UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.
                                                                      No. 98-4572
DWAYNE FANTROY, a/k/a Dwayne
Fontroy,
Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
Frederic N. Smalkin, District Judge.
(CR-97-249-S)

Submitted: May 28, 1999

Decided: June 24, 1999

Before MURNAGHAN, WILKINS, and KING, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

Thanos Kanellakos, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Lynne A.
Battaglia, United States Attorney, Kathleen O. Gavin, Assistant
United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).
OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Dwayne Fantroy appeals from his conviction by jury of five counts
of bank fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1344 (1994), claiming that the evidence
was insufficient to support the verdicts. A defendant challenging the
sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction bears "a heavy
burden." United States v. Hoyte, 51 F.3d 1239, 1245 (4th Cir. 1995).
To sustain Fantroy's convictions, this court must find that the evi-
dence, when viewed in a light most favorable to the government, was
sufficient for a rational trier of fact to have found the essential ele-
ments of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v.
Brewer, 1 F.3d 1430, 1437 (4th Cir. 1993). The reviewing court con-
siders circumstantial as well as direct evidence and the government
is given the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the facts proven
to those sought to be established. See United States v. Burgos, 94 F.3d
849, 863 (4th Cir. 1996). To sustain a conviction for bank fraud under
18 U.S.C. § 1344, the government must show beyond a reasonable
doubt that the defendant: (1) engaged in a scheme or artifice to
defraud, or made false statements or misrepresentations to obtain
money from (2) a financial institution, and (3) did so knowingly. See
United States v. Brandon, 17 F.3d 409, 424 (1st Cir. 1994).

Two witnesses testified that they were paid by Fantroy to present
counterfeit checks at various banks in Maryland between December
1994 and January 1995. In addition, Fantroy's fingerprints were iden-
tified on six of the recovered fake checks. We find this evidence suffi-
cient to support the jury's verdicts. Accordingly, we affirm Fantroy's
convictions. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court and argument would not aid in the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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