Petitioner John L. Yates, a commercial fisherman, was operating in the Gulf of Mexico when a federal agent conducted an offshore inspection and found that the ship's catch had undersized red grouper, in violation of United States federal conservation regulations. The federal agent instructed Captain Yates to keep the undersized fish segregated; Yates instructed his crew to throw the undersized fish overboard, resulting in Yates being charged under 18 United States Code §1519. This provision, originating from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, states that a person may be fined or imprisoned for up to 20 years if the person "knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence" a federal investigation.
At trial, Yates sought an acquittal for the §1519 charge arguing that fish were not tangible objects related to record-keeping. The District Court denied the acquittal motion. Yates was found guilty by a jury of violating §1519 and sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction, holding that fish have a physical form and are therefore a tangible object under a dictionary definition.
A fisheries officer noticed that the defendant (Yates) had scores of undersized red grouper on board. This was a violation of federal conservation regulations, which prohibited fishermen from retaining grouper under a certain length. Yates later instructed one of his crew to throw the undersized fish overboard in an attempt to conceal the fishing violation. Based on Yates decision to throw the fish overboard, the prosecutor charged Yates with violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519 and § 2232(a). A jury convicted Yates on both counts. Yates appealed his conviction under section 1519. The key question for the Supreme Court was whether a fish could be considered a tangible object for purposes of section 1519, the provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act making it illegal to destroy or conceal various types of evidence with the intent to obstruct justice. The Supreme Court determined that tangible object under section 1519 means an object used to record or preserve information (e.g., a computer hard drive). Accordingly, the Court held that tangible object could not apply to the fish that Yates instructed his crew member to throw overboard.
U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Petitioner John L. Yates, a commercial fisherman, was operating in the Gulf of Mexico when a federal agent conducted an offshore inspection and found that the ship's catch had undersized red grouper, in violation of United States federal conservation regulations. The federal agent instructed Captain Yates to keep the undersized fish segregated; Yates instructed his crew to throw the undersized fish overboard, resulting in Yates being charged under 18 United States Code §1519. This provision, originating from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, states that a person may be fined or imprisoned for up to 20 years if the person "knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence" a federal investigation.
At trial, Yates sought an acquittal for the §1519 charge arguing that fish were not tangible objects related to record-keeping. The District Court denied the acquittal motion. Yates was found guilty by a jury of violating §1519 and sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction, holding that fish have a physical form and are therefore a tangible object under a dictionary definition
The District Court held that fish were tangible objects related to record-keeping.
2nd instance: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction, holding that fish have a physical form and are therefore a tangible object under a dictionary definition.
3rd instance: The Supreme Court held that "within §1519's compass," a tangible object is "one used to record or preserve information."1 Among other things, the plurality relied upon traditional canons of statutory construction including the canons noscitur a sociis ("a word is known by the company it keeps") and ejusdem generis ("general words following a list of specific words should usually be read in light of those specific words"), as well as the section's enactment as part of a statute dealing with financial fraud and its location within title 18.
18 United States Code §151918
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Destroying, concealing, and covering up undersized fish to impede a federal investigation, in violation of 18 U. S. C. §1519.
Supreme Court of United States
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