## Facts

- John B. Green served as quality assurance director for Con-Chem, Inc., a manufacturer seeking to supply protective coatings for a safety-critical “Level I” area of a nuclear power plant project.
- Level I coatings were subject to stringent safety-related testing requirements tied to federal nuclear regulation.
- Under Green’s supervision, tests indicated the coatings performed poorly and were not suitable for Level I use.
- Green altered a test report to make it appear the coatings passed required tests and provided the falsified report to the prime contractor.
- Green later sent photographs purporting to show tested samples, but the images depicted untested new samples.
- A Con-Chem employee reported the falsifications to the FBI.
- Green was indicted for mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341) and making a false statement (18 U.S.C. § 1001); after dismissals and a partial mistrial, a jury convicted him on one mail-fraud count and the § 1001 count.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support Green’s convictions for mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341 and for making a false statement under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
2. Whether the jury instructions were erroneous, including whether § 1001 required proof that Green knew his statement was made in a matter within federal jurisdiction.
3. Whether the instructions adequately required proof of specific intent to defraud for mail fraud and “knowing and willful” conduct for § 1001.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed the convictions.
- The court held the evidence permitted a rational jury to find a scheme to defraud and specific intent based on Green’s deliberate falsification of test data and supporting documentation.
- The court held the false statement concerned a matter within federal jurisdiction because it related to federally regulated nuclear-safety functions.
- The court held § 1001 does not require proof that the defendant knew of the federal jurisdictional connection.
- The court found the instructions, viewed as a whole, correctly stated the required mental states and did not permit conviction based on negligence or mistake.

## Legal Principles

- Mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341) requires proof of a scheme to defraud, specific intent to defraud, and use of the mails in furtherance of the scheme; intent may be proven by circumstantial evidence and inferred from conduct.
- Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, the government must prove a materially false statement made knowingly and willfully in a matter within the jurisdiction of a federal agency.
- The “within federal jurisdiction” element of § 1001 is interpreted broadly and can be satisfied where false information is capable of affecting a federal agency’s authorized functions, including within a federally regulated program involving private entities.
- Section 1001 does not require the government to prove that the defendant knew the statement’s federal jurisdictional nexus.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit upheld Green’s mail-fraud and false-statement convictions because the jury could infer fraudulent intent from his deliberate falsification of safety-related testing materials, and because § 1001 applied to materially false statements affecting federally regulated nuclear-safety functions without requiring proof that Green knew of the federal jurisdictional connection.


United States v. Green, 745 F.2d 1205 (9th Cir. 1984)