prohibition of ex post facto laws

In 1998, while serving as a volunteer driver for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Turner struck up a romantic relationship with Vester Mayo, a nurse at the Medical Center. Vester died in December 2000. She had taken out a life insurance policy through a federally-administered program. Her beneficiary designation form, contained in her personnel file, listed Turner and her mother, Lorenza Mayo, as co-beneficiaries. In January 2001, Turner filed a claim for his share of the life insurance benefits and later received a money market account valued at $20,562.90. In preparing her claim, Lorenza examined her daughter’s papers and concluded that Vester’s beneficiary designation form contained forgeries. The dates on the form were inconsistent, Lorenza’s name and address were misspelled, and Vester’s social security number was incorrect. Lorenza reported this to federal authorities. The ensuing investigation revealed that shortly after obtaining his life insurance payout, Turner wrote a $1,000 check from the proceeds to his friend, LaTanya Andrews. Andrews was a payroll technician at the Medical Center who had worked in the human resources section housing employees’ personnel files. A government agent interviewed her in November 2005. At first Andrews said she never received more than $10 from Turner, but when shown the check she gave conflicting accounts about its purpose, and agents found nothing in her bank records to support her claims. The grand jury charged Turner and Andrews with conspiracy to defraud the United States and bribery. Evidence showed that Vester’s signature on the beneficiary form had been forged, that Andrews had easy access to Vester’s personnel file, and that Lorenza saw Turner forge her daughter’s signature on two checks. The jury convicted both defendants on both counts after a trial. Turner was sentenced in September 2007 to 33 months’ imprisonment. He appealed his conviction and sentence to the D.C. Circuit.