## Facts

- Kenneth Schneider, a U.S. citizen and lawyer living and working in Moscow, sponsored Roman Zavarov, a Russian ballet student, beginning in 1998 when Zavarov was 12.
- Schneider arranged for Zavarov’s continued ballet training, eventually housed him in Schneider’s Moscow apartment, and the relationship became an exclusive, long-term living arrangement.
- Trial evidence credited by the jury indicated Schneider began regular sexual activity with Zavarov when Zavarov was about 14 and that the abuse continued through at least the year before August 2001.
- On August 22, 2001, Schneider and Zavarov (then 15) flew together from the United States to Russia; by that time Zavarov had lived with Schneider for about three years.
- A grand jury charged Schneider with: (1) traveling in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b) (Count I); and (2) transporting a person in foreign commerce with intent that the person engage in criminal sexual conduct, 18 U.S.C. § 2421 (Count II).
- A jury convicted Schneider on both counts in October 2010.
- Schneider moved post-verdict for judgment of acquittal under Rule 29, arrest of judgment/dismissal, or alternatively a new trial under Rule 33.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Schneider’s August 22, 2001 travel was undertaken “for the purpose of” engaging in illicit sexual conduct, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b).
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the 18 U.S.C. § 2421 conviction for transporting Zavarov in foreign commerce with intent that he engage in criminal sexual conduct.
3. Whether asserted defects in the indictment, jury instructions, evidentiary rulings, or the weight of the evidence required dismissal, arrest of judgment, or a new trial.

## Decision

- The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part.
- Count I (§ 2423(b)): judgment of acquittal granted due to insufficient evidence that illicit sexual conduct was a dominant, motivating purpose of the charged trip at the time of travel.
- Count II (§ 2421): conviction upheld; the court denied acquittal, dismissal/arrest of judgment, and a new trial.
- The court rejected additional trial-error claims as nonprejudicial and found the indictment and instructions adequate.

## Legal Principles

- For 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b), the government must prove that, at the time of travel, engaging in illicit sexual conduct was at least one dominant, motivating purpose of the trip; an ongoing intent to abuse, standing alone, is insufficient if the trip’s purpose was independent of sexual activity.
- A return trip to an established foreign residence and employment, even if abuse is expected to resume afterward, does not satisfy § 2423(b) absent proof that the travel itself was undertaken for the proscribed purpose.
- For 18 U.S.C. § 2421, the government must prove knowing transportation in foreign commerce and intent that the transported person engage in sexual activity chargeable as a criminal offense; intent may be inferred from the defendant’s control, arrangements for travel and living conditions, and a continuing pattern of exploitation.
- Post-verdict relief is warranted only where no rational juror could find the elements proven beyond a reasonable doubt (Rule 29), or where trial errors or the weight of the evidence justify a new trial (Rule 33).

## Conclusion

The court vacated Schneider’s § 2423(b) conviction because the evidence did not show the August 22, 2001 trip was taken for the purpose of illicit sexual conduct, but it sustained the § 2421 Mann Act conviction based on sufficient evidence that Schneider transported Zavarov in foreign commerce intending to facilitate criminal sexual activity, and it denied dismissal, arrest of judgment, and a new trial on that count.


United States v. Schneider, 817 F. Supp. 2d 586 (E.D. Pa. 2011)