Kenneth R. Spirito v. United States
SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Whether the Fourth Circuit erred in holding that prosecutions for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(A) under a theory of intentional misapplication do not require the defendant to 'obtain' the property or 'deprive' the owner of the property
QUESTION PRESENTED This Court made plain in Kelly v. United States that Congress intended the federal program fraud laws to apply only to a narrow field of official misconduct, specifically “fraudulent schemes for obtaining property.” 140 S. Ct. 1565, 1568 (2020). In a case with no evidence of personal gain, no evidence of action outside of exercising regulatory authority, no evidence funds were used in any way other than pursuant to the vote of a public authority, and no evidence funds were used for an illegitimate purpose, the Fourth Circuit created an exception to Kelly’s rule. The Fourth Circuit held in a published opinion that prosecutions for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(A) under a theory of intentional misapplication “do[] not require the defendant to ‘obtain’ the property or ‘deprive’ the owner of the property.” Petitioner’s