⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The First Circuit hears the consolidated appeals of a Puerto Rico House member and her husband from federal corruption convictions. Prosecutors accused the House member of inflating an assistant's publicly paid salary in exchange for the assistant returning some of the money to her and her family. A jury found both defendants guilty, and they are challenging those convictions here. The charges include Section six sixty six, a federal theft and bribery statute covering certain organizations or governments that receive federal benefits. It has separate requirements for those benefits and the value of the property or transactions involved. Listen for which government entity counts, how the relevant one-year period is defined, and whether the jury instructions matched the indictment. The hearing will also turn to hearsay: statements made outside the trial and offered to prove what they assert. For statements against a speaker's penal interest, Rule eight oh four requires unavailability and corroborating circumstances indicating trustworthiness. A person not testifying does not, by itself, establish all those requirements. Keep separate the alleged payroll arrangement, each defendant's role, and the rules governing what the jury was allowed to hear.

United States v. Charbonier-Laureano, et al. (No. 24-1580) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, argued November 5, 2026.