’s “asking price” was $275,000. Jackson also testified that he had discussed the matter with D. Paradies. Jackson assured the Board that if the transaction were approved, he would not vote on any airport concessions matters, and that he wanted to be “up front” with the Board. Noting, among other things, that subeoneessionaires issues came before the Council frequently, and that Jackson’s interest could have at least an indirect influence on Council decisions, the Ethics Board disapproved of the proposed purchase. Such an acquisition by Jackson and his wife, the Board concluded unanimously, would violate the Code of Ethics and would result in a breach of Jackson’s fiduciary duty to the City. According to the Ethics director, Jackson told him that he disagreed with the Board’s decision, but that he would “not undertake to do indirectly what [the] board had told him could not be done directly.” After the Ethics Board’s decision, Jackson entered into another disputed transaction with Wilbourn, who, according to Jackson, was experiencing financial difficulty. Purportedly, Jackson “loaned” Wilbourn $275,-000 (the exact asking price identified by Jackson in his Ethics Board testimony) from Options International, Inc. (“Options”), a corporation created in the name of his son, Ira Jackson, Jr., but controlled by Jackson himself. The transaction was to be effected in two installments: $150,000 immediately, and $125,000 payable on May 1, 1987. Wilbourn used $50,000 of the proceeds to buy Gold-ston’s stock, and transferred all of his and Goldston’s interest in Midfield to Hartsfield Concessions, Inc. (“Hartsfield”), a company purportedly wholly owned by Wilbourn. The loan from Options was secured by all the revenue from Wilbourn’s interest in Midfield. The stock in Midfield, Jackson claims, was never transferred to him as security for the loan. The government argued that this was a sham loan agreement so that Wilbourn, doing business as Hartsfield, would be the minority participant in Midfield “on paper” only, and that Jackson was the defacto owner, reaping the full benefits of Wilbourn’s interest in Midfield. There is evidence, together with reasonable inferences, that supports the government’s contention. Jackson admits in his brief that, upon Wilboum’s counsel’s recommendation, Jackson was given some control over the funds of Hartsfield, and that Jackson was authorized to accept payments directly from Midfield. Indeed, evidence showed that Jackson initially went to the Paradies company offices to pick up the dividend and management checks, which were made payable to Hartsfield, then later these checks to Hartsfield were mailed to Jackson directly. The evidence also showed that the first twenty-three Hartsfield management fee checks were personally endorsed by Jackson and ultimately deposited into his own personal bank account. Between December, 1985, and March of 1992, D. Paradies paid Jackson, through Hartsfield, fees and dividends, more than $1,049,000, nearly four times the amount of the original $275,000 “loan.” After the minority interests were transferred to Harts-field, Wilbourn never received another payment from the Paradies Companies, and he had no further substantial contact with Midfield. The government showed that Jackson had complete control over the Hartsfield bank account (making deposits, writing and signing cheeks, and making tax returns), despite Jackson’s claims that he never had “control of Hartsfield Concessions, Inc. or use[d] funds from the coloration for personal loans or payments.” (Jackson’s Brief at p. 10.) The proof indicated, however, that after cheeks were deposited into the Hartsfield account, Jackson would immediately transfer the money to his own corporation, Options, which transacted no business except the receipt of funds from Hartsfield. Through this “dummy” corporation, Jackson spent hundreds of thousands on such items as a $350,-000 condominium on Peachtree Road in Atlanta, another very expensive luxury home on Hilton Head Island, furnishings for his Atlanta residence, $100,000 in securities, and a $200,000 investment in a printing company. C. D. Parodies’ Involvement in the Loan/Purchase Transactions The Paradies defendants claim that they did not know of Jackson’s interest, and claimed that they were being prosecuted for making routine business payments to Harts-field Concessions. (Paradies Co.’s Brief at pp. 6-7.) The government showed, however, that when Jackson picked up his check, D. Paradies himself would occasionally escort Jackson to the pertinent office. Additionally, D. Paradies’ secretary testified that D. Para-dies, Jackson, and others attended a meeting at D. Paradies’ office. During the meeting, she was asked to draw up an agreement wherein Jackson was named as a minority participant. Later, she was asked to substitute Wilbourn’s name for Jackson’s, and to perform the highly unusual task of destroying the documents that named Ira Jackson. Perhaps the most damning evidence of D. Paradies’ involvement in this scheme was that which showed that D. Paradies himself actually helped Jackson fund the $275,000 loan/purchase made to/from Wilbourn. In April of 1987, the second installment of $125,-000 was due from Jackson to Wilbourn. Around that time, D. Paradies made a $50,-000 loan to Jackson and declared and paid a $50,000 dividend to Hartsfield Concessions on the same day. Jackson deposited the $100,000 into the Hartsfield Concessions bank account and paid off loans that were taken to fund the payment to Wilbourn. While D. Paradies’ brother, Jimmy Paradies, testified at trial that the loan was made to help out Wilbourn because Wilbourn was experiencing financial difficulty, Wilbourn testified that he knew nothing about that loan. D. Paradies and Wilbourn were not even on speaking terms at the time. Additionally, Jackson signed a personal guarantee for the repayment of the loan, which was kept on file at the Paradies offices. Govt. Exhibit 33 (attached to Brief). In July of 1988, D. Paradies paid Hartsfield Concessions a dividend of $72,000. Jackson deposited the check and, the very next day, repaid the $50,000 loan to D. Paradies from the Harts-field Concessions account. Evidence also showed that on at least two occasions when Paradies needed the signatures of the minority participants, D. Para-dies’ employee sent the documents to Jackson, instructing him to obtain the signatures of Goldston or Wilbourn. See Govt. Exhibits 41, 42. D. Paradies’ employee testified that he sent them to Jackson because at that point “everything was going through Ira.” D. Jackson’s Acquisition of McClinton’s 8% Interest Through Help of D. Parar dies In August, 1988, Hartsfield Concessions purchased MeClinton’s interest in Paradies Midfield for $11,000. At trial, McClinton testified that she was willing to sell because she had made almost no money from her venture. In fact, D. Paradies had instructed his employee to withhold McClinton’s management fees or dividends because he “didn’t like” McClinton. At the time of the sale, McClinton had accrued $11,455, of which she had no knowledge. After Hartsfield Concessions, via Jackson, paid McClinton the $11,-000 purchase price, Midfield (via D. Paradies) paid Hartsfield Concessions McClinton’s $11,455 in back dividends. After the transfer, the management fees paid to Hartsfield Concessions were increased to 1.5%. E. Jackson Uses Political Influence to Help the Paradies Companies From the early 1980’s on, the subconces-sionaires were engaged in efforts to reduce their rent at the airport. Many amendments to Dobbs’ contract with the City were made, reducing the rent that Dobbs charged the subconcessionaires, and in turn, reducing the revenues paid to the City from Dobbs. Jackson concealed his interest in the Paradies Companies, and used his position on the Council to advance the interests of the sub-concessionaires. In July of 1987, Jackson voted in favor of Amendment Number Five, which substantially reduced the rent charged to the subcon-cessionaires. The government claims that Amendment Five cost the city about $1 million. D. Paradies received $1.5 million of the total $2.3 million in rent reduction. In 1989, Jackson supported another rent-reduction proposal that came before the board, and it included contract extensions for the subconcessionaires. Jackson was put on a negotiating team to represent the City against Dobbs. Some of the members of the team argued that only the smaller subconces-sionaires should receive further rent reductions. Jackson argued adamantly that the larger subeoncessionaires should also receive reductions. He was successful, and Amendment Number Six cost the City $7.7 million. D. Paradies saved over $2.5 million in rent. Interestingly, around the time Amendment Six was being negotiated, Hartsfield Concessions’ management fees were raised to 2.0%. Richard Dickson, Paradies’ “right hand man,” testified that the increase was financially indefensible. In October of 1990, the City’s Commissioner of Aviation was to retire. The evidence showed that Jackson approached Mayor Maynard Jackson and asked to be appointed in the position. The mayor had heard rumors that Jackson had some kind of interest in an airport concession, but received assurances from Jackson he owned no such interest. Jackson was eventually appointed Aviation Commissioner. Soon after he took his position, Jackson proposed that the City terminate Dobbs’ position as Principal Concessionaire and allow him, as Commissioner of Aviation, to take over the entire concessions program. The government claims that the program would have resulted in over $40 million reduction in revenue to the City. The proposal encountered substantial opposition, and Jackson became indignant toward opponents. The government claims that during the controversy, Paradies and Echols visited the Mayor and the City’s Chief Administrative Officer to “lobby” them to stay close to Jackson and consider his proposal. (Govt.’s Brief at p. 27.) Jackson’s proposal was put on the Council’s agenda, but the CFO blocked the vote. F. Jackson’s Interest is Discovered Shortly after the vote was blocked, the City Attorney and Mayor Jackson confronted Jackson about his interests. Jackson denied any financial connection with D. Paradies. On March 8,1992, Jackson resigned his position, stating that “I now find that a loan which I extended to a sub-concessionaire at the airport some time ago, and which has long been repaid, has become an issue of concern.” Soon thereafter, D. Paradies wrote a letter to Max Walker, the acting Commissioner of Aviation, stating that he was surprised and distressed to learn of Mr. Ira Jackson’s alleged interest in and receipt of funds from Hartsfield Concessions, Inc.... At all times, Paradies Midfield has dealt with Hartsfield Concessions, Inc. through Mr. Mack Wilbourn, who represented himself to be the sole - owner of Hartsfield Concessions, Inc.... Paradies is unaware of any alleged interest of Mr. Jackson in Hartsfield Concessions, Inc. See Govt. Exhibit 106. The government claims that when the newspapers learned of the Goldston/Maudestine Simmons transaction, D. Paradies claimed that he did not know that Maudestine Simmons was Jackson’s wife, even though he had hosted their wedding reception and “Mimi” was his own wife’s close friend. G. Direct Payoffs to City Council Members The other scheme involved D. Paradies and his agreement to make corrupt payments with Echols to Atlanta City Council Members, including Jackson. Echols testified at trial that he and D. Paradies had been close for 22 years. He testified that he and D. Paradies had a long-standing agreement that Echols would make- payments to certain council members, and that D. Paradies would reimburse him. Echols testified that he made routine payments to Jackson, Buddy Fowlkes, and less frequent payments to Marvin Arrington, President of the City Council. Echols explained that between mid-1980 through 1992 he would meet Jackson for breakfast on Wednesday mornings at the Castlegate Hotel. Echols always paid for breakfast, and afterwards would pay Jackson several hundred dollars folded in a handshake. He had a similar routine with Fowlkes on Thursday mornings. Further, Echols paid for Fowlkes to fly back from vacation to vote for Amendment Six. Additionally, Echols paid for Fowlkes and his family to take a Florida vacation. As for Arrington, Echols paid him once or twice every two months, usually at breakfast, depending on what was before the Council. On two occasions, Echols paid Ar-rington to appoint Buddy Fowlkes to Chairman of the Transportation Committee. Echols paid $5,000 on one occasion, and $6,000 on another. In 1987 and in 1990, D. Paradies allegedly reimbursed Echols for the payoffs. In 1987, D. Paradies paid Echols for “consulting fees” in three payments of $10,000 each. Echols did not do any counselling for this money. Although consulting agreements were drawn up, Echols told Ron Wright that the money was not for consulting, but was for political payoffs. In 1990, soon after Echols had flown Fowlkes back to vote for Amendment Six, D. Paradies reimbursed Echols in three payments for $1,666, $333, and $2,000. That time, no consulting agreements were drawn up; three “invoices” were sent to account for these payments. The evidence also showed that Jackson accepted a $5,000 payoff from Echols and another subconcessionaire, Dave Gammill. In December of 1988, Gammill allegedly brought $25,000 in cash to Echols, who distributed the