## Facts

- A federal grand jury indicted José Franco-Santiago and others for conspiring to rob businesses affecting interstate commerce in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).
- The charged conspiracy period ran from July 2002 through September 2002 and listed five robberies as overt acts, including a private security firm payroll robbery on August 7, 2002, and a restaurant robbery on September 25, 2002.
- At trial, the government presented evidence sufficient to show Franco-Santiago participated in the August 7, 2002 payroll robbery by lending his personal firearm and driving a getaway car, for which he received $7,500.
- The government did not present evidence that Franco-Santiago planned, joined, or agreed to any of the other robberies alleged as part of the charged multi-robbery conspiracy.
- Franco-Santiago was convicted by a jury of being a member of the charged ongoing conspiracy.
- He appealed, arguing the evidence did not prove he joined the broader conspiracy and that any single-robbery conspiracy proved was time-barred.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove Franco-Santiago knowingly joined the charged multi-robbery Hobbs Act conspiracy extending through September 2002, rather than only a discrete agreement limited to the August 7, 2002 robbery.
2. If the evidence proved only a conspiracy limited to the August 7, 2002 robbery, whether the prosecution was barred by the five-year statute of limitations for non-capital federal offenses, 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a), given the August 22, 2007 indictment date.

## Decision

- The First Circuit reversed the conviction and remanded for entry of a judgment of acquittal.
- The court held the evidence was insufficient to establish that Franco-Santiago joined the charged broader conspiracy encompassing multiple robberies through September 25, 2002.
- The court concluded the proof showed, at most, participation in a single-robbery conspiracy culminating in the August 7, 2002 payroll robbery.
- Because the indictment was returned more than five years after August 7, 2002, the single-robbery conspiracy prosecution was time-barred under 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a).

## Legal Principles

- Conspiracy liability depends on the specific agreement the defendant knowingly joined; participation in one criminal episode does not, by itself, prove membership in a broader multi-act conspiracy.
- To prove a defendant joined a broader conspiracy, the government must present evidence that the defendant knew of and agreed to the broader scheme’s common objective, not merely the objective of a single act.
- For non-capital federal offenses, 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a) requires indictment within five years; if the evidence establishes only a conspiracy that ended more than five years before indictment, the charge is untimely.
- When a conviction fails for evidentiary insufficiency and the only conspiracy supported by the record is time-barred, the proper remedy is reversal with instructions to enter a judgment of acquittal.

## Conclusion

The First Circuit held that proof connecting Franco-Santiago only to the August 7, 2002 payroll robbery did not establish his membership in the charged multi-robbery conspiracy, and because the indictment came more than five years after that robbery, the case was time-barred, requiring acquittal.


United States v. Franco-Santiago, 681 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2012)