RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
                                Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b)
                                       File Name: 23a0010p.06

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                  FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT



                                                             ┐
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                             │
                                   Plaintiff-Appellant,      │
                                                              >        No. 21-1782
                                                             │
        v.                                                   │
                                                             │
 EMANUELE PALMA,                                             │
                                  Defendant-Appellee.        │
                                                             ┘

  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
                 No. 2:19-cr-20626-1—Nancy G. Edmunds, District Judge.

                                   Argued: October 20, 2022

                             Decided and Filed: January 18, 2023

                    Before: COLE, GIBBONS, and BUSH, Circuit Judges.

                                      _________________

                                            COUNSEL

ARGUED: Andrew W. Laing, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington,
D.C., for Appellant. Greg D. Andres, DAVIS, POLK & WARDWELL LLP, New York, New
York, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Andrew W. Laing, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., John K. Neal, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE,
Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. Greg D. Andres, Paul J. Nathanson, DAVIS, POLK &
WARDWELL LLP, New York, New York, Kenneth M. Mogill, MOGILL, POSNER &
COHEN, Lake Orion, Michigan, for Appellee.
                                      _________________

                                             OPINION
                                      _________________

       JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. Defendant Emanuele Palma was indicted for several
crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The indictment alleges that Palma and others
 No. 21-1782                        United States v. Palma                              Page 2


conspired to falsify test results for a new diesel engine and market these engines as
environmentally friendly, meeting regulatory standards, and “best-in-class” compared with other
diesel engines. The district court dismissed this count since, in its view, the property loss by
consumers was too far removed from the falsified test results, which, the court reasoned, were
meant to deceive regulators. Because Palma is only charged with conspiracy, not wire fraud
itself, and because the indictment alleges adequate facts tying Palma to a fraudulent scheme, we
REVERSE.

                                               I

       In 2010, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) began developing a new diesel engine
for several types of vehicles. Defendant Palma worked for FCA starting in 2013. Also named in
the superseding indictment are Sergio Pasini, a head calibration engineer who supervised Palma,
and Gianluca Sabbioni, a technical director who supervised Pasini.

       Palma led a team of engineers who developed and calibrated diesel engines for use in
FCA’s vehicles. Diesel-fueled engines use a combination of systems to reduce emissions and
improve fuel economy and performance. But these systems are a double-edged sword. For one,
the Exhaust Gas Recirculation system lowers emissions, but it reduces fuel economy. And
Selective Catalytic Reduction, or the injection of ammonia fluid into the exhaust to reduce
emissions, consumes diesel exhaust fluid, requiring owners to replenish the fluid more
frequently.

       The indictment alleges that Palma participated in a scheme that ma