United States v. Rittweger

SOTOMAYOR, Circuit Judge:

This appeal addresses whether the join-der of defendants under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(b) (“Rule 8(b)”) is proper when the overwhelming evidence presented at trial concerned proof of a conspiracy that involved some, but not all, of the named defendants. Because the indictment alleged the existence of two conspiracies that shared a common plan or scheme and a substantial identity of facts or participants, we hold that joinder was permissible under Rule 8(b). We further hold that, in light of the relatively straightforward nature of the evidence at issue…