money to Jackson, Arrington, Fowlkes, and others. H. Proceedings Below On July 9, 1993, a federal grand jury returned a 133-count indictment charging the defendants with various offenses. Counts 1-83 charged all the defendants with mail fraud (one count for each check) in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1346, and 2 based upon the scheme involving Jackson’s interest in Para-dies Midfield. Count 84 charged defendant Wilbourn, who was acquitted, of witness tampering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(1). Count 85 charged D. Paradies with conspiring with Echols to violate 18 U.S.C. § 666 by making corrupt payments to public officials in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Counts 86-128 charged Jackson with the receipt of corrupt payments from Echols in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666. Counts 129-133 charged Jackson with subscribing to false income tax returns underreporting his income in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1). At trial, Jackson denied the charges against him, maintaining that his dealings with Wilbourn, D. Paradies, and others were neither illegal nor fraudulent. He claimed he acted upon the advice of his attorney and his accountant. D. Paradies and his companies claimed that under their concession contracts at the Atlanta airport under Atlanta ordinances they were required to enter into minority participation agreements with persons such as Wilbourn and others in their business enterprises. They denied knowingly doing anything unethical, illegal, or fraudulent, or having knowledge of Jackson’s allegedly fraudulent activity and conflicts of interest. D. Paradies and his companies particularly contended that they only made contractually obligatory payments of dividends and fees to Jackson and others. The jury was sequestered, and the case was tried for three straight weeks, including weekends. After six hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of guilty for all defendants on all counts, except for Jackson’s acquittal as to Count 129, and Wilbourn’s acquittal. Jackson received 42 months in prison, a $7,500 fíne and a special assessment of $6,500. Paradies received 33 months in prison, a $7,500 fíne and a special assessment of $4,200. The Paradies Shops was fined $1,500,000 and assessed $16,600. Paradies Midfield was assessed $16,600. Jackson and D. Paradies remain free on appeal bonds. The fine imposed on the Paradies Shops was stayed pending appeal. II. ANALYSIS A. Jury Selection According to the Jury Selection and Service Act (“the Jury Selection Act”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1861, et seq., the court may excuse a potential juror (1) upon a showing of undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, or (2) if the potential juror may be unable to render impartial jury service or that his service as a juror would be likely to disrupt the proceedings. See 28 U.S.C. § 1866(c). In this case, the district court sent a 25-page, 108-question jury questionnaire to over 250 potential jurors. The court reviewed the returned questionnaires and excused over 70 potential jurors pursuant to § 1866(e) and in accordance with the Local Plan for the Northern District of Georgia (“Local Plan”). Jackson and the Paradies defendants argue that the district court committed a “substantial violation” of the Jury Selection Act by excusing those jurors sua sponte prior to voir dire, because the questionnaires provided insufficient evidence of actual bias and undue hardship. The district court’s determinations regarding bias and undue hardship are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. North, 910 F.2d 843, 909-10 (D.C.Cir.1990), modified on other grounds, 920 F.2d 940 (D.C.Cir.1990), cert. denied, 500 U.S. 941, 111 S.Ct. 2235, 114 L.Ed.2d 477 (1991). A party challenging the jury selection process under the Jury Selection Act must make his challenge “before the voir dire examination begins, or within seven days after the defendant discovered or could have discovered, by the exercise of diligence, the grounds therefor, whichever is earlier.” 28 U.S.C. § 1867(a) (emphasis added). The timeliness requirement “is to be strictly construed, and failure to comply precisely with its terms forecloses a challenge under the Act.” United States v. Bearden, 659 F.2d 590, 595 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 936, 102 S.Ct. 1993, 72 L.Ed.2d 456 (1982). Therefore, once voir dire begins, Jury Selection Act challenges are barred, even where the grounds for the challenge are discovered only later. See United States v. Hawkins, 566 F.2d 1006, 1013 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 848, 99 S.Ct. 150, 58 L.Ed.2d 151 (1978); United States v. Kennedy, 548 F.2d 608, 613 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 865, 98 S.Ct. 199, 54 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977). Jackson admits in his brief that his counsel learned of the juror excusáis during the weekend immediately before trial and that, therefore, he did not make his challenge to the jury selection process until the first day of trial. Jackson does not attempt to excuse his failure to comply with the timeliness requirements of the statute. Under these circumstances, Jackson’s challenge is barred. The Paradies defendants, however, filed a timely motion under the Jury Selection Act and submitted an affidavit in support thereof. The Act requires that any motion filed pursuant thereto be accompanied by “a sworn statement of facts which, if true, would constitute a substantial failure to comply with the provisions of [the Act].” 28 U.S.C. § 1867(d). When that requirement is not satisfied, the challenge to the selection process must fail, because “Congress left no room for ad hoc review of the usefulness of compliance with [the sworn statement] requirement.” Kennedy, 548 F.2d at 613; see also United States v. Maldonado, 849 F.2d 522, 523 (11th Cir.1988) (the Act’s “sworn statement” requirement is to be strictly construed); United States v. Green, 742 F.2d 609, 612 (11th Cir.1984) (compliance with the Act’s procedural requirements is necessary to challenge the validity of a jury selection plan). The “sworn statement” submitted by the Paradies defendants was the affidavit of a rejected juror, Dana Shepherd. Shepherd’s affidavit showed, by tracking the statutory language, that she was excused from serving on the jury in this case despite the fact that (1) she would have met the basic requirements to serve on the “qualified wheel” of potential jurors, (2) she was not a member of an occupational class or group of persons who are exempted from jury service, and (3) she did not have a basis on which she could have individually requested