Judge Sidney Stein
A jury convicted McIntosh of 11 counts of conspiring, attempting and committing Hobbs Act robbery; using or possessing a firearm in connection with the Hobbs Act counts; and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges arose from an attempt to rob drug dealers as they played dice in Yonkers (Cliff Street dice game); a robbery of $60,000 from Rizzatti at his Lynbrook home; and the robbery of a Poughkeepsie poker game’s participants. Despite deeming McIntosh a “violent, felonious predator” the court granted him acquittal on the robbery and firearm charges arising from the Cliff Street dice game. There was insufficient evidence of McIntosh’s intent to rob the drug dealers, and it was as likely that McIntosh intended to assault Biggs as it was that he intended to rob Biggs and his colleagues. In denying relief on the remaining charges, the court found the Lynbrook and Poughkeepsie robberies affected interstate commerce. Rizzatti was deprived of money otherwise spent on ice cream, made in New Jersey, sold to “mom and pop grocery stores.” By competing with a Connecticut casino for out-of-state customers, the poker game—employing cocktail waitresses, food service workers, and card dealers—operated in interstate commerce.
