United States v. Wilson
| Decision Date | 22 February 2013 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 11–5057–cr. |
| Citation | 709 F.3d 84 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Isabel WILSON, Defendant–Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Theodore S. Green, Green & Willstatter, White Plains, NY, for Defendant–Appellant Isabel Wilson.
Douglas B. Bloom, Assistant United States Attorney (Jennifer G. Rodgers, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief), for Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY.
Before: HALL, LYNCH, and CARNEY, Circuit Judges.
Defendant–Appellant Isabel Wilson was convicted by a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Vincent L. Briccetti, Judge ) on charges stemming from an identity theft scheme. On appeal, Wilson raises a number of arguments, most of which we reject in a separate summary order filed along with this opinion. This opinion deals with Wilson's conviction under 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(A), which criminalizes the use of social security numbers assigned on the basis of false information. We find that the government failed to prove an element of the offense, namely, that the social security number was assigned on the basis of false information. We therefore AFFIRM Wilson's conviction on all charges except Count Five, REVERSE her conviction on that count, VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND the case for resentencing.
Because Wilson appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after a jury trial, the following facts are drawn from the trial evidence and described in the light most favorable to the government. United States v. Bahel, 662 F.3d 610, 617 (2d Cir.2011).
In 1972, Isabel Wilson, who was then known by her maiden name Isabel Beatrice Freeman, applied for a social security number (“SSN”). The application listed her date of birth as June 8, 1952 and her place of birth as Careysburg, Liberia. The government does not contend that any of the information provided on that application was false. Based on that application, the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) assigned Wilson an SSN ending in XXXX.
In 1979, Wilson asked the SSA to change its record for the number ending in XXXX to reflect her marital name, Isabel Wilson. On that occasion, Wilson stated that she was born in Monrovia, Liberia, a city approximately 28 miles from Careysburg. The application also identified Wilson's mother as Nancy Wordsworth, whereas the previous application had identified her mother as Eugenia Stevenson Wardsworth. Despite these minor discrepancies, the government does not contend that any information on the name-change application was false. Although the SSA's records were changed to reflect the information provided on that application, Wilson continued to be assigned the same SSN ending in XXXX.
In 1990, Wilson applied for a duplicate Social Security card. Although her application still listed her date of birth as June 8, 1952, it stated that Wilson was born in North Carolina, the daughter of Elizabeth Kennedy and David Freeman. Social Security records were again updated to reflect these changes, but Wilson continued to be assigned the same SSN ending in XXXX that she had first been assigned in 1972.
On December 7, 2009, a criminal complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, charging Wilson with one count of access device fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(5), and one count of aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Secret Service agents arrested Wilson the next day at her home. Following her arrest, a Deputy United States Marshal interviewed Wilson to collect her pedigree information. When asked for her SSN, Wilson accurately provided the marshal her assigned SSN ending in XXXX.
The government eventually obtained a superseding indictment, adding seven new counts to the two charges included in the original criminal complaint. Count Five of that indictment charged that Wilson provided to the United States Marshal Service, “which was collecting her pedigree information, a Social Security number that she received as a result of an application for a Social Security number in which she had falsely stated that she was born in the United States.” The government contends that Wilson's conduct fell within the ambit of 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(A). We disagree.
Section 408(a)(7)(A) makes it an offense “willfully, knowingly, and with intent to deceive, [to] use[ ] a social security account number, assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security (in the exercise of the Commissioner's authority under section 405(c)(2) of this title to establish and maintain records) on the basis of false information furnished to the Commissioner of Social Security.”
We review de novo questions of statutory interpretation. United States v. Al Kassar, 660 F.3d 108, 124 (2d Cir.2011). To interpret a criminal statute, we first look to its text, United States v. Reich, 479 F.3d 179, 187 (2d Cir.2007), and identify the essential elements of the offense, see, e.g., Canada v. Gonzales, 448 F.3d...
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