excusal from jury service. In other words, she has met the minimum requirements to be placed on the qualified wheel of potential jurors. The affidavit does not show, however, that there could be no other reason upon which the court could have based its decision to excuse her, e.g., undue hardship or bias. Therefore, the affidavit does not state facts which, if true, would constitute any violation of the Jury Selection Act. Consequently, the Paradies defendants failed to satisfy the “sworn statement” prerequisite to a claim under the Act, and their challenge thereunder is precluded. Even if we were to assume that Shepherd’s affidavit satisfied the requirements of § 1867(d), we would find that the district court did not “substantially fail” to comply with the Jury Selection Act. See 28 U.S.C. § 1867(d) (allowing relief under the Act “[i]f the court determines that there has been a substantial failure to comply with the [Act]”). A Jury Selection Act violation is substantial only if it frustrates the Act’s two basic goals: “(1) random selection of juror names; and (2) use of objective criteria for determination of disqualifications, excuses, exemptions, and exclusions.” United States v. Gregory, 780 F.2d 692, 699 (11th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1208, 105 S.Ct. 1170, 1171, 84 L.Ed.2d 321 (1985). The Paradies defendants claim that thirteen jurors, individually, were improperly excused for bias, and eight jurors were improperly excused for undue hardship. They argue that the questionnaires of the jurors excluded for bias did not contain sufficient evidence of actual bias, citing United States v. Calabrese, 942 F.2d 218 (3d Cir. 1991), and that the questionnaires of the jurors excluded for hardship did not show that the potential jurors would suffer hardship for the reasons listed in the Local Plan. Additionally, they claim that seventeen questionnaires are “missing” for unknown reasons, and that their lack of access to those documents impedes their ability to assess whether the trial court acted in an appropriate manner. This court has carefully reviewed all of the questionnaires challenged by the defendants, and we find that the district court did not commit a substantial violation of the Act in excluding those jurors. With respect to those who were excused for bias, every potential juror either professed that they were badly prejudiced against one side, or they described a relationship that the court deemed inappropriate for a juror in this case. We find that this action by the district court was not, nor was it alleged to have been, directed to any ethnic, racial, or national origin, nor did it constitute any arbitrary, unreasonable exclusion of discrete segments of the venire. Nor did the court’s action in this respect cause the venire to consist of anything other than a fair cross-section of the community. This court has rejected a similar challenge to a district court’s excusal of jurors “who merely acknowledged their acquaintance” with the defendant. United States v. Bailey, 468 F.2d 652, 658 (5th Cir.1972) (quoting Dennis v. United States, 339 U.S. 162, 168, 70 S.Ct. 519, 521, 94 L.Ed. 734 (1950)). The Bailey court relied on the district court’s “serious duty to determine the question of actual bias and a broad discretion in its rulings” in dismissing the defendant’s challenge to the jury composition. Id. (finding “nothing abusive or prejudicial in the excusal of jurors admittedly acquainted, regardless [of] how remotely, with one of the parties to the proceedings”). The Paradies defendants rely on Calabrese wherein the Third Circuit rejected the notion that the district court has the broad discretion allowed by the Fifth Circuit in Bailey. Cala-brese is not binding on this court, however, and it is our view that the reasoning in Bailey governs this case. See United States v. Perkins, 748 F.2d 1519, 1532-33 (11th Cir.1984) (“A relationship between a juror and defendant, albeit a remote one, can form the basis of a challenge for cause.”); see also North, 910 F.2d at 909-10 (upholding excusal of jurors before voir dire based on juror questionnaires); United States v. Redmond, 546 F.2d 1386, 1389 (10th Cir.1977) (upholding excusal of jurors who were acquainted with any attorneys in the case), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 995, 98 S.Ct. 1645, 56 L.Ed.2d 83 (1978). Similarly, the court did not err in excluding the eight jurors for undue hardship. The Paradies defendants argue that the court allowed some jurors to use a hardship excuse for reasons other than those named in the statute. For example, juror # 290 was excused for having two small children, but her two children were sixteen years old. The Local Plan, however, allows a hardship excuse to potential jurors with children under ten years of age. The defendants also criticized the court for excusing some of these jurors even though the jurors did not request excusal. Again, this court has reviewed all of the available questionnaires, and we find no substantial error in the court’s actions. While the court may have violated some of the technical provisions of the Local Plan in dismissing some jurors and without one of the enumerated hardships, none of the excusáis frustrated the goals of the Act. See United States v. Gregory, 730 F.2d 692, 700 (11th Cir.1984) (technical violations alone do not give rise to a substantial violation of the Act), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1208, 105 S.Ct. 1170, 1171, 84 L.Ed.2d 321 (1985); see also United States v. Barnette, 800 F.2d 1558, 1568-69 & n. 14 (11th Cir.1986) (upholding district court’s granting of hardship excuse to 245 out of 249 jurors after a personal, pre-voir dire review of juror questionnaires), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 935, 107 S.Ct. 1578, 94 L.Ed.2d 769 (1987). Additionally, under § 1869(j) of the Jury Selection Act, “undue hardship and extreme circumstances” includes “any other factor which the court determines to constitute an undue hardship or extreme inconvenience to the juror.” In the instant case, where the jury would be sequestered for several weeks, the court has broad discretion in determining whether a particular juror could be excluded because of undue hardship. Finally, defense counsel’s failure to locate a small portion of the juror questionnaires (some of which were never returned), from literally hundreds of questionnaires comprising several boxes in the record of this case, is no basis for a finding of failure on the part of the district court to follow legal procedures in jury selection. We note that the district court in this ease was faced with an onerous burden in arriving at an impartial jury in this high-profile ease that was originally