## Facts

- The FBI ran an undercover operation targeting money laundering.
- An undercover agent told Nick Stavroulakis he needed help laundering cash represented as narcotics proceeds.
- Stavroulakis agreed to assist and recruited Kostas Giziakis, a bank officer, to facilitate transactions.
- To secure Giziakis’s participation, Stavroulakis misrepresented the cash as coming from illegal gambling rather than narcotics.
- The men met at the bank, opened an account, and took initial steps to deposit and move cash in a manner intended to make it appear legitimate.
- Separately, evidence showed Stavroulakis sold stolen checks drawn on federally insured financial institutions, supporting charges that his conduct exposed banks to loss.
- During jury selection, the prosecutor used a peremptory strike against a Black venireperson; the defense raised a Batson objection.
- At sentencing, Stavroulakis requested a Judicial Recommendation Against Deportation (JRAD); the district court declined.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove a conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 371 to violate the money-laundering statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1956.
2. Whether the indictment and evidence were sufficient to sustain bank-fraud convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1344 based on selling stolen checks affecting federally insured banks.
3. Whether striking a single Black venireperson established a prima facie Batson violation requiring a race-neutral explanation.
4. Whether denial of a JRAD raised ex post facto or due process concerns, or otherwise constituted reversible error.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed the convictions on all counts and affirmed the sentence.
- The court held the money-laundering conspiracy conviction was supported by evidence of an agreement and steps taken at the bank to begin laundering funds represented as criminal proceeds.
- The court held the bank-fraud indictment and proof were sufficient, including evidence that the scheme involved stolen/forged checks tied to federally insured banks and risk of loss to those institutions.
- The court held the Batson objection failed because a single peremptory strike, without additional circumstances, did not establish a prima facie case of discrimination.
- The court upheld the refusal to issue a JRAD, rejecting constitutional objections and concluding the sentencing court’s denial was a proper exercise of discretion given the seriousness of the offenses.

## Legal Principles

- A § 371 “offense clause” conspiracy requires proof of an agreement to commit a federal offense, knowing and voluntary participation, and an overt act; agreement and participation may be inferred from coordinated conduct.
- For conspiracy predicated on § 1956, evidence that funds were represented as unlawful proceeds, coupled with arrangements to conduct financial transactions designed to conceal or legitimize those funds, can support the required knowledge and intent.
- Under § 1344, schemes involving stolen or forged checks can constitute bank fraud when they are aimed at property under a federally insured bank’s custody or control and are intended to defraud or expose the bank to loss.
- A Batson prima facie showing generally requires more than the bare fact that the government exercised a peremptory strike against a single minority venireperson, absent additional indicia of discriminatory intent.
- A JRAD is discretionary and not constitutionally required; denial does not itself establish an ex post facto or due process violation where the sentencing court would deny relief based on the nature of the offenses.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed Stavroulakis’s convictions and sentence, finding sufficient evidence of a money-laundering conspiracy and bank-fraud scheme, no prima facie Batson violation from a single peremptory strike, and no reversible error in the district court’s discretionary refusal to recommend against deportation.


United States v. Stavroulakis, 952 F.2d 686 (2d Cir. 1992)