Paul J. Harris
WHEELING –A suspended Wheeling attorney sentenced to more than eight years for defrauding clients and money laundering has reported to federal prison.
Paul J. Harris, 63, became Federal Bureau of Prisoners inmate 33558-183 on May 6, according to the BOP online search portal. He is serving his time at FCI Gilmer, a medium security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp located in Glenville.
In March, Harris was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison after being found guilty in November on 29 counts of fraud and money laundering for fraudulently handing client funds and using client funds to conduct unlawful monetary transactions.
Harris also has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and seeks a new trial, according to an April 3 filing.
In a Fourth Circuit docketing statement filed April 17, Harris questions whether the district court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal “where Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit precedent require proof of a material misrepresentation to obtain money.” Harris claims the government failed to prevent such evidence, and he says the court allowed conviction on a broader theory resulting in a constructive amendment of the indictment.
He also questions if the court was wrong to allow the government to proceed on a breach of fiduciary duty theory of fraud rejected by the Supreme Court in another case, whether the court erred in instructing the jury in a way to permit conviction for a “scheme to defraud” without requiring proof of a material representation, whether evidence was legally insufficient to establish mailings and wire transmissions were “in furtherance” of a scheme to defraud, whether the convictions for unlawful monetary transactions must be vacated because the court allegedly erroneously instructed the jury on the elements of wire fraud, whether the government’s closing arguments deprived him of a fair trial by misleading the jury to believe evidence of a material misrepresentation existed, whether the court erred in denying his motion for a new trial and whether the court erred in applying a two-level sentencing enhancement where the conduct at issue involved routine financial transactions.
“The convictions in this case rest on a legally defective indictment, fatally insufficient evidence and jury instructions that directly contradicted binding Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit precedent,” Harris wrote in an informal pro se brief filed May 5 with the Fourth Circuit. “At every juncture, the government failed to prove the most basic requirement … that defendant obtained money or property in the hands of the clients by means of a material misrepresentation. …
“The government’s entire theory is nothing more than an impermissible attempt to criminalize alleged fiduciary lapses or post-receipt handling of funds, a theory the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected.”
Harris says his conviction violates his due process that must be reversed or vacated for a new trial. He also says the effect of the errors “renders the sentence procedurally unreasonable.”
“Defendant recognizes he was not entitled to a perfect trial, but he was entitled to a fair trial,” Harris wrote. “And this case was tried and decided on a theory the law does not permit.”
The government has until June 18 to file its informal response to Harris’ brief.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit case number 26-4189 (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 5:25-cr-00034 [originally 5:25-cr-00028])
