United States v. Fekri

Appellants were convicted, after a trial to the court, of offering a ten percent cash rebate on Medicare and Medi-Cal collections and a discount on private patients' billings to a person to induce that person to refer his laboratory work to National Laboratory Enterprises, Inc., doing business as California Medic Enterprises, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1395nn(b)(2)(A) and 42 U.S.C. § 1396h(b)(2)(A). The principal question before us is whether the evidence established entrapment as a matter of law. Upon review of that evidence, which included recorded conversations, we conclude that entrapment was not established as a matter of law. In United States v. Rangel, 534 F.2d 147 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 854, 97 S. Ct. 147, 50 L. Ed. 2d 129 (1976), we held that ""entrapment as a matter of law exists only when there is undisputed testimony making it patently clear that an otherwise innocent person was induced to commit the act complained of by the trickery, persuasion or fraud of a government agent."" Id. at 149. Accord, United States v. Prairie, 572 F.2d 1316 (9th Cir. 1978).