U.S. v. Capo

Decision Date30 May 1986
Docket NumberNos. 409,421 and 432,D,s. 409
Citation791 F.2d 1054
Parties105 Lab.Cas. P 12,023 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Robert CAPO, Tadeusz Snacki, a/k/a "Ted Snacki", Walter Snacki, Defendants-Appellants. ocket 85-1290, 85-1291 and 85-1292.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Rosemary G. Roberts, Asst. U.S. Atty., Rochester, N.Y. (Salvator R. Martoche, U.S. Atty. for Western District of N.Y., on brief), for appellee.

Ronald S. Carlisi, Rochester, N.Y., for defendant-appellant Robert Capo.

Norman A. Palmiere, Rochester, N.Y., for defendant-appellant Tadeusz Snacki.

James R. Brown, Rochester, N.Y., for defendant-appellant Walter Snacki.

Before: TIMBERS, KEARSE, and PRATT, Circuit Judges.

KEARSE, Circuit Judge:

Defendants Robert Capo, Tadeusz Snacki, a/k/a Ted Snacki ("Ted"), and Walter Snacki ("Walter") appeal from judgments of conviction entered in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York after a jury trial before Michael A. Telesca, Judge. All three defendants were convicted on one count of conspiring to engage in an extortionate job-selling scheme affecting interstate commerce, in violation of the Hobbs Act (sometimes the "Act"), 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951 (1982). In addition, Capo was convicted on five counts of substantive violations of the Hobbs Act, one count of obstruction of justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1503 (1982), and one count of tampering with a witness in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1512 (1982); he was acquitted on three additional counts charging substantive violations of the Hobbs Act. Ted was convicted on two counts of substantive violations of the Hobbs Act and on one count of obstruction of justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1503; he was acquitted on one additional count charging a substantive Hobbs Act violation. Walter was convicted on six counts of substantive violations of the Hobbs Act and on one count of making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1001 (1982); he was acquitted on one additional count charging a substantive Hobbs Act violation. Each defendant received a suspended sentence of three years' imprisonment and was placed on probation for three years on each count, the sentences to run On appeal, defendants contend principally that their conduct was not within the purview of the Hobbs Act and that the evidence was insufficient to convict them on any count. We disagree and affirm the convictions.

concurrently on all counts. As a special condition of probation, each defendant was directed to perform 500 hours of community service.

I. BACKGROUND

The prosecution focused on a scheme to sell jobs at Eastman Kodak Company ("Kodak"), a multinational corporation with its principal offices in Rochester, New York. Taken in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence at trial revealed the following.

At one of its main manufacturing facilities, the Elmgrove Plant ("Elmgrove"), also located in Rochester, Kodak employed approximately 13,000 people. Its normal practice was to hire nonprofessional employees from among some 55,000 individuals who had applications on file and who periodically updated their applications to indicate their continued interest in employment at Kodak. When positions were available, an employment counselor would review a computer printout listing applicants with the requisite skills or background, and would then review the applications of individuals on that list. Factors considered in selecting employees included prior experience, prior employment with Kodak, the length of time the application had been on file, references, and having relatives already employed by Kodak. The same procedures were supposed to be followed for Kodak's "supplemental hirings," which occurred at times of peak employment need. Supplemental jobs were usually of limited duration, ranging from several months to a year.

In early 1981, John Baron, an unindicted coconspirator who testified at trial for the government, began working in Kodak's Industrial Relations Department as an employment counselor. Baron was put in charge of hiring at Elmgrove. His first assignment was to hire permanent production employees, giving preference to approximately 1,400 supplemental employees who had been laid off in 1980. After exhausting this 1,400-person list, Baron continued to hire permanent production employees from the applicant pool.

Beginning in April 1981, indicted coconspirator Stanford Forte, Sr., a supervisor at Elmgrove, asked Baron to hire certain individuals as a favor to Forte. Among these individuals hired by Baron in 1981 were Ted and Ted's wife, daughter, and nephew. In connection with his hiring of Ted's family, Baron was given a leather coat and a color televsion set. In addition, Forte gave Baron a Betamax video recorder and asked him to hire three other individuals. The three were hired; they gave Forte $1,500, which Forte split with Baron. In January 1982, Ted, who was only a nodding acquaintance of Baron, helped Baron move to a new house. During the move, Ted asked Baron to hire his son; Baron agreed, and hired the son. In February 1982 Ted gave Baron $400 in cash as a wedding present.

A. Evidence of the Job-Selling Scheme

In January 1982, Elmgrove's production needs increased and Baron began hiring supplemental employees. Because the standard hiring procedure was laborious and time-consuming, and because individual applications would often be missing from the files while they were being updated in the computer listings, Baron started accepting lists of prospective employees, together with applications, from supervisors, managers, and other Kodak employees. Hiring individuals from such "referral lists" was a practice apparently known to Baron's superiors, and tacitly approved by them. Forte was one person giving referral lists to Baron; all of the individuals on Forte's lists, referred by Forte or by Ted, were hired. Among those referred by Ted and hired by Baron were a number of persons who testified that they had paid amounts ranging from $500 to $1,000 to Walter, Ted, or Capo, to obtain jobs at Kodak for themselves, friends, or relatives

in early 1982. During this period, Baron continued to receive "gifts" from Ted.

1. Jobs Sold by Walter

In the summer of 1981, Walter, who worked for a company called Rochester Products, had told a fellow worker that he could get the coworker's daughter a job at Kodak if the coworker had enough money. Overhearing this, another employee, Josephine Kane, had asked Walter if he could get her husband a job at Kodak. Walter said he would let her know. A few months later, Kane again asked Walter about a job for her husband. Walter said that for $500 he could get Kane's husband a job, and he instructed her to complete an application but to leave the date blank. Kane gave Walter her husband's application, but said she would not pay until he had been hired. Kane's husband was soon offered a job at Kodak but declined it. In January 1982, Kane again approached Walter about a job for her husband; Walter told her, "This time ... I need the money first." Kane gave Walter a $500 check, which was deposited in his checking account. Kane's husband was soon hired at Kodak.

In the meantime, Kane had told Antonina ("Annie") LaDelfa, a janitor at Rochester Products, about the availability of Kodak jobs through Walter. Annie, who was supporting six daughters and a grandson, was anxious to get good jobs for her daughters Rita LaDelfa, who was in a low paying job, and Vivian Pfund, who was unemployed, divorced, and supporting a young son. Although Rita had submitted applications at Kodak since 1977 and updated them, she had never been called for an interview. Pfund had worked at Kodak several years before, been laid off, and not been called back, even though she had tried several times to reapply. Annie had tried to get her daughters jobs through her brother-in-law, who worked at Kodak, but had been told that none were available. After discussing the $500 price with her daughters, Annie borrowed the money from her credit union, gave Kane Rita's application and a $500 check, and later gave Walter Pfund's application and a $500 check. Both checks were deposited in Walter's checking account, and in January 1982, Rita and Pfund were hired at Elmgrove.

In the same month, Peter Riccardi, an assembly worker at Rochester Products, spoke with Walter about his financial concerns. Riccardi had two children, and his wife was unemployed; his wife had applied to Kodak many times but had never been interviewed, even when Kodak was hiring large numbers of people. Walter responded that he could help Riccardi's wife get a job at Kodak, "but it might cost you something," stating a price of $500. Riccardi paid Walter $500 and his wife was hired at Elmgrove a week later.

Another Rochester Products employee, Paul Kelso, who was married and had two children, wanted to separate from his wife, but financial difficulties prevented this. Kelso's wife had applied for work at Kodak and had talked to her brother, who worked there, about getting a job, but she had never been called for an interview. Walter told Kelso that he could help Kelso's wife get a job at Kodak if Walter were paid $500. When Kelso questioned the payment, Walter replied "You want her to get a job, don't you." Kelso responded affirmatively and paid. Baron soon hired Kelso's wife.

Another Rochester Products employee, Robert Drelick, had five children; his wife, laid off from her job two years before, had unsuccessfully sought work at Kodak. In February 1982, Walter approached Drelick, asking if Drelick's wife was looking for a job at Kodak and said he could help but "[i]t's going to cost you a little," naming a price of $600. After discussing it with his wife, Drelick paid Walter the money. Drelick's wife was soon hired at Kodak.

2. Jobs Sold by Ted

In March 1982, Joseph Scavo gave Ted's daughter two $500...

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