United States v. Sheridan

Decision Date23 December 1946
Docket NumberNo. 53,53
PartiesUNITED STATES v. SHERIDAN
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Leon Ulman, of Washington, D.C., for petitioner.

John H. Pickering, of Washington, D.C., for respondent.

Mr. Justice RUTLEDGE delivered the opinion of the Court.

Sheridan was indicted on three counts for having violated § 3 of the National Stolen Property Act, as amended, 48 Stat. 795, 53 Stat. 1178, 18 U.S.C. §§ 413—419, 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 413—419. A jury found him guilty on all counts.1 On the authority of Kann v. United States, 323 U.S. 88, 65 S.Ct. 148, 89 L.Ed. 88, 157 A.L.R. 406, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the conviction, 152 F.2d 57. Because of doubt as to the applicability of the Kann case, we granted certiorari.2 328 U.S. 829, 66 S.Ct. 1020.

Each count charged that Sheridan with fraudulent intent, caused the transportation in interstate commerce of a specified forged check, knowing it to have been forged. The proof3 offered to support these counts showed that on July 19, 1943, in Jackson, Michigan, Sheridan cashed three checks, receiving for them either cash or cash and hotel service or goods. Two, which were made the basis of counts one and two, were drawn on a bank in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, were payable to the order of 'P.H.D. Sheridan,' and purported to be drawn by 'U.S.E.F.C. 14A, A. J. Davis, Commissioner. As will be seen, it is not necessary to consider the third count, involving the other check.

From the endorsements it was clear that each check had been honored by banks at Jackson, Michigan. They forwarded the two checks drawn on the Missouri bank to it for payment. Both were marked 'no account' and returned to the forwarding bank. An agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified that his office had conducted an investigation in Washington, D.C., and that the United States Department of Commerce had no agent 'U.S.E.F.C. 14A,' nor one 'A. J. Davis, Commissioner.'

Sheridan was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. Hence, if the conviction on any is valid, it is unnecessary to consider the convictions on the other two. Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81, 85, 63 S.Ct. 1375, 1378, 87 L.Ed. 1774; Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, n. 1, 66 S.Ct. 1180. Accordingly, for the purposes of this decision it may be taken that only the convictions on counts one and two are in issue.4

I

The pertinent part of amended § 3 is set out in the margin.5 Whether or not Sheridan's situation is within the intended coverage depends upon the answer to be given to two questions, namely: (1) Did he cause to be transported in interstate commerce any forged security;6 (2) if so, did he do this 'with unlawful or fraudulent intent'? It is in these respects that the section's meaning must be determined.

It is not questioned that the checks were 'securities,' that they were 'forged,' or that they were transported in interstate commerce.7 It is urged, however, that Sheridan did not 'cause' the transportation, since his objective was attained when he cashed the checks and what happened to them later was of no consequence to him or his plan. Hence it is concluded that he can be said to have 'caused' the transportation only in the sense that it would not have occurred if he had not cashed the checks. This 'but for' relation is considered insufficient since the statute is thought not simply to forbid use of interstate commerce for transportation of forged securities without more; but to out-law such use only when it contributes to or is an essential part of carrying out the intended specific fraud.

The second contention, though stated differently, comes substantially to the same thing. It is that, upon the assumption Sheridan may be held to have 'caused' the transportation, still he did not do so with the requisite 'unalwful or fraudulent intent,' namely, to aid in completing the fraud. These views are bolstered by strong reliance on the Kann decision.

The Government answers with essentially two arguments. One is drawn primarily from the embodiment of amended § 3 in the National Stolen Property Act. It is shortly that the offense takes color and character from the other offenses with which it is associated in the context of § 3. Broadly, therefore the Government says that the section as amended excludes forged securities from interstate transportation just as it does stolen goods,8 money or securities, counterfeited securities and counterfeiting tools, or for that matter just as diseased cattle, lottery tickets, adulterated foods, etc., are excluded under various statutes related to the National Stolen Property Act. 9 More narrowly the Government argues that the transportation here necessarily aided or contributed to the perpetration of the fraud, if not by enabling respondent to secure possession originally of its fruits, then by giving him the necessary interval to make his escape; and thus to avoid either prosecution or restitution of the amount which early detection would make probable.

As an entirely fresh matter we should have difficulty in avoiding the force of the Government's views. The setting of the offense in amended § 3, together with the complete absence of anything in the legislative history to indicate that causing interstate transportation of forged securities was designed to be treated differently from causing the transportation of stolen goods, counterfeited securities, counterfeiting tools, etc., indicates plainly that transporting all these articles is to be treated in the same manner and, moreover, not in the limited sense for which respondent argues.

Congress had in mind preventing further frauds or the completion of frauds partially executed. But it also contemplated coming to the aid of the states in detecting and punishing criminals whose offenses are complete under state law, but who utilize the channels of interstate commerce to make a successful get away and thus make the state's detecting and punitive processes impotent. 10 This was indeed one of the most effective ways of preventing further frauds as well as irrevocable completion of partially executed ones. In the light of this purpose, we do not believe that Congress intended to restrict the pro- hibited transportation of stolen goods, securities and money, or of counterfeited securities and counterfeiting tools, to situations where it would be effective to complete a specific fraud, in the sense of enabling the defrauder to secure possession initially of what he seeks. The intent was more general.

It is true that amended § 3 forbids the interstate transportation of forged and counterfeited securities, and forging and counterfeiting tools, 'With unlawful or fraudulent intent,' while the earlier proscribed transportation of stolen goods, securities and money is not required in terms to be done with such an intent, but only with knowledge that they have been stolen. This difference would seem to be entirely procedural, not substantive in character. 11 But, in any event, it is not controlling here. For the question remains whether the Kann case requires us to hold that 'with unlawful or fraudulent intent' must be taken as restricting the forbidden transportation to cases where that element aids in originally securing the fruits of the fraud.

II

That case held that one alleged to be party to a fraudulent scheme could not be convicted under § 215 of the Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C. § 338, 18 U.S.C.A. § 338, for using the mails 'for the purpose of executing such scheme' by proving that he or his associates cashed checks, receiving the proceeds at forwarding banks, which in turn mailed them to the drawee banks for collection, the checks being neither forged nor dishonored by the banks on which they were drawn. We think the case is distinguishable both on the statutes applied and on the facts. In order that comparison may be exact, we set forth the applicable wording of the two sections.

Section 215 of the Criminal Code, involved in the Kann case, is as follows: 'Whoever, having devised * * * any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, * * * shall, for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, place, or cause to be placed, any letter * * * in any post office, or * * * cause to be delivered by mail according to the direction thereon * * * any such letter, * * * shall be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.' (Emphasis added.)

Amended § 3 of the Stolen Property Act reads pertinently, except for its important contextual coloring:12 '* * * whoever with unlawful or fraudulent intent shall transport or cause to be transported in interstate * * * commerce any falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited securities, knowing the same to have been falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited * * * shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both * * *.' (Emphasis added.)

Under § 215 the express requireme t is that the mailing or causing to be delivered by mail shall be 'for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do.' There is no such explicit requirement in amended § 3. The wording there is that the interstate transportation shall be done 'with unlawful or fraudulent intent.' This different wording and the difference in the contextual settings of the proscriptions have meaning, we think, to make their effects distinct. We emphasize at the outset that amended § 3 is part of a scheme of federal-state cooperation in apprehending and punishing criminals, while § 215 deals only with a distinctly federal crime.

The language of amended § 3 is broader and less specific than that of § 215. The word 'unlawful'...

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