United States v. Arthur Sommer

PIERCE, Circuit Judge:

Appellant, Arthur Sommer, and his wife Winona, who does not appeal, were convicted of two counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Mishler, Judge, after a jury trial. The facts underlying these convictions are briefly summarized.

I

In 1983, the Sommers formed an organization called the National List Protection Agency (“NLPA”). Count One of the indictment 1 charges them with devising a scheme whereby they solicited people to submit either $25 or $28 to become “mailing list protection…