Percoco v. United States

Joseph Percoco, former executive deputy secretary to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, was convicted of honest services wire fraud for accepting over $300,000 from a real estate developer while managing Cuomo's 2014 re-election campaign. Although temporarily outside formal government employment, prosecutors argued he wielded special influence to benefit the developer. The Supreme Court reviewed whether a private citizen owes a duty of honest services without an agency or fiduciary relationship. The Court held that the jury instructions were flawed, as they allowed conviction without requiring a finding that Percoco had agreed to act as an agent or fiduciary. The Court unanimously reversed the Second Circuit, emphasizing that honest services fraud requires a recognized duty, not merely informal political influence.

The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction, holding that the trial court's jury instructions erroneously permitted the jury to convict without finding that Percoco owed a fiduciary duty to the public. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.

Whether a private individual temporarily outside formal government employment but wielding informal influence over governmental decisions can be convicted of honest services fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1346 without proof that he undertook to act as an actual agent or fiduciary of the public.

The ruling narrowed the scope of the honest services fraud statute, safeguarding private citizens and political operatives from overbroad criminal liability for informal lobbying and access. It underscored that criminalization requires clear fiduciary obligations, setting an important boundary for federal corruption prosecutions.