USA. v. Blassingame
| Decision Date | 23 November 1999 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 98-3358,s. 98-3358 |
| Citation | 197 F.3d 271 |
| Parties | (7th Cir. 1999) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JAMES W. BLASSINGAME and THOMAS S. FULLER, Defendants-Appellants. & 98-3603 |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 97 CR 428--Elaine E. Bucklo, Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before POSNER, Chief Judge, COFFEY and KANNE, Circuit Judges.
Co-Defendant Thomas S. Fuller ("Fuller") pled guilty to two counts of fraud and filing false statements in violation of 26 U.S.C. sec. 7206, and was convicted of one count of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1962(d), four counts of interference with commerce by threats or violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 951, two counts of theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 666(a) (1)(B), and three counts of frauds and swindles in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec.sec. 2, 1341. In the same trial, co-Defendant James W. Blassingame ("Blassingame") was convicted of one count of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1962(d), eight counts of extortion under color of official right in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1951, three counts of bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 666(a)(1)(B), and three counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 1341.
Prior to trial, the district court asked Fuller to proffer evidence in support of his entrapment defense. When he declined to submit a proffer, the trial judge ruled that Fuller's entrapment defense would be excluded from the trial until and unless he made a sufficient showing of entrapment. At the conclusion of the trial, the court declined to issue an entrapment instruction to the jury. The court also denied Fuller's motion for acquittal based on entrapment, motion for acquittal based on insufficient evidence and motion to suppress the testimony of the government informant. Fuller now appeals these decisions. Blassingame appeals the trial judge's denial of his motion for severance. We AFFIRM.
Using information provided by confidential informant John Christopher, a.k.a John DiVito ("Christopher"), in July 1992, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("F.B.I.") initiated "Operation Silver Shovel." Christopher provided the F.B.I. with information regarding corrupt public officials and, in particular, Defendant Blassingame. Christopher described Blassingame as the "classic bagman" who collected and distributed bribes to public officials. The investigation of Blassingame led to the F.B.I.'s investigation of Defendant Fuller.
Beginning in 1978, Fuller was elected to three six-year terms on the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago ("Water Reclamation District"). In January 1993, Fuller became the top-ranking official at the Water Reclamation District as president of the board of commissioners. As president, Fuller held substantial authority over the Water Reclamation District, which owned land suitable for trash recycling and frequently contracted out construction and excavation work. During that time, Christopher employed Blassingame as a political consultant and lobbyist. From June 1992 through August 1994, Fuller, Blassingame and James Gardner ("Gardner"), a Water Reclamation District commissioner who died prior to the filing of the indictment, engaged in three incidents where Fuller and Gardner accepted cash bribes in exchange for acts in their respective official capacities with the Water Reclamation District. Fuller and Gardner received these bribes from Christopher and undercover F.B.I. Special Agent Mark Sofia ("Agent Sofia").
On June 30, 1992, the Water Reclamation District informed the joint venture of Wil- Freds/Racine ("Wil-Freds") that, as the low bidder, it was awarded the construction contract for work at the Skokie and Hanover Park, Illinois sewage treatment plants ("Skokie Project"). As a consultant for Christopher's excavation and hauling company, Marlboro, Inc. ("Marlboro"), in late June or early July 1992, Blassingame informed Christopher of the Skokie Project and offered to arrange for Marlboro to receive the project's excavation subcontract. Blassingame also informed Christopher that the subcontract could be worth about $800,000, at which time Christopher indicated that he was willing to pay up to two percent of the subcontract price, or $16,000, to procure the subcontract.
In mid-July 1992, Blassingame and Christopher met with Gardner at Gardner's office. During the meeting, Gardner confirmed that he would help Marlboro procure the subcontract and phoned the president of Wil-Freds, Bill Luxion ("Luxion"), to arrange a meeting for July 28, 1992. On July 23, 1992, Blassingame and Christopher met at Mother's Day Restaurant in Berwyn, Illinois. Blassingame stated that Fuller had become aware of the Wil-Freds subcontract deal and should receive $2,000 while Gardner should receive $14,000.
