United States v. Salahuddin

• Decision Date: 03 September 2014
• Docket Number: Nos. 13–1464,13–1751.,s. 13–1464
• Citation: 765 F.3d 329
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Ronald SALAHUDDIN, Appellant. United States of America v. Sonnie L. Cooper, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

765 F.3d 329

UNITED STATES of America

v.Ronald SALAHUDDIN, Appellant.

United States of America

v.Sonnie L. Cooper, Appellant.

Nos. 13–1464, 13–1751.

United States Court of Appeals,Third Circuit.

Argued June 10, 2014.

Filed: Sept. 3, 2014.

Thomas R. Ashley, Esq., [Argued], Ashley & Charles, Newark, NJ, for Appellant in No. 13–1464.

Alan L. Zegas, Esq., [Argued], Chatham, NJ, for Appellant in No. 13–1751.

Mark E. Coyne, Esq., David W. Feder, Esq., [Argued], Office of United States Attorney, Newark, NJ, for Appellee.

Before: FISHER, COWEN and TASHIMA,^* Circuit Judges.

OPINION

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Ronald Salahuddin (“Salahuddin”) was the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety in Newark, New Jersey. During his time in public office, he allegedly conspired to use his official position to obtain charitable and political contributions and to direct Newark demolition contracts to Appellant Sonnie Cooper (“Cooper”), with whom Salahuddin was allegedly in business. Salahuddin and Cooper were convicted of conspiring to extort under color of official right, in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).

Salahuddin and Cooper each raise an array of issues on appeal, none of which overlap. Salahuddin raises issues with the jury instructions and the proofs required for conviction under the Hobbs Act. Cooper raises issues with the weight and sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury verdict and the Government's alleged selective prosecution and outrageous conduct in its investigation and prosecution. We will affirm both Salahuddin's and Cooper's convictions.

I.

A.

Salahuddin was the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety in the City of Newark, New Jersey under the administration of then-Mayor Cory Booker. Cooper owned and operated a number of stores and businesses in Newark, including S. Cooper Brothers Trucking (“Cooper Brothers”), a demolition business. Cooper Brothers was qualified to receive demolition work from Newark under the city's minority set-aside policy, but was ineligible for other demolition work.

Evidence introduced at trial suggests that Salahuddin was a “silent partner” in Cooper's demolition business. In 2004, Salahuddin gave Cooper money and mortgaged his home and rental property so that Cooper Brothers could pledge sufficient collateral to obtain a performance bond that was a prerequisite for a garbage contract in Irvington, New Jersey. Salahuddin also served as a general indemnitor for the bond. These mortgages remained in effect through the time frame relevant to the conspiracy. Salahuddin gave money to Cooper for Cooper Brothers-related litigation and expenses. Salahuddin helped Cooper generally in running the business and facilitated obtaining an overdue payment from the City of Newark soon after becoming Deputy Mayor. The two occasionally referred to one another as business partners. Salahuddin did not disclose his financial involvement with Cooper Brothers. Nor did Cooper disclose Salahuddin's involvement on licensing forms filed with the state on behalf of Cooper Brothers.

In July of 2006, Salahuddin met with Joseph Parlavecchio (“Parlavecchio”), a Newark political operative. Parlavecchio served as a consultant for several Newark demolition companies. One of these companies belonged to Nicholas Mazzocchi (“Mazzocchi”), a Newark businessman. Mazzocchi's company had retained Parlavecchio as a consultant to help obtain demolition work from Newark, because despite being the largest demolition contractor in New Jersey, Mazzocchi's company had not obtained demolition work from Newark for five years. Unbeknownst to Parlavecchio, Salahuddin, and Cooper, Mazzocchi was cooperating with the F.B.I. as an informant. He had agreed to work with the F.B.I. in April of 2006—before this alleged conspiracy began—in order to avoid prosecution for bribery and tax-evasion. He recorded numerous meetings and telephone conversations with Salahuddin and Cooper. These recordings were introduced at trial and comprised the bulk of the evidence against the two. ¹

Despite the fact that Salahuddin had no official power over the awarding of demolition contracts, Salahuddin and Parlavecchio discussed dividing the Newark demolition work between Mazzocchi, Cooper Brothers, and another demolition company for which Parlavecchio worked. Parlavecchio recounted the agreement that he and Salahuddin had discussed to Mazzocchi, stating that Mazzocchi could obtain demolition work in Newark from Salahuddin if he promised to give Cooper some work once in a while.

