United States v. Kupfer (Joseph)

BACHARACH, Circuit Judge.

According to the government, Mr. Joseph Kupfer and his wife conspired to enable Dr. Armando Gutierrez (a media consultant) to increase his compensation under a State contract without any additional work. In exchange for the increase, Dr. Gutierrez allegedly gave kickbacks to Mr. Kupfer through Mr. Kupfer’s consulting company. The government alleged that Dr. Gutierrez had disguised the kickbacks as payments for Mr. Kupfer’s work on a separate media campaign involving voter awareness.

The government successfully prosecuted Mr. Kupfer in two trials. In the first, the jury…