estimated to last four to six weeks. With great care, the court reviewed all of the returned jury questionnaires to rule out those jurors who would have been unduly burdened by serving on a case of that duration who admittedly would have been unable to render impartial jury service. Under these circumstances, the district court in no way hindered the random selection of juror names or the use of objective criteria in excusing jurors. Nor did the process result in impermissible discrimination or arbitrariness, and the defendants do not make such an allegation. In sum, the court did not commit a substantial violation of the Jury Selection Act, and the Paradies defendants are not entitled to a reversal on that basis. The Paradies defendants also claim, as a separate basis for reversal, that the district court violated their unqualified right to inspect the jury records in order to substantiate their claim under the Jury Selection Act. At about 8:00 on the morning of voir dire, after approximately 115 potential jurors had been summoned to appear in court at 11:00 a.m. for the proceedings, the Paradies defendants moved the court to stay the proceedings on the ground that the court possibly committed a substantial failure to comply with the provisions of the Act. The district court denied the motion for the stay, rejecting the defendants’ argument that the exclusion of Dana Shepherd from the jury venire may have been a violation of the Jury Selection Act. Later that same day, the court read into the record its reasons for excusing the jurors that it dismissed sua sponte. The court thereafter, upon defendants’ request, made the jury questionnaires a part of the record. Additionally, after trial, the court allowed the defendants to supplement the record with additional jury selection materials. At no time did the court preclude defense counsel from inspecting the record and finding out which jurors the court had excused. On the contrary, the record shows that the court entered an order on November 8, 1993, directing all counsel not to disclose answers of prospective jurors because that information was deemed to be privileged. From that date on, counsel for both sides were presumably aware that the questionnaires existed and that counsel would be entitled to review them. At most, the court denied the Paradies defendants additional time to formulate their argument. Therefore, we find, after careful examination of this record, that these defendants were not denied access to the jury selection documents. B. Propriety of the Convictions Pursuant to is u.s.c. § me Jackson and the Paradies defendants challenge their convictions pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1346 on several grounds. First, the Para-dies defendants claim that in order to be convicted for aiding and abetting in the fraudulent scheme, an independent duty to the victim must first exist and that duty must have been breached. Second, they claim that § 1346 is unconstitutionally vague, or, in the alternative, that the district judge should have given the jury a “fair warning” instruction to allow the jury to make the vagueness determination. Finally, Jackson claims that his convictions under § 1346 violated the ex post facto clause of the Constitution. We will discuss each issue in turn. (1) Independent Duty The Paradies defendants argue that because the Paradies companies had no legal duty to anyone to prevent Jackson’s scheme from succeeding, then they cannot be held liable for aiding and abetting him in that scheme. The defendants rely heavily on Dirks v. S.E.C., 463 U.S. 646, 103 S.Ct. 3255, 77 L.Ed.2d 911 (1983), and Chiarella v. United States, 445 U.S. 222, 100 S.Ct. 1108, 63 L.Ed.2d 348 (1980), wherein the Supreme Court found that a defendant cannot be convicted for securities fraud (Dirks), or for aiding and abetting securities fraud (Chiarel-la), unless he breached a legal duty. Because the Paradies companies claim that they merely made routine, lawful fee and dividend payments to Hartsfield Concessions and had no independent duty to disclose anything about their shareholder’s fraudulent scheme, they cannot be convicted for helping Jackson in that scheme. They contend that “without access to the opinion of the Ethics Board, the Paradies defendants were lulled into a false sense of security that there was nothing inherently improper about the relationship between Wilboum and Jackson.” The government readily admits that the Paradies defendants were not fiduciaries to the City. It claims, however, that this circuit does not require that an independent duty exist in order to be convicted of aiding and abetting in a mail fraud scheme. This court has addressed this issue in a recent case, United States v. Waymer, 55 F.3d 564, 568 (11th Cir.1995), cert. denied, - U.S., 116 S.Ct. 1350, 134 L.Ed.2d 519 (1996). In Waymer, the defendant was a member of the Atlanta Board of Education, and he used his status to award service contracts to certain companies in return for monetary benefits. Waymer was convicted of mail fraud, because he mailed payments to the contractors for the services they rendered. He contended that because the school system had a legal obligation to make those payments, the mailing of the checks to pay a legal debt could not provide a basis on which to satisfy the mailing requirement of § 1341. In upholding his conviction, this court relied on Schmuck v. United States, 489 U.S. 705, 710, 109 S.Ct. 1443, 1447, 103 L.Ed.2d 734 (1989), wherein the Supreme Court found that mailings that furthered the overall scheme to defraud would satisfy the mailing requirement of § 1341, even though the mailings may have been otherwise legal. The Waymer court found that it was presented with an even stronger case than in Schmuck, because the cheeks mailed to the contractor were the very source of the illegal payments to Waymer; if the contractors did not get paid, neither did Waymer. Waymer, 55 F.3d at 570. Although the Paradies companies routinely mailed out fee and dividend checks, the government showed that those payments were made in exchange for Jackson’s political influence. Under the reasoning in Waymer, those mailings can serve as the basis for a conviction under § 1341. Additionally, the Paradies defendants do not cite to one mail fraud case to support their theory that an independent duty must exist between the defendant and the victim. This court stated in Waymer that “[a] defendant’s breach of a fiduciary duty may be a predicate for a violation of the mail fraud statute where the breach entails the violation of a duty to disclose material information.” Id. at 571 (emphasis added). That predicate is inapplicable to the facts of this case, however, because the Paradies defendants were