United States v. MacPherson

William MacPherson (defendant) owned various rental properties. MacPherson was sued by one of his renters. In order to shield his assets from a potential judgment, MacPherson sold several of his properties and made four large cash withdrawals. Each withdrawal was greater than $10,000. As a result, MacPherson’s banks were required by law to document the transactions under the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act. MacPherson supplied information to at least one of the banks for the documentation process. Eventually, the civil suit settled for $27,000. Several years later, MacPherson deposited over $250,000 into accounts at three different banks in a four-month span. He made 32 deposits, which were all under $10,000. Many of the deposits were between $9,000 and $9,200. Often, MacPherson deposited money in all three banks on the same day. MacPherson’s normal income over the timespan did not account for the total amount of money deposited. MacPherson was charged with structuring of currency transactions to evade reporting requirements. A jury found him guilty after trial. The district court set aside the guilty verdict and entered a judgment of acquittal because the evidence was insufficient to prove the knowledge and intent elements of the structuring crime. The government (plaintiff) appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.