United States v. Ary
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2008-03-04 · cited 67×
The case involved Max L. Ary, former president of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, who was convicted of numerous counts of mail and wire fraud, theft of government property, transportation of stolen property, and money laundering after selling space artifacts belonging to the museum and the U.S. government through personal accounts at an auction house. Ary appealed his convictions, claiming the district court erred by finding waiver of attorney-client privilege and work-product protection, by admitting hearsay evidence, and by miscalculating the loss amount used for sentencing enhancements. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentence in full. It held that the district court's loss calculation error was harmless because the adjusted amount remained above $200,000, supporting the same sentencing enhancement, and rejected the privilege and evidentiary challenges.