{"schemaVersion":"1.0.0","canonical":"https://caselawinfo.com/cases/us-v-whitfield-demonstration","markdown":"https://caselawinfo.com/cases/us-v-whitfield-demonstration.md","license":"CC-BY-4.0","id":"fixture.case.us-v-whitfield","slug":"us-v-whitfield-demonstration","title":"United States v. Whitfield (DEMONSTRATION RECORD)","publicationState":"published","publishedAt":"2026-07-31T09:00:00Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-01T04:20:12Z","recordAsOf":"2026-07-31","court":"United States District Court for the District of North Haven","jurisdiction":null,"docketNumber":"21-cr-00417","filedDate":"2021-06-14","topics":["Wire fraud","Vacated conviction"],"parties":[{"role":"defendant","name":"Dana Whitfield"},{"role":"prosecution","name":"U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Haven"},{"role":"intervenor","name":"Meridian Logistics Inc."}],"executiveSummary":"THIS IS A FICTIONAL DEMONSTRATION RECORD. No part of it describes a real case, person, or court. It exists to exercise the rendering of a complete record: a conviction obtained on a theory an appellate court later held invalid, with the conviction vacated in 2025.","keyFacts":["FICTIONAL RECORD — created for testing, not reporting.","Charged June 2021 with six counts of wire fraud.","Convicted February 2023 on four counts.","Convictions vacated November 2025 on appeal.","No retrial had been scheduled as of the record date."],"sourceCount":5,"primarySourceCount":4,"sections":[{"id":"summary","number":1,"title":"Executive summary","status":"not_yet_documented","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[]},{"id":"key-facts","number":2,"title":"Key facts","status":"not_yet_documented","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[]},{"id":"allegations","number":3,"title":"Allegations and charges","status":"populated","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[{"text":"The indictment charged that Whitfield directed the misstatement of delivery volumes to a lender across six interstate wire transmissions between 2018 and 2020.","role":"prosecution","status":"alleged","privilegeBasis":"official_record","register":"claimed","label":"Alleged — U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Haven","attributedTo":"U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Haven","editorialAuthor":null,"citations":[1]}]},{"id":"positions","number":4,"title":"Positions of the parties","status":"populated","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[{"text":"The defense argued the lender received the full contracted principal and interest, and that no economic harm resulted from the disputed volume reports.","role":"defense","status":"asserted_position","privilegeBasis":"official_record","register":"claimed","label":"Asserted position — Dana Whitfield","attributedTo":"Dana Whitfield","editorialAuthor":null,"citations":[1]},{"text":"Whether the lender suffered any cognisable loss remained contested; the trial record and the appellate opinion describe the same transactions in materially different terms.","role":"court","status":"disputed","privilegeBasis":"official_record","register":"contested","label":"Disputed — Court","attributedTo":null,"editorialAuthor":null,"citations":[2,3]}]},{"id":"procedural-history","number":5,"title":"Procedural history","status":"not_yet_documented","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[]},{"id":"findings","number":6,"title":"Judicial findings","status":"populated","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[{"text":"The jury returned guilty verdicts on four of six counts on 9 February 2023, and acquitted on the remaining two.","role":"jury","status":"found","privilegeBasis":"official_record","register":"established","label":"Found — Jury","attributedTo":null,"editorialAuthor":null,"citations":[2]},{"text":"The Fourteenth Circuit vacated all four convictions on 3 November 2025, holding that the right-to-control theory on which they rested is not a valid basis for wire-fraud liability.","role":"court","status":"vacated","privilegeBasis":"official_record","register":"established","label":"Vacated / reversed — Court","attributedTo":null,"editorialAuthor":null,"citations":[3]}]},{"id":"sentence","number":7,"title":"Sentence or remedy","status":"not_applicable","statement":"No sentence is currently