United States v. Thomas

United States v. Thomas

Opinion

 [*234]  JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Wade Thomas appeals from his conviction of inducement of travel in interstate commerce for a fraudulent purpose, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314. Thomas argues that there is insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction, that the district court erred in instructing the jury and in restricting the cross-examination of the victim, and that the prosecutor made improper statements in her summation. We affirm.

In 1996, Dannie Holmes was the pastor of the Greater Hope Baptist Church, located in a low-income area of Memphis, Tennessee. Wishing to make improvements to the church, Pastor Holmes began preparations to build a family life center. The plans called for a gym, a fellowship hall, office space, classrooms, a kitchen, and day-care facilities. The estimated cost of the project was at least $ 1.3 million. Because the church only had about $ 20,000 in its account at that time, it needed outside financing to fund the project.

Pastor Holmes had no training in finance, so for several years he had employed Robert Mukes, president of Mukes Management Company, to assist him in making the church's financial [**3]  decisions and to provide financial services for the church. Mukes had incorporated the church as a tax-exempt organization and had assisted in purchasing and renovating a house for a needy congregant. Mukes reconciled the church's books every month and the church paid him a regular monthly salary.

Pastor Holmes hired Mukes to secure the outside financing needed to fund the family life center project. If Mukes was successful, he would be paid 4% of the loan amount, in addition to his usual salary. Mukes prepared a business loan package to present to local banks, in which he proposed to restructure the church's current mortgage and borrow funds to build the family life center. Because the church's cash assets were less than the amount the banks required to secure the requested loan amount, Mukes was unable to obtain loans large enough to cover the estimated cost of the project from Memphis banks.

Continuing to seek financing on behalf of the church, Mukes's inquiries eventually led him to Wade Thomas, a self-described financial consultant in New York City. Thomas told Mukes that he could secure financing for the church through a no-risk, high-yield investment program. Because Mukes [**4]  was not familiar with the type of program and did not fully understand it, he asked Thomas to come to Memphis to  [*235]  explain the program in further detail. Thomas replied that he could not leave New York and suggested instead that Mukes come to New York to meet with him. Mukes agreed.

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