David B. Pasquantino, Carl J. Pasquantino, and Arthur Hilts v. United States

Decided April 26, 2005. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-725 · 544 U.S. 349 (2005) · Cited 291 times

Holding

A plot to defraud a foreign government of tax revenue violates the federal wire fraud statute.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Cleveland v. United States · 531 U.S. 12 (2000)
• Blakely v. Washington · 542 U.S. 296 (2004)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• United States v. Craft · 535 U.S. 274 (2002)
• McNally v. United States · 483 U.S. 350 (1987)
• Banco Nacional De Cuba v. Sabbatino · 376 U.S. 398 (1964)
• Durland v. United States · 161 U.S. 306 (1896)
• United States v. Texas · 507 U.S. 529 (1993)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Neder v. United States · 527 U.S. 1 (1999)
• Chicago & Southern Air Lines, Inc. v. Waterman Steamship Corp. · 333 U.S. 103 (1948)
• Clark v. Martinez · 543 U.S. 371 (2005)
• Foley Bros., Inc. v. Filardo · 336 U.S. 281 (1949)
• Leocal v. Ashcroft · 543 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain · 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
• Astoria Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Solimino · 501 U.S. 104 (1991)
• United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. · 299 U.S. 304 (1936)
• Carpenter v. United States · 484 U.S. 19 (1987)
• United States v. Universal C. I. T. Credit Corp. · 344 U.S. 218 (1952)
• United States v. Wells · 519 U.S. 482 (1997)
• Lopez v. Davis · 531 U.S. 230 (2001)
• United States v. Turley · 352 U.S. 407 (1957)
• Milwaukee County v. M. E. White Co. · 296 U.S. 268 (1935)
• Smith v. United States · 507 U.S. 197 (1993)
• Brogan v. United States · 522 U.S. 398 (1998)
• Whitfield v. United States · 543 U.S. 209 (2005)
• Benz v. Compania Naviera Hidalgo, S. A. · 353 U.S. 138 (1957)
• F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. v. Empagran S. A. · 542 U.S. 155 (2004)
• Izumi Seimitsu Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha v. U. S. Philips Corp. · 510 U.S. 27 (1993)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Hemi Group, LLC v. City of New York · 559 U.S. 1 (2010)
• Kelly v. United States · 590 U.S. 391 (2020)
• Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
• Kousisis v. United States · 605 U.S. 114 (2025)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White · 548 U.S. 53 (2006)
• Ciminelli v. United States · 598 U.S. 306 (2023)
• Fischer v. United States · 603 U.S. 480 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2005). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).