in effect. The convictions were vacated before the appeal of sentence was resolved.","asOf":"2026-07-31","assertions":[]},{"id":"appeals","number":8,"title":"Appeals","status":"populated","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[{"text":"The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, and did not reach the sentencing challenges raised in the alternative.","role":"court","status":"found","privilegeBasis":"official_record","register":"established","label":"Found — Court","attributedTo":null,"editorialAuthor":null,"citations":[3]}]},{"id":"later-developments","number":9,"title":"Later developments","status":"populated","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[{"text":"The government’s February 2023 press release announcing the conviction was withdrawn and no longer resolves. It is retained here as a citation because the record of what was announced is itself material.","role":"prosecution","status":"alleged","privilegeBasis":"official_record","register":"claimed","label":"Alleged — U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Haven","attributedTo":"U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Haven","editorialAuthor":null,"citations":[4]}]},{"id":"omitted-context","number":10,"title":"What the record shows that coverage usually omits","status":"populated","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[{"text":"Contemporaneous coverage of the 2023 verdict remains widely available and indexed; the 2025 vacatur received little coverage. A reader encountering this matter through search is substantially more likely to find the conviction than its reversal.","role":"editorial","status":"asserted_position","privilegeBasis":"opinion","register":"editorial","label":"CaseLawInfo analysis — CaseLawInfo editorial","attributedTo":null,"editorialAuthor":"CaseLawInfo editorial","citations":[]}]},{"id":"unresolved","number":11,"title":"Unresolved questions","status":"not_yet_documented","statement":null,"asOf":null,"assertions":[]}],"timeline":[{"date":"2021-06-14","datePrecision":null,"label":"Indictment returned","description":"Six counts of wire fraud.","citations":[1]},{"date":"2023-02-09","datePrecision":null,"label":"Jury verdict","description":"Guilty on four counts, acquitted on two.","citations":[2,5]},{"date":"2025-11-03","datePrecision":null,"label":"Convictions vacated on appeal","description":"The Fourteenth Circuit holds the right-to-control theory invalid and vacates all four convictions.","citations":[3]}],"sources":[{"n":1,"title":"Indictment, United States v. Whitfield (No. 21-cr-00417)","url":"https://example.org/fixture/indictment.pdf","type":"court_filing","primary":true,"issuingAuthority":"U.S. District Court, District of North Haven","publishedDate":"2021-06-14","archiveUrl":null,"resolves":true,"page":"https://caselawinfo.com/sources/fixture-indictment-us-v-whitfield"},{"n":2,"title":"Jury Verdict Form, United States v. Whitfield","url":"https://example.org/fixture/verdict.pdf","type":"court_filing","primary":true,"issuingAuthority":"U.S. District Court, District of North Haven","publishedDate":"2023-02-09","archiveUrl":null,"resolves":true,"page":"https://caselawinfo.com/sources/fixture-verdict-us-v-whitfield"},{"n":3,"title":"Opinion, United States v. Whitfield, 88 F.4th 1201 (14th Cir. 2025)","url":"https://example.org/fixture/opinion.pdf","type":"court_opinion","primary":true,"issuingAuthority":"U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth Circuit","publishedDate":"2025-11-03","archiveUrl":null,"resolves":true,"page":"https://caselawinfo.com/sources/fixture-opinion-whitfield-14th-cir"},{"n":4,"title":"Press release, Office of Public Affairs (withdrawn)","url":"https://example.org/fixture/withdrawn-release","type":"official_statement","primary":true,"issuingAuthority":"U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Haven","publishedDate":"2023-02-09","archiveUrl":null,"resolves":false,"page":"https://caselawinfo.com/sources/fixture-withdrawn-press-release"},{"n":5,"title":"Executive convicted in logistics fraud case","url":"https://example.org/fixture/news-report","type":"news_report","primary":false,"issuingAuthority":"North Haven Ledger","publishedDate":"2023-02-10","archiveUrl":null,"resolves":true,"page":"https://caselawinfo.com/sources/fixture-press-report-conviction"}]}