United States v. Rybicki

354 F.3d 124 (2nd Cir. 2003)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Rybicki (D) and Grae are lawyers specializing in personal injury cases. Ds arranged for payments to be made to claims adjusters employed by insurance companies that had insured against injuries sustained by Ds' clients. They induced the adjusters to expedite the settlement of the clients' claims. Insurance companies maintained a written policy that prohibited the adjusters from accepting any gifts or fees and required them to report the offer of any such gratuities. Ds did this at least twenty times for an aggregate of $3 million in settled claims. Ds took considerable steps to disguise and conceal the payments. Ds were indicted for scheming to deprive the insurance companies of their intangible right of the honest services of their employees - the insurance adjusters - by the use of the mails and the wires, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (mail fraud), 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud), and 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy). Ds were found guilty and sentenced by the district court to a term of imprisonment of one year and one day, three years of supervised release, a $20,000 fine, and a $1,150 special assessment. Ds appealed. D contends that a scheme or artifice to defraud of an intangible right is unconstitutionally vague.