U.S. v. Barrett
| Decision Date | 02 January 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 73-1477,73-1477 |
| Citation | 505 F.2d 1091 |
| Parties | 75-1 USTC P 9340 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Edward J. BARRETT, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Robert E. Wiss and Thomas A. Foran, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellant.
James R. Thompson, U.S. Atty., Gary L. Starkman and Dan K. Webb, Asst. U.S. Attys., Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before HASTINGS, Senior Circuit Judge, and STEVENS and SPRECHER, Circuit Judges.
This appeal seeks review of the conviction of Edward Barrett, the County Clerk of Cook County, Illinois, from 1955 to 1973, for violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341 (mail fraud), 1 18 U.S.C. 1952 () 2 and 26 U.S.C. 7201 (). 3
The County Clerk of Cook County has the responsibility for purchasing and insuring voting machines. In 1954, the State's Attorney of Cook County had rendered an opinion that competitive bidding was not required in the purchase of voting machines inasmuch as it was important to maintain uniformity in all of the County's precincts. Since 900 machines had already been purchased from Shoup Voting Machine Corporation, and no one other than Shoup sold comparable machines, the situation was not adaptable to competitive bidding. The president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, which is responsible for the management of the affairs of Cook County, testified that the 1954 opinion continued to govern the purchase of voting machines as late as 1971.
The 1954 opinion stated that 'you may request a bid from the Shoup Voting Machine Co. only,' but that any bid required the approval of the County Clerk and then of the County Board. The president of the County Board testified that from 1967 to 1971, four voting machine contracts covering 1,400 machines were submitted to the Board by the County Clerk, that they were unanimously approved by the Board without debate, and that in casting his own vote the president relied upon the County Clerk 'to perform his statutory obligation' as to the need and 'the best price for this kind of equipment for the County.'
Defendant Barrett had become County Clerk of Cook County in 1955 and continued in that office until 1973, upon his conviction in this case.
The Shoup Voting Machine Corporation began to sell its 10-column, 50-row, vertical voting machines to Cook County in the early 1950's. In 1963 or 1964, the Cook County machines were converted to 6-column machines 'to give more room for propositions.' Irving H. Meyers, then executive vice president of Shoup, was in charge of the Cook County conversion, which took place in Chicago warehouses where the machines were stored. At that time, Meyers met Barrett.
In July, 1965, the ownership of Shoup was transferred to a group of Philadelphia investors. Meyers became a 10 percent owner and the president of Shoup.
On September 13, 1965, 'in accordance with your request for bids,' Meyers wrote to Barrett, proposing on behalf of Shoup to sell 250 voting machines to Cook County at $1,791 each. Having received no response, Meyers came to Chicago in December, 1965 and met with Barrett in his County Clerk office. Barrett told Meyers that he did not have the funds to purchase the machines at that time but might have the money in the forthcoming budget. Meyers testified:
I said to Mr. Barrett that any dealings between the Shoup Company and the County of Cook in the future would be between he and I. I told Mr. Barrett that I was committed to pay him five percent cash on all voting machine sales to Cook County.
Mr. Barrett said to me that he was getting more money than that before.
I said to Mr. Barrett that this was a new ball game, and that is all the money that I was committed to pay.
Mr. Barrett said that he wanted $200 per machine.
I hesitated for a moment, and then I said to Mr. Barrett that the only way I could pay him $200 per machine would be to raise the price of the voting machine by $100 to the County of Cook, and that I felt that he could vindicate the $100 increase in price, because Cook County had a bastard type voting machine.
He asked me what I meant by that.
I told him that we made two standard models of machine, and it had been the Shoup policy, whether or not we sold a county one machine or a thousand, the price was always the same. But Cook County had a machine like no other county in the United States. So, therefore, there was nothing to compare Cook County's price against any other price.
Mr. Barrett said that he could take care of the increase. Mr. Barrett said to me, when would he get the money.
I told him, naturally, I would pay him the money after Shoup received the money from the County for the purchase of the voting equipment.
Mr. Barrett said there would be times when he would need money in front.
I said to Mr. Barrett that I would give him half of the money when I received a solid, concrete contract or purchase order from Cook County, and the other half of the money when I received the funds for the payment of the voting machines by our company from Cook County.
He said that would be fine.
I told Mr. Barrett that on any dealings at any time, they would be between he and I alone, that I never wanted to be in a position where there was a third party present, for his protection and also for mine.
Barrett ran for re-election in November, 1966. Meyers made a personal $1,000 campaign contribution, which Barrett acknowledged in two letters, one prior and one subsequent to the election. After the election, Meyers called Barrett to congratulate him. That time Barrett gave Meyers his unlisted home telephone number, which Meyers placed in his personal address book.
In January, 1967, Meyers saw Barrett at the hotel where Barrett was staying in Palm Springs, California. When Meyers asked Barrett when Shoup could expect some business, Barrett replied that he thought there would be some money in the budget and that when Meyers returned to Philadelphia, he should send Barrett a proposal for 300 voting machines.
On January 13, 1967, Meyers sent Barrett a proposal for the sale of 300 voting machines at $1,898 ($107 above the 1965 bid). The proposal was valid to March 15, 1967. Before the expiration date, Meyers telephoned Barrett and was told the County did not have the funds to buy the machines.
Barrett telephoned Meyers in October, 1967 and requested another bid for the 300 machines. The second proposal, sent on October 20, 1967, set the price at $1,890 ($99 above the 1965 bid). The journal of the proceedings of the Cook County Board of Commissioners for November 7, 1967, showed that the Shoup bid of October 20 was unanimously approved by the Board. Shortly thereafter, Barrett advised Meyers by telephone of the Board approval, whereupon Meyers told him that he would come to Chicago.
Meyers flew to Chicago on November 14, 1967 with a blue zippered plastic valise containing $30,000 in cash. At Barrett's prior suggestion Meyers met him at the air terminal where they had lunch together. At the restaurant Meyers put the valise between Barrett and himself and after lunch Barrett picked up the valise with the money and left.
Meyers explained how he acquired the cash which he paid Barrett:
In 1965, when I became president of Shoup, I devised a method of raising cash where there might be purposes of obtaining business where I did not have a legitimate representative, and by paying cash was the only way to receive the business.
The method that I devised was to pay different persons checks to represent Shoup in certain areas where I did not have representation, or to pay by check different professional people, lawyers or so forth for professional fees for services nonrendered.
When I paid these checks to these people they would pay their income tax and then return to me 40 or 50 percent in cash, and at the end of each year I