United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Keith Gordon Ham, A/k/a Kirtanananda, A/k/a K. Swami, A/k/akirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, A/k/a Srilabhaktipada, A/k/a Number One, Defendant-appellant
Argued March 6, 1995.Decided June 20, 1995
ARGUED: Nathan Z. Dershowitz, Dershowitz & Eiger, P.C., New York City, for appellant. Michael D. Stein, Asst. U.S. Atty., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for appellee. ON BRIEF: Amy Adelson, Dershowitz & Eiger, P.C., New York City, for appellant. William D. Wilmoth, U.S. Atty. and Nina Goodman, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for appellee.
Before RUSSELL, WIDENER, and HALL, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge RUSSELL wrote the opinion, in
which Judge WIDENER and Judge HALL joined.
DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge:
[...] 2. Keith Gordon Ham, also known as Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada ("Swami"), is the spiritual leader of the New Vrindaban Hare Krishna community in West Virginia. In May 1990, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Swami with three counts of violating the RICO statute (18 U.S.C. Sec. 1962), six counts of mail fraud, and two counts regarding a related murder. 1 The indictment also included a separate forfeiture count in which the government sought forfeiture of all of the property owned by the New Vrindaban community. After a trial, the jury convicted Swami on the RICO and mail fraud counts but failed to reach a verdict on the murder counts.