As scheduled, on July 28, 1992, Gardner met with Luxion, Blassingame and Christopher in his office. Gardner asked Luxion to award the excavation subcontract on the Skokie Project to Marlboro. Luxion responded that he would consider Marlboro for the subcontract, but indicated that Marlboro had to submit a bid to Wil-Freds. On August 4, 1992, Wil-Freds awarded the subcontract to Marlboro as the low bidder for $635,000. Because the sub-contract was awarded for $165,000 less than what was expected, Christopher told Blassingame that he was willing to pay only $14,000 to Fuller and Gardner.
On September 10, 1992, a majority of the full board of the Water Reclamation District voted to approve Wil-Freds as the contractor for the Skokie Project. Fuller voted in favor of awarding the contract to Wil-Freds while Gardner abstained, citing without further explanation, a "potential conflict." On October 3, 1992, Marlboro received a proposed excavation subcontract, which it signed and returned. Around the same time, Blassingame gave Christopher new instructions on how to allocate the bribe money: $4,000 to Fuller and $10,000 to Gardner.
Three weeks later, on October 24, 1992, Christopher paid $2,000 cash to Gardner. For work done for Marlboro, Christopher also handed $1,000 cash to Gardner to pass on to Blassingame who was out of town. Gardner and Christopher also agreed on dividing the total bribe at $4,000 for Fuller and $10,000 for Gardner.
Christopher telephoned Fuller on December 15 and 16, 1992, to arrange a meeting for payment of the bribe. On December 16, 1992, Christopher picked Fuller up in the garage of the Water Reclamation District and then drove to Jaxx's Restaurant. There, Christopher gave Fuller a closed cigarette pack containing 40 $100 bills, totaling $4,000.
Six days later on December 22, 1992, Christopher met Blassingame and Gardner at Peapod's Restaurant and gave Blassingame $2,000 which he in turn gave to Gardner. On February 25, 1993, Christopher twice spoke to Blassingame to arrange another meeting for payment of the bribe. At Blassingame's suggestion, later that day, Christopher paid Gardner $2,000 and Blassingame $2,000.
On May 3, 1993, Christopher made the last bribe payment in relation to the Skokie Project subcontract. Christopher met Blassingame and Gardner at Mother's Day Restaurant to pay the last $4,000 installment. Because of a mistake in counting the money, Christopher only brought 39 $100 bills. Nonetheless, Christopher paid Blassingame $3,900 which in turn was passed on to Gardner.
On February 11, 1994, Blassingame, Gardner, Christopher and Agent Sofia met at Edna's Restaurant in Chicago. Christopher introduced Agent Sofia as one of his business executives. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss one of Christopher's companies, Teka Construction ("Teka"), and its application for Minority Business Enterprise ("MBE") status with the Water Reclamation District. As a MBE company, Teka would be placed on a special list of suppliers hired by the Water Reclamation District. During the meeting, Gardner agreed to assist Teka. Simultaneously, Blassingame expressed concern about Gardner's re-election campaign and asserted that the campaign could use a contribution of $10,000, which Christopher and Agent Sofia agreed to pay.
Six days later on February 17, 1994, Blassingame, Gardner, Christopher and Agent Sofia again met when Agent Sofia gave Blassingame $10,000, which in turn was passed on to Gardner. The next day, Agent Sofia met Blassingame and Gardner in Gardner's office. There, Gardner gave Agent Sofia a blank MBE application and said, "Now when you fill these forms out, if you get them back to us . . . I'll personally walk them over." On March 2, 1994, Agent Sofia delivered a completed MBE application to Gardner. Six days later on March 8, 1994, Blassingame informed Agent Sofia that Gardner was "pushing that stuff through yesterday." The Water Reclamation District approved Teka's MBE application in March 1994.
In April 1994, Christopher and Agent Sofia informed Blassingame that they wanted to use a parcel of the Water Reclamation District's land as a site for rock crushing and recycling. They told Blassingame that they planned to truck concrete, asphalt and other construction debris to the site and set up a "rock crusher" machine. By practice, private companies could rent Water Reclamation District land. The Water Reclamation District's real estate division of the law department reviews each permit request, coordinates its technical review, communicates the conditions of the proposed permit with the applicant and makes a recommendation to the general superintendent. Should the general superintendent concur with the real estate division's recommendations, the permit request is...
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