Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
Case No. 14CA986
Attorneys for Petitioner Walta LLC Mark G. Walta Denver,
Colorado
Attorneys for Rospondent Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General
John T. Lee, Senior Assistant Attorney General Denver,
Colorado
OPINION
HART
JUSTICE.
¶1
In early 2013, an undercover officer sold Clayton Schaner a
series of ostensibly stolen goods as part of an investigation
into whether Schaner was using his computer repair store,
Just Computers, as a front to buy and resell stolen items on
e-commerce websites. At the time, Caleb Charles Butler was
the store's assistant manager. Investigators discovered
that Schaner made near-daily transfers of money to Butler
from his e-commerce sites, and Butler then withdrew cash and
gave it to Schaner. Schaner and Butler were both arrested.
Schaner was charged with a number of offenses, among them
money laundering. Butler was charged with, and ultimately
convicted of, two counts of money laundering for aiding and
abetting Schaner in two specific laundering transactions.
¶2
The court of appeals affirmed Butler's convictions,
holding that there was sufficient evidence for a juror to
conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Butler was complicit
in Schaner's overall money laundering operation.
People v. Butler, 2017 COA 98, ___ P.3d___ . The
jury, however, did not convict Butler of complicity in a
"money laundering operation," but rather of
laundering the proceeds from two specific transactions.
Moreover, Colorado's money laundering statute, section
18-5-309, C.R.S. (2019), speaks of liability for "a
transaction," not an operation. We therefore conclude
that the court of appeals was incorrect to the extent that it
suggested that Butler's participation in the overall
operation was sufficient, without evidence as to the specific
acts charged, to establish his complicitor liability for
these convictions. Nonetheless, based on the record, we
conclude that there is sufficient evidence to establish
Butler's complicity in laundering the proceeds from the
two specifically charged transactions. We therefore uphold
Butler's convictions.
I.
Facts and Procedural History
¶3
In late 2012, police received a tip from a confidential
informant that Schaner, through Just Computers, was
purchasing and reselling stolen goods. Investigators learned
that so-called "boosters" would steal items from
retail stores and either sell them directly to Schaner or
return them, without a receipt, for merchandise return cards
that they would sell to Schaner. Schaner would then re-sell
the cards and merchandise on Internet e-commerce platforms.
Schaner typically transacted with these boosters out of a
small room located in the back of Just Computers, both during
and after store hours. This room could be accessed from
either the front of the store or a side door leading directly
into Schaner's office.
¶4
During store hours, Butler ran the front counter of Just
Computers as its assistant manager. But in addition to
repairing computers and selling computer parts to legitimate
customers, Butler assisted Schaner's backroom
transactions in a variety of ways. Among other things, Butler
sometimes purchased, with Schaner's cash, merchandise
cards brought to the front of Just Computers by alleged
boosters. He also received near-daily PayPal money transfers
from Schaner, which he then withdrew in cash and returned to
Schaner. Schaner transferred about $181, 000 from Just
Computers' PayPal account to Butler over the course of
Butler's two-year employment with the store. During that
same time, Butler withdrew approximately $166, 000 in cash
from ATMs.
¶5
In early 2013, an undercover officer investigating Just
Computers made a series of controlled sales of ostensibly
stolen merchandise and illicitly obtained cards to Schaner.
Two of these sales formed the basis for the money laundering
charges at issue here.
¶6
First, on the morning of January 29, 2013, Butler brought
Schaner cash he had withdrawn from an ATM. Later that day,
Detective Blanscet came to Schaner's back office and sold
Schaner four packs of Gillette Fusion razor blades that he
indicated he had stolen. The blades were listed on eBay
through the Just Computers account on January 31. That day,
an individual working with the police repurchased the blades
and verified that they were the same items sold to Schaner.
The money from the sale went to Schaner's PayPal account,
and Schaner transferred money from that account to Butler the
next morning.
¶7
Second, on the morning of February 13, 2013, Butler again
brought Schaner cash from Butler's bank account.
Detective Blanscet again entered Schaner's back office,
this time to sell Schaner a purportedly stolen DeWalt Rotary
Hammer Drill. Butler came into the back office during the
course of that transaction and saw Blanscet, from whom he
himself had earlier purchased an ostensibly stolen Best Buy
gift card. Schaner listed the drill on eBay on February 15.
Like the blades, the drill was repurchased and verified by
investigators. Money from the sale went into Schaner's
PayPal account, and money from that account was transferred
to Butler the next day.
¶8
At trial, a jury convicted Butler on a complicity theory of
two counts of money laundering under section
18-5-309(1)(a)(II). The jury verdicts specifically mentioned
that these counts pertained to the Gillette razor blades and
the DeWalt drill. These two convictions served as the
necessary predicates for a further conviction under the
Colorado Organized Crime Control Act ("COCCA"),
§§ 18-17-101 to -109, C.R.S. (2019). The trial
court sentenced Butler to eight years in a Community
Corrections program.
¶9
On appeal, Butler unsuccessfully challenged the sufficiency
of the evidence for his money laundering convictions.
Butler, ΒΆ 33. Rejecting his claim, a division
of the court of appeals ruled that there was sufficient
evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the
prosecution, for a juror to reasonably conclude that (1) the
principal, Schaner, was involved in a "money laundering
operation"; (2) Butler aided, abetted, or encouraged
Schaner in "carrying out the illegal operation";
(3) Butler intended to help Schaner conceal or disguise the
true nature of "the funds" passing through Just
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