Coiro was a criminal defense attorney whose clients included Angelo Ruggiero, Gene Gotti and John Carneglia, partners in a large narcotics enterprise.
The evidence at Coiro's trial, based in part on conversations recorded by the FBI with electronic surveillance, revealed Coiro's involvement in the narcotics organization at least as early as February, 1982. Coiro, who had last represented a member of the enterprise in 1975, now helped them by bribing and facilitating the bribing of law enforcement and other officials to obtain confidential information, by assisting the concealment and laundering of narcotics proceeds, and by otherwise using his position as an attorney to assist other members of the enterprise in avoiding criminal prosecution.
Coiro assisted the enterprise after the death of one of its members, Salvatore Ruggiero, Angelo Ruggiero's brother. After his death, the FBI and the grand jury began to inquire into his previous activities, into possible harboring by others, and into the location of assets he had amassed from the narcotics business. During this period, Coiro helped to create false stories to be fed to the authorities, conceal evidence, and influence the testimony of prospective witnesses, in order to obstruct the pending law enforcement and grand jury investigations. Further, Coiro was involved in the organization's hiring of an individual, named Jack Conroy, to detect electronic surveillance and bribe telephone company employees for information on wiretaps.
The various obstruction of justice charges on which Coiro was convicted were based on his conduct in the aftermath of Salvatore Ruggiero's death. The two counts of obstructing a criminal investigation were based upon the fabricated story meant for the FBI that Coiro helped create. Coiro was convicted on two counts of endeavoring to obstruct the grand jury investigating the harboring of Salvatore Ruggiero. Those charges stemmed from Coiro's counseling others to conceal and destroy evidence, to liquidate property derived from Salvatore's fugitive drug trafficking, counseling others to influence the testimony of prospective witnesses, helping to launder Angelo Ruggiero's narcotics proceeds, counseling Angelo Ruggiero to testify falsely, and finally, offering himself to testify falsely.
United States of AmericaFollowing a jury trial before then-District Judge Joseph M. McLaughlin in the Eastern District of New York, appellant Michael Coiro, an attorney and the sole defendant at trial, was convicted of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d); conspiring to obstruct justice and to obstruct a criminal investigation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; two counts of obstructing a criminal investigation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1510(a); and two counts of obstructing a grand jury investigation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503. Coiro was sentenced to a 15-year term of imprisonment and a $25,000 fine on the RICO count, and to concurrent terms of five years on each of the remaining counts.
Coiro was sentenced to a 15-year term of imprisonment and a $25,000 fine on the RICO count, and to concurrent terms of five years on each of the remaining counts.
On appeal, Coiro contends that his obstruction convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1510(a) should be reversed because his conduct was not cognizable under that statute, and that one of those counts should be vacated as multiplicitous. Coiro also argues that the district court erred in admitting evidence of the drug-trafficking arrest of two members of the Ruggiero organization, and of Coiro's bribing an employee of the Nassau County District Attorney's office. He further alleges that one of the counts of obstructing a grand jury investigation was not supported by sufficient evidence. Coiro also challenges the constitutionality of the RICO pattern requirement, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), and claims that the government failed to establish such a pattern of racketeering activity in this case.
Coiro's arguments were examined and found to be without merit. The convictions were affirmed with the exception of Counts Seven and Eight. As to those, the case was remanded to the district court with instructions to dismiss either Count Seven or Eight. While normally such instructions would include instructions to resentence on the remaining counts, this was not done because Counts Seven and Eight were concurrent and no fine was imposed on either count.
Judgment was affirmed in part; remanded in part with instructions to vacate.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States of America, Appellee, v. Michael Coiro, Defendant-appellant, 922 F.2d 1008 (2d Cir. 1991) - http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/922/1008/449412/