not charged with a failure to disclose a material fact; they were charged with aiding and abetting by actively participating in the crime. Jackson certainly had a fiduciary duty to the City. Using the mails to deliver dividend checks and fees, if intentionally designed as a payoff to Jackson, is clearly sufficient to convict the Para-dies defendants for aiding and abetting the fraud under § 1346. (2) Vagueness The Paradies defendants also argue that § 1346, which punishes schemes to defraud another of the intangible right of honest services, is unconstitutionally vague. Whether a statute is vague is a question of law to be reviewed de novo. Dodger’s Bar & Grill, Inc. v. Johnson County Bd. of County Comm’rs, 32 F.3d 1436, 1443 (10th Cir.1994). This question was also addressed by the Waymer court, and it rejected the same challenge on strikingly similar facts. First, the court reasoned that “[a] statute is not unconstitutionally vague if it ‘define[s] the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.’” Waymer, 55 F.3d at 568 (quoting Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 1858, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983)). It should be plain to ordinary people that offering and accepting large sums of money in return for a city councilman’s vote is the type of conduct prohibited by the language of § 1346. This is a specific intent crime, and the jury was properly instructed on that intent. See discussion, infra, at pp. 1284 — 86. Additionally, the evidence was overwhelming that these defendants “intended to defraud the citizens of Atlanta of [Jackson’s] honest services.” Id. at 569. Therefore, the vagueness challenge must fail. The defendants argue that the Fifth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Brumley, 79 F.3d 1430 (5th Cir.), reh’g en banc granted, 91 F.3d 676 (5th Cir.1996), supports its position. In that ease, the court found that Congress did not intend that § 1346 overrule the decision in McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350 (1987), discussed supra at note 30. That position, however, is contrary to this court’s holding in Waymer, a ease that the Brumley court specifically declined to follow. Compare Waymer, 55 F.3d at 568 with Brumley, 79 F.3d at 1441; see also United States v. Bryan, 58 F.3d 933 (4th Cir.1995) (finding that Congress intended that § 1346 overrule McNally)-, United States v. Martinez, 905 F.2d 709, 715 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1017, 111 S.Ct. 591, 112 L.Ed.2d 595 (1990) (observing that “Congress’ purpose in enacting § 1346 was to restore the mail fraud statute to its pre-McNally position”). Therefore, we reject the defendants’ reliance on Brumley because this court has already held that Congress intended to extend the reach of the wire fraud proscription to schemes to deprive another of “the intangible right of honest services.” The Paradies defendants claim that even if § 1346 is not vague as a matter of law, they were entitled to a “fair warning” instruction to allow the jury to make the determination regarding vagueness. They requested that the court ask the jury whether the terms of the statute were “so vague that men of common intelligence” in the position of the Paradies defendants would not have had fair warning of a change in the law and that they would not have known they were prohibited from paying dividends or management fees to Hartsfield Concessions after the effective date of the statute. The court rejected that request, deciding the vagueness issue as a matter of law. We agree that the issue of whether a statute is void for vagueness is a question of law for the court to determine. See, e.g., Dodger’s Bar & Grill, Inc., 32 F.3d at 1443; United States v. Nevers, 7 F.3d 59, 61 (5th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1139, 114 S.Ct. 1124, 127 L.Ed.2d 432 (1994). Therefore, the Par-adies defendants were not entitled to a “fair warning” instruction to the jury. (3) The Ex Post Facto Clause Jackson claims that his convictions pursuant to § 1346 violated his rights under the ex post facto clause of the Constitution, because the crimes for which he was convicted were committed prior to the effective date of § 1346 (November 18, 1988), a time when the mail fraud statute (§ 1341) applied only to fraudulent schemes that deprived individuals of property rights, not intangible rights. See McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350, 107 S.Ct. 2875, 97 L.Ed.2d 292 (1987), discussed supra at note 30. We find this argument to be meritless. There was sufficient evidence upon which the jury could have found that Jackson’s fraudulent scheme began in 1985 but continued until the end of his tenure as a councilman (1990). In the ex post facto analysis, “[t]he critical question is whether the law changes the legal consequences of acts completed before its effective date.” Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 31, 101 S.Ct. 960, 965, 67 L.Ed.2d 17 (1981) (emphasis added). Several circuits have upheld convictions under similar circumstances. See United States v. Garfinkel, 29 F.3d 1253, 1259-60 (8th Cir.1994) (upholding conviction under § 1346 when scheme began in 1986 and continued through 1989); United States v. Hammen, 977 F.2d 379, 385 (7th Cir.1992) (upholding conviction under § 1346 when bank fraud scheme spanned effective date of the statute); United States v. Alkins, 925 F.2d 541, 549 (2d Cir.1991) (convictions for mail fraud upheld because defendants permitted the mailings to occur after the effective date of the statute). Accordingly, Jackson’s mail fraud convictions for conduct that continued after the effective date of § 1346 do not violate the ex post facto clause. C. Jury Instructions The Paradies defendants claim that the district court erred in instructing the jury on “specific intent” and in failing to give the “theory of the defense” instruction that it proposed at trial. We will address those issues separately. (1) Specific Intent The Paradies defendants first argue that the district court erred in charging the jury on specific intent, because it failed to require the jury to find that the defendants knew that their conduct was against the law, and that “ignorance of the law” is a valid defense because mail fraud is a specific intent crime. The court refused to instruct the jury in this fashion and, instead, instructed the jury that the defendants must have had the specific intent to defraud, rather than an intent to violate the law. Again, the Para-dies defendants do not cite one mail fraud case to support their position. Instead, they cite to precedent that supports the general proposition that ignorance of the law may be a defense to a specific intent crime. See Ratzlaf v. United