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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Mail Fraud |
Sentence: |
10 yrs 1 month |
Years Imprisoned: |
3 |
Year Crime: |
1995 |
Year Convicted: |
1997 |
Year Cleared: |
2000 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Louisiana - Federal Case |
County or Region of Crime: |
Orleans |
City of Crime: |
New Orleans |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Fred H. Goodson and Carl W. Cleveland were codefendants wrongly convicted on June 27, 1997 in U.S. District Court in New Orleans of two counts of mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341, and money laundering, racketeering, and conspiracy counts predicated on the mail fraud. Cleveland's prosecution was based on the theory that he and a partner fraudulently concealed they were the true owners of TSG in a video license application and three renewal applications mailed to the State. Before trial, the judge denied Cleveland's motion to dismiss the mail fraud counts on the ground the alleged fraud did not deprive the State of "property" as required by § 1341. After his conviction by a jury following a six week trial and eight days of deliberations, Cleveland was sentenced on October 15, 1997 to 121 months in federal prison. Cleveland appealed, but the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions in 1999. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve the conflict among the Courts of Appeals regarding what constituted "property" under the mail fraud statute. On November 7, 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the convictions of Cleveland and Goodson (and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Ct. of Appeals affirmation) on the basis the mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. "§ 1341 requires the object of the fraud to be "property" in the victim's hands and that a Louisiana video poker license in the State's hands is not "property" under § 1341."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On November 7, 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed Cleveland and Goodson's conviction (and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Ct. of Appeals affirmation) on the basis the mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. "§ 1341 requires the object of the fraud to be "property" in the victim's hands and that a Louisiana video poker license in the State's hands is not "property" under § 1341."" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Cleveland v. United States, 531 US 12 (2000) (Reversing conviction)" |
Information Location 1: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16956123768073754537&q=Carl+Cleveland&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 2: |
"US v. Bankston, 182 F. 3d 296 (5th Cir. 1999) (Affirming convictions of Cleveland and Goodson)" |
Information Location 2: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10150060826475378934&q=Carl+Cleveland&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org