Case Explained: United States v. Arvay

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-06-29 Docket: 1:23-CR-00222-GPG-2) The Tenth Circuit affirmed Jonathan Arvay’s convictions for conducting an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to do so, rejecting his challenge to three jury instructions regarding the elements of the offense and the required mens rea. The court applied a de novo standard to determine if the instructions accurately stated the governing law, or an abuse of discretion/plain error standard depending on preservation, ultimately finding that the district court’s instructions were correct under any applicable standard. Specifically, the court held that the instruction requiring the jury to find Arvay “knowingly conducted” a gambling business satisfied the general intent requirement established in *United States v. O’Brien*, as it necessitated a finding that he knowingly participated in an essential function of the operation. Even assuming arguendo that the instructions were erroneous, the court applied the harmless error standard, concluding that any mistake did not affect the verdict given the overwhelming evidence of Arvay’s knowledge; this included his explicit admission to undercover agents that cash payouts constituted illegal gambling and his active maintenance and facilitation of a cryptocurrency-to-cash exchange machine located on-site. Consequently, Arvay’s convictions stand, and he remains subject to his original sentence of one year and a day in prison plus three years of supervised release. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.