States, 510 U.S. 135, 114 S.Ct. 655, 126 L.Ed.2d 615 (1994) (antistruc-turing law); United States v. Schilleci, 545 F.2d 519 (5th Cir.1977) (wire fraud conspiracy); United States v. Davis, 583 F.2d 190 (5th Cir.1978) (conspiracy to export). While mail fraud can be classified as a “specific intent” crime, it is clear from a review of the pertinent case law that the defendants’ contention is unfounded. In mail fraud cases, the government need only prove that the defendant had the intent to deceive, and ignorance of the law is no defense. See Waymer, 55 F.3d at 568 (defendant need only show the “specific intent to defraud”); United States v. Hooshmand, 931 F.2d 725, 731 (11th Cir.1991) (intentional participation in a scheme to defraud); Pelletier v. Zweifel, 921 F.2d 1465, 1499 (11th Cir.) (“conscious knowing intent to defraud”), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 855, 112 S.Ct. 167, 116 L.Ed.2d 131 (1991); United States v. Williams, 728 F.2d 1402, 1404 (11th Cir.1984) (specific intent to defraud); United States v. O’Malley, 707 F.2d 1240, 1247 (11th Cir.1983) (same). The Second Circuit stated specifically, “The specific intent required under the mail fraud statute is the intent to defraud, ... and not the intent to violate a statute.” United States v. Porcelli 865 F.2d 1352, 1358 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 810, 110 S.Ct. 53, 107 L.Ed.2d 22 (1989). Also, the Tenth Circuit has specifically held under similar circumstances that the district court did not err in instructing the jury that “every person is presumed to know what the law forbids.” United States v. Hollis, 971 F.2d 1441, 1451-52 (10th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 985, 113 S.Ct. 1580, 123 L.Ed.2d 148 (1993). In light of the foregoing, we must reject the Paradies defendants’ argument on this point. Next, they argue that the court gave, in substance, a general intent instruction rather than a specific intent instruction. The district court instructed the jury as follows: Now, fraudulent intent is necessary .to sustain a charge of a scheme to defraud. Now, in that regard, intent and motive should not be confused. Motive is what prompts a person to act while intent refers to the state of mind with which the act is done. So, if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that the acts constituting the crime charged were committed by the defendant under consideration voluntarily, with a specific intent to do something the law forbids, then the element of “willfulness”, as defined in these instructions has been satisfied even though the defendant may have believed his conduct was either religiously, politically, morally or otherwise required, or that ultimate good would result from such conduct. On the other hand, if you have a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant acted in good faith, sincerely believing himself to be exempt by the law, then he did not intentionally violate a known legal duty; that is, he did not act “willfully,” and that essential part of the offense has not been established. The court reiterated the specific intent requirement in other parts of the charge. See, e.g., these instructions: “What must be proved and proved beyond a reasonable doubt is that the defendant knowingly and willfully devised or intended to devise a scheme to defraud substantially the same one that is alleged in the indictment, and that the use of the United States mail was closely related to the scheme.” (R48-4252). “[T]he question is, did the defendant intend to deceive and defraud?” (R48-4252-53); “Now, the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these [Paradies] defendants aided, abetted, counseled, or caused mail fraud to be committed with the specific intent that each and every element of the crime of mail fraud be committed by some person.” (R48-4261). “Now, in this case good faith is a complete defense ... because good faith on the part of the defendants is inconsistent with the intent to defraud or willfulness, which is an essential part of the charges.” (R48-4268). The government claims that the above-quoted portion of the jury instructions was requested by the defendants. Having asked for the charge, the government claims, they cannot now complain about it. See United States v. Chandler, 996 F.2d 1073, 1084 (11th Cir.1993) (appellant cannot complain of a jury instruction that he submitted), cert. de nied, - U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 2724, 129 L.Ed.2d 848 (1994); Leverett v. Spears, 877 F.2d 921, 924 (11th Cir.1989) (doctrine of invited error precludes appellate claim that jury instruction requested by the appellant was erroneous). The Paradies defendants claim that the charge was not accepted as they requested it verbatim, but that they strenuously objected to the amended version given by the district court. Assuming that the defendants are not barred from complaining about the instructions, the court must look at “the charges as a whole” to determine whether the jury was “sufficiently instructed ... so that it understood the issues involved and were not misled.” See Hooshmand, 931 F.2d at 731. The portions of the instructions about which the defendants complain might potentially be deemed confusing. However, after reviewing the instructions in their entirety, we find that they were legally sufficient, particularly in light of the other instructions pointed out by the government. The court explained many times that the defendants must have acted with the specific “intent to defraud,” which constituted a correct assessment of the law. (2) Theory of Defense The refusal to give an instruction is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Turner, 871 F.2d 1574, 1578 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 997, 110 S.Ct. 552, 107 L.Ed.2d 548 (1989), and is reversible error if (1) the requested instruction was a correct statement of the law, (2) its subject matter was not substantially covered by other instructions, and (3) its subject matter dealt with an issue in the trial court that was so important that failure to give it seriously impaired the defendant’s ability to defend himself. United States v. Sirang, 70 F.3d 588, 593 (11th Cir.1995). Almost three months before trial, D. Para-dies submitted a requested jury charge labeled “Theory of the Defense.” The submitted charge consisted only of two introductory paragraphs, and then explained in brackets that “the remainder of this proposed charge will be submitted to the Court after the defense rests.” At some point just before the court instructed the jury, D. Paradies submitted the remainder of the proposed charge, which basically summed up his defense theory: that he had no duty to supervise the financial