Ocasio v. United States
Issues
Under the Hobbs Act, can a person accused of conspiracy to commit extortion be convicted for extorting a fellow conspirator?
Samuel Ocasio, a former officer of the Baltimore Police Department, was involved in a kickback scheme in which officers would refer car accident victims to an unauthorized towing company in exchange for monetary compensation. Ocasio was charged with conspiracy to commit extortion under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951. In this case, the Supreme Court will address whether the conspirators have to agree to obtain property from someone outside the conspiracy. See Brief for Petitioner, Samuel Ocasio at i. Ocasio claims that a defendant must conspire with someone to obtain property from another person outside the conspiracy. See id. at 21. The United States counters that the conspirators in an extortion scheme need to agree only that the public official will obtain property from another person, but that the other person may be one of the co-conspirators. See Brief for Respondent, United States at 15. The decision in this case will implicate the boundaries between state criminal law and federal law for extortion. The decision will also clarify the method of statutory interpretation applied when statutory language is ambiguous. See Brief of Amici Curiae Former United States Attorneys, in Support of Petitioner at 4, 10.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Does a conspiracy to commit extortion, as defined by the Hobbs Act, require that the conspirators agree to obtain property from someone outside the conspiracy?
Samuel Ocasio is a former officer of the Baltimore Police Department (“BPD”). United States v. Ocasio, 750 F.3d 399 (4th Cir.
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Additional Resources
- Mark Puente, Supreme Court to Hear Case of Baltimore Officer Convicted in Towing Scandal, Baltimore Sun (Mar. 7, 2015).
- Debra Cassens Weiss, Does Extortion Conspiracy Require Outside Victim? Supreme Court Agrees to Decide, ABA Journal (Mar. 2, 2015).