United States v. Santoni Book Reviews

United States v. Santoni by Fourth Circuit United States Court Of Appeals Book Summary

George Santoni and John Jakubik appeal from their convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Hobbs Act),1 following a joint jury trial. The appellants were joined under Rule 8(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and charged in a multicount indictment. Santoni was charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (extortion) and § 2 (aiding and abetting) in Counts One through Four and with violating 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1) (tax evasion) in Count Five; he was convicted on Counts One through Four and acquitted on Count Five. Jakubik was charged with violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 and 2 in Counts Two and Three; he was convicted on Count Two and acquitted on Count Three. Both Santoni and Jakubik appeal, contending that there was an insufficient nexus with interstate commerce to support a conviction under the Hobbs Act. In addition, Jakubik argues that (1) ""property"" was not extorted within the meaning of the Hobbs Act, (2) it was reversible error for the trial court to deny his pre-trial motion for severance based on improper joinder under Rule 8(b), and (3) it was reversible error for the trial court to deny his Rule 14 motion for severance when only one day before the end of their joint trial Santoni stated that he would not take the witness stand. This case centers around the federal government's attempt to uncover in the city of Baltimore a practice under which contractors were required to kick back a percentage of their contract fees to various officials in exchange for assurances of future contracts and the evasion of inspections during the performance of their contracts. As a part of this investigation, Municipal Chemical Corp. was organized in February, 1975, with the financial support of the F.B.I., for the specific purpose of obtaining evidence relative to political kickbacks and extortion incident to local government contracts in Baltimore. Although the realization of profit was not a primary goal of Municipal Chemical, the corporation was designed to acquire and perform contracts in the field of chemical cleaning and building demolition while pursuing its undercover activity. Salvatore Spinnato was hired to work in cooperation with the F.B.I. as a paid consultant to Municipal Chemical, and was the only person in the corporation familiar with chemical cleaning. F.B.I. agents Dudley Hodgson and Ronald Miller acted as officers of Municipal Chemical. During the period covered by the indictment, appellant Santoni was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and had been assisted in his election effort by appellant Jakubik who was a building maintenance foreman for the city of Baltimore.

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