United States v. Patel

On January 17, 2001, Umesh Patel was indicted for setting fire to his business and then attempting to collect insurance proceeds for the resulting damage. On May 17, 2002, following a fourteen-day jury trial, Patel was convicted on one count of arson, see 18 U.S.C. § 844(i), two counts of mail fraud, see 18 U.S.C. § 1341, and one count of using fire to commit mail fraud, see 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(1). Patel was sentenced to 204 months of imprisonment: 84 months to run concurrently for arson and mail fraud and 120 months to run consecutively for using fire to commit mail fraud. 1 On appeal, Patel argues that there was insufficient evidence of arson and that his sentence violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. We affirm. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE