United States v. Farraj

142 F.Supp.2d 484 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was a paralegal with a law firm that represented plaintiffs in a class action tobacco case. The firm created a trial plan of 400 plus pages that detailed trial strategy, deposition excerpts and summaries, and references to anticipated trial exhibits. D using the moniker 'FlyGuyNYt,' e-mailed an 80-page excerpt of the Trial Plan to the Falise defendants' attorneys and offered to sell them the entire Plan. The FBI posed as one of the defendants' attorneys negotiated with D via e-mail and ultimately agreed to purchase the Trial Plan for $2 million. D's brother, met with a second undercover FBI agent at a McDonald's restaurant in lower Manhattan to receive payment. The Government (P) charged that by e-mailing the Trial Plan excerpt across state lines, D violated 18 U.S.C. § 2314, which provides, in relevant part, that 'whoever transports, transmits, or transfers in interstate or foreign commerce any goods, wares, merchandise, securities, or money, of the value of $5,000 or more, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted, or taken by fraud . . . . D moved to dismiss, arguing that § 2314 applies only to the physical asportation of tangible goods or currency, not to 'information' stored and transmitted electronically.