arrangements between his co-defendants; that he had no specific intent to defraud because his duty was to pay the dividends and management fees as required by the City of Atlanta’s Ordinances on Minority Participation; and that there was no illegal conspiracy because his agreement with Echols had a legitimate purpose. Now D. Paradies claims that failure to give that charge was reversible error. The district court disallowed the “revised” version of the proposed instruction because it was untimely and because “it wasn’t any good anyhow.” D. Paradies argues that his proposed jury charge was, in fact, timely because he filed the first proposed charge long before trial, putting the court and the government on notice. While the timeliness of this proposed jury instruction is highly suspect because the substance of it was not submitted until just before the court delivered the charges, we will assume that the instruction was timely filed and is properly reviewable by this court. Paradies argues that a defendant is entitled to a theory of defense charge for which there is any evidentiary foundation, “even though the evidence may be weak, insufficient, inconsistent, or of doubtful credibility.” United States v. Opdahl, 930 F.2d 1530, 1535 (11th Cir.1991) (quoting United States v. Lively, 803 F.2d 1124, 1126 (11th Cir.1986)). See also United States v. Edwards, 968 F.2d 1148, 1153 (11th Cir.1992) (“Kit has long been established in this Circuit that it is reversible error to refuse to charge on a defense theory for which there is an evidentiary foundation and which, if believed by the jury, would be legally sufficient to render the accused innocent”), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1064, 113 S.Ct. 1006, 122 L.Ed.2d 155 (1993). In determining whether the rec ord contains any evidentiary foundation to support the charge, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the defendant. United States v. Hedges, 912 F.2d 1397, 1406 (11th Cir.1990); United States v. Lewis, 592 F.2d 1282, 1285 (5th Cir.1979). We find that the district court was correct in finding that the requested jury charge was partisan and that it aspired “to place the Paradies defendants’ desired factual findings into the mouth of the court.” See United States v. Barham, 595 F.2d 231, 245 (5th Cir.1979) (affirming district court’s failure to give “theory of defense” jury instruction when “the requested instruction was more in the nature of a jury argument than a charge”), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1002, 101 S.Ct. 1711, 68 L.Ed.2d 205 (1981); see also United States v. Silverman, 745 F.2d 1386, 1399-1400 (11th Cir.1984) (affirming district court’s refusal to give “theory of defense” argument because the instruction merely emphasized a certain phase of the evidence). Also, the proposed instruction included legal theories which we have rejected supra (e.g., the “duty” theory, the “ignorance of the law” defense). Indeed, a charge must have “legal support” as well as foundation in the evidence. United States v. Morris, 20 F.3d 1111, 1115 (11th Cir.1994) (finding that a defendant is entitled to a theory of defense instruction as long as it has legal support); Silverman, 745 F.2d at 1399 (“the requested instruction must be a legally cognizable defense to the indictment”). The instructions given by the district court fairly and adequately presented Paradies’ defense theories to the jury. See Barham, 595 F.2d at 245 (finding that the instructions given adequately and fairly presented the defendant’s theory without the “theory of defense” instruction). Therefore, we find that D. Paradies is not entitled to a reversal based on the district court’s failure to give the proposed instruction. D. Propriety of the Convictions Pursuant to § 666 D. Paradies and Jackson contest their convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 666, which criminalizes the following acts: [C]orruptly givfing], offer[ing], or agree[ing] to give anything of value to any person, with intent to influence or reward an agent of an organization or of a State, local or Indian tribal government, or any agency thereof, in connection with any business, transaction, or series of transactions of such organization, government, or agency involving anything of a value of $5000 or more. 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(2). The statute applies, however, only where: the organization, government, or agency receives, in any one year period, benefits in excess of $10,000 under a Federal program involving a grant, contract, subsidy, loan, guarantee, insurance, or other form of Federal assistance. 18 U.S.C. § 666(b). D. Paradies argues that the district court misconstrued § 666 not to require two essential elements: (1) that the corrupt payments be made in connection with the administration of programs receiving federal funds, and (2) that the payments be made as a “quid pro quo” for an official act. He argues that those errors led the district court impermissibly to deny his motions to dismiss, for judgment of acquittal, and for a new trial, and that they also caused the court to reject the proposed jury charges relating to those issues. Jackson relies only on the first argument, and not the “quid pro quo” argument, in support of his claim. The government, on the other hand, claims that “[t]he plain language of § 666 does not impose these limitations, nor has any court ever engrafted these limitations on the clear statutory text.” We will discuss each argument in turn. (1) Does § 666 Require that the Corrupt Payment Be Directly Connected to the Administration of Federal Funds ? The defendants argue that they cannot be convicted pursuant to § 666 because the corrupt payments that were the subject of those convictions were not shown to be connected to any federally funded program. They argue, relying on legislative history, that the purpose of the statute was to protect the integrity of monies distributed through federal programs. Because the corrupt transactions at issue affected only private or local monies, their conduct was not intended to be covered under § 666. In addition to legislative history, the defendants cite authority from other jurisdictions that purport to apply this restriction to crimes under § 666. See United States v. Wyncoop, 11 F.3d 119 (9th Cir.1993); United States v. Coyne, 4 F.3d 100 (2d Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1095, 114 S.Ct. 929, 127 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994); United States v. Cicco, 938 F.2d 441 (3d Cir.1991); and United States v. Westmoreland, 841 F.2d 572 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 820, 109 S.Ct. 62, 102 L.Ed.2d 39 (1988). The government claims, however, that “[e]very court to h