Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, two officials of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, were charged with bribery and racketeering for their alleged role in paying money to and giving rather large gifts to members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in order to win the bid for holding the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002. Salt Lake City did win the bid, but an anonymous letter to the IOC revealed that these types of payments and gifts had been offered. Following an investigation, nine members of the IOC were removed or resigned and others were sanctioned. The Salt Lake City Olympic Committee removed Mr. Welch and Mr. Johnson and replaced them with Mitt Romney as the head of its committee. Utah declined prosecution under state law, and a federal district court judge dismissed the charges against Mr. Welch and Mr. Johnson. The U.S. Attorney for the case filed an appeal with the tenth circuit federal court of appeals asking that the charges be reinstated. He noted that the Olympics were an “international” event and mandated federal jurisdiction. He also argued in the brief that the payments, accommodations, and gifts were more than goodwill and amounted to bribery in violation of federal law.

Applying the cases and law presented in the discussion on the FCPA, determine whether there was or was not a violation of federal law. What jurisdiction do federal courts have over criminal charges? Describe the appellate process and what an appellate court can do in an appeal such as this. [U.S. v Welch, 327 F.3d 1081, at 1085 (10th Cir. 2003)]