Case Explained: UNITED STATES v. ARNALDO J. IRIZARRY-IRIZARRY

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Filed: 2026-07-24 The First Circuit affirmed Arnaldo Irizarry-Irizarry’s jury convictions for wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering arising from a scheme to defraud the Municipality of Mayagüez and its enterprise, MEDI. The court held that sufficient evidence supported the conspiracy conviction under the standard of reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine if a rational factfinder could conclude guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Applying the three-factor test for single conspiracies—common goal, interdependence, and overlap—the court found that Irizarry’s efforts to mislead auditors regarding the diversion of $9 million demonstrated interdependence because his actions were advantageous to the scheme’s continued success. Furthermore, the pervasive involvement of coconspirator García as a “hub character” satisfied the overlap factor, allowing a reasonable jury to infer Irizarry knew of and agreed to join the overarching conspiracy. The court also dismissed without prejudice Irizarry’s challenge to the denial of his motion for sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) because he failed to file a notice of appeal from the district court’s order denying that motion, depriving the appellate court of jurisdiction. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.