United States v. Holzer (Holzer I)

From 1967 to 1985, Reginald Holzer (defendant) was a trial judge in Cook County, Illinois. During that time, Holzer requested loans from attorneys who appeared before him and from individuals who received court appointments from him, explaining that he was in desperate need of money. Holzer borrowed about $200,000 from these attorneys, and less than $20,000 was repaid. For example, from 1978 to 1983, Holzer borrowed over $35,000 from Ernest Worsek and Worsek’s friend Zilka. During that time, Holzer appointed Worsek to many receiverships, and Worsek made payments on Holzer’s loan from Zilka. In 1983, Worsek told Holzer that he would stop making payments on Zilka’s loan. In response, Holzer stopped appointing Worsek to receiverships. In 1984, Worsek told Holzer that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents had interviewed Worsek. At Holzer’s request, Worsek met Holzer in another judge’s jury room, where they communicated through handwritten notes that Holzer then destroyed. Afterward, Holzer appointed Worsek to nine more receiverships. Illinois required trial judges to complete annual ethics statements that required judges to confidentially list any creditors owed at least $1,000 and any potential conflicts of interest. Holzer never listed any of the attorneys or court appointees who loaned Holzer money in his annual ethics statements until after Holzer learned that the FBI was investigating him. In candidate questionnaires that Holzer publicly disclosed during his 1974 and 1982 reelection campaigns, Holzer claimed that he never accepted contributions, gifts, or favors. A federal jury convicted Holzer of mail fraud pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1341, extortion under the Hobbs Act, and a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The court sentenced Holzer to 18 years in prison. Holzer appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which considered, in relevant part, whether Holzer’s conduct was fraudulent under the mail-fraud statute.