Evans v. United States

Evans (defendant), an elected DeKalb County, Georgia commissioner, spoke repeatedly with an FBI agent posing as a real-estate developer. In conversations initiated entirely by the agent, Evans was asked to help rezone property and received $7,000 in cash plus a $1,000 campaign check. Evans reported the check but not the cash. He was charged with extortion under the Hobbs Act, which criminalizes obtaining property through wrongful force or fear, or 'under color of official right.' The trial judge instructed the jury that a public official who accepts money in exchange for a requested exercise of official power violates the Act regardless of any campaign-contribution label, and regardless of whether the official took steps to induce the payment. Evans was convicted, and the court of appeals affirmed.