Sufficiency of Evidence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Jessica Arong O’Brien

Case No.: 19-1004

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and FLAUM and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence

A jury found Jessica A. O’Brien guilty of both bank fraud and mail fraud affecting a financial institution based on her participation in a 2004-to-2007 mortgage fraud scheme. She appeals her convictions, arguing that the charges against her were duplicitous and that under a properly pled indictment the statute of limitations would have barred three of the four alleged offenses. She also argues that the district court should not have admitted evidence offered to prove those time-barred offenses and that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s guilty verdict.

We affirm. The government appropriately acted within its discretion to allege an overarching scheme to commit both bank fraud and mail fraud affecting a financial institution. Each count included an execution of the fraudulent scheme within the applicable ten-year statute of limitations, and the jury’s guilty verdict rested upon properly admitted and sufficient evidence of the charged offenses.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.