Page:Percoco v. United States.pdf/3

Rh count against him—that he was out of public office during part of the time period within the indictment and that a private citizen cannot be convicted of depriving the public of honest services—sweep too broadly. The Court rejects the idea that a person nominally outside public employment can never have the necessary fiduciary duty to the public. Through principles of agency, an individual who is not a formal employee of a government may become an actual agent of the government by agreement, and thereby have a fiduciary duty to the government and thus to the public it serves. While the Court rejects the absolute rule, “the intangible duty of honest services” codified in §1346 plainly does not extend a duty to the public to all private persons, and the Court therefore addresses if Margiotta states the correct test. Pp. 8–9.

, J., delivered of the Court, in which, and , , , and , joined, and in which , joined as to all but Part II–C–2. , filed concurring in the judgment, in which, joined.