Mail and Wire frauds fall under 18 U.S.C § 1341 and § 1343 of federal criminal offences in the United States. “Wire Fraud” is a vast term which refers to the misuse of any electronic communication between two or more states in an attempt to defraud the property of another. In other words, it is any form of financial fraud with the use of information technology or telecommunications. It could be a telemarketing fraud (use of telephone), radio or television signals, or phishing (use of email).
Some examples of wire fraud could include intentionally using telemarketing to sell a misrepresented product, gaining personal information through false pretenses with the motive of stealing money. It also includes several other federal crimes like racketeering, kickbacks, money laundering, and bribery.
What Is Mail and Wire Fraud?
Even though this list isn’t all inclusive, some other categories of fraud include health care fraud, securities fraud, and bank fraud. Federal mail fraud involves any mail sent either via public interstate postal services like USPS or private interstate postal service like FedEx, UPS, etc. The fraud qualifies as “Interstate” if the wire or mail has arrived from a different state than the state received.
To convict or accuse an individual of wire fraud, actual transactions need not be completed. The only requirements to prove the crime are evidence that you:
- Had an intention to defraud;
- Undertook a plan to defraud; and
- Attempted fraud using electronic communications.
Federal Criminal Appeals Lawyers Defending Convictions under Wire and Mail Fraud
If under U.S.C. § 1341 or § 1343, you are accused or convicted of mail or wire fraud then it is important for you to discuss your options of appeal with an experienced criminal lawyer as soon as possible. The fines or punishments for the offence of mail or wire fraud could be extremely severe or even improperly imposed. Your appeal can be handled efficiently at every step by the knowledgeable and experienced federal criminal lawyers at our firm. Return to our main federal crime appeals page.
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines under 2B1.1
Mail and Wire fraud offences can be severely punishable and can have penalties like probation, heavy fines and jail time. In usual cases, a convict can face upto 20 years of jail sentence along with fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This sentence can also increase based on other factors like the criminal history of the defendant and the severity of the wire or mail fraud offence. Under 2B1.1(b)(1), if the financial loss crosses $5000, the loss increment increases as the offence level increases. Similarly, if the number of victims involved increases, the level of offence rises as well. It is ordinary for any judge to increase the penalties imposed on the convicts.
Our federal criminal lawyers have vast knowledge on the sentencing guidelines and can point out and rectify if the sentence was inappropriately imposed. You might be able to appeal if you feel that the sentencing by the judge is unjust in proportion to the offence under mail and wire fraud.
Causes of Penalty Enhancements:
§ 2B1.1(b)(1): Amount of Financial Loss
Section 2B1.1(b)(1) of the Federal Guidelines Manual lists down the proportionate offence levels for the financial losses in wire or mail fraud offences. The offence level rises by 2 if the loss exceeds $5000; the offence level rises by 4 if the loss crosses $10,000; the offence level rises by 6 if the loss exceeds $30,000 and so on. The increments continue to increase until it reaches $400,000 which would require the offence level to rise by 30.
§ 2B1.1(b)(2): Number of Victims
The number of victims affected by the offence is also a significant factor that could lead to an enhanced penalty. If the mail or wire fraud crime has 10 or more victims the rise in the offence level begins. There is an increase of 2 levels in the sentence imposed if the victims involved are 10 or more than 10. An offence involving more than 50 victims increases the sentence of the offence by 4 levels and an offence including more than 250 victims has the sentence increased by 6 levels.
Financial Institution Defraud
When the accused is convicted of defrauding a financial institution using wire or mail communication, he/she can be sentenced to upto 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000. A financial institution can be defined as any establishment that performs financial transactions like deposits, loans and investments. The offence level automatically increases by 4 levels if you defrauded any financial institution.
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