Mazzocchi met with Cooper individually and with both Cooper and Salahuddin several times. They solidified their understanding of the plan, whereby Salahuddin would use his political influence to steer demolition work to Mazzocchi, who would then give a piece of that work, or subcontract it, to Cooper. Mazzocchi and Cooper acknowledged the need for discretion, because Salahuddin was a “political guy.” SA 172. Salahuddin confirmed that he had the power to steer demolition work, stating: “I just tell people this is what we want and that's the way, you know, it can happen.” SA 190. Salahuddin summarized the arrangement to Mazzocchi, stating: “I'll take care of, you know, Newark.... You'll be back in Newark.... And then, you two, when something comes down the pike, you can always call [Cooper]....” SA 202.

To effectuate the conspiracy, Salahuddin urged Newark's Demolition Director Bob Minter—who had responsibility for awarding demolition contracts—to give work to Mazzocchi. Salahuddin told Minter that Mazzocchi was a “friend of the administration,” and Minter understood this to mean that he should give work to Mazzocchi. JA 1893–95.

Mazzocchi did offer some demolition work to Cooper. He paid Cooper for some demolition work done at a small carwash. After this work and payment, Salahuddin told Mazzocchi that “we, I appreciate it tremendously.” SA 217. A week after this carwash demolition work, Salahuddin agreed to help Mazzocchi collect on a past-due bill with the City of Newark, stating that his help was just part of their “working relationship.” SA 224. Additionally, Minter awarded two demolition jobs to Mazzocchi in 2007. Mazzocchi subcontracted some of the work on both of these jobs to Cooper. For one of them, Cooper was paid $5,029. A day after depositing the check, Cooper wrote a check to Salahuddin for $5,000 from the Cooper Brothers' account. The memo line stated: “Repay of Cash Loan.” SA 148.

In addition to work contracted from the City of Newark, Salahuddin, Cooper, and Mazzocchi discussed prospective demolition work on the new arena for the New Jersey Devils hockey team. Salahuddin proposed that he would suggest to the Devils that Mazzocchi receive the demolition work. While Mazzocchi would get the majority of it, Mazzocchi would subcontract a significant portion of that work to Cooper. Salahuddin told Mazzocchi that Mazzocchi was going to “be the pilot” but “we [he and Cooper] just wanna be on the boat.” SA 240–41. Salahuddin tried to keep the Devils arena work private, rather than having a public bid process.

Salahuddin also sought and extracted political and charitable contributions from Mazzocchi to help him influence the demolition contracting process. He explained to Mazzocchi that if Mazzocchi supported these entities, Salahuddin could show other officials that Mazzocchi was helping the city. Mazzocchi made several contributions during the time frame of the conspiracy. He spent $5,000 on a donation to Newark Now—a nonprofit associated with Mayor Booker, $3,000 to purchase a table at a fundraiser for Mayor Booker, $1,000 for a golf outing for Empower Newark—a political action committee, and a total of $3,000 on donations to Empower Newark. Salahuddin advised that Mazzocchi should conceal the source of some of his contributions by having the check come from a secretary or a family member.

B.

On February 18, 2010, a grand jury in Trenton, New Jersey returned a five-count indictment against Salahuddin and Cooper. In Count 1, both were charged with conspiracy to obstruct interstate commerce by extortion under color of official right in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). In Count 2, both were charged with attempt to obstruct interstate commerce by extortion under color of official right in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a), 18 U.S.C. § 2. In Counts 3, 4 and 5, they were charged with violations of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(B) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 for knowingly and corruptly soliciting, demanding, accepting and agreeing to accept as bribes things of value to influence and reward Salahuddin's effort to steer Newark demolition contracts to Mazzocchi and Cooper. Count 3 related to contracts that Cooper received. Count 4 charged only Salahuddin for contributions Mazzocchi made at Salahuddin's behest. Count 5 related to the $5,000 payment that Cooper made to Salahuddin shortly after being paid by Mazzocchi for subcontracted work.

Both Salahuddin and Cooper proceeded to trial, which began on September 7, 2011. The Government introduced recorded conversations involving Salahuddin and Cooper made by Mazzocchi, documentary evidence of business records and records of charitable donations, and witness testimony from Mazzocchi and several Newark officials. After the Government rested, Salahuddin called several character witnesses and testified himself. Cooper called no witnesses, but did examine Salahuddin. On October 14, 2011, the jury found Salahuddin and Cooper guilty on Count 1—conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right in violation of the Hobbs Act—and not guilty on the remaining counts.

Near the close of the Government's case, Salahuddin and Cooper moved for judgment of acquittal under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29. The District Court deferred ruling on the motion until after trial. In post-trial briefing, they reasserted their claims under Rule 29, requested a new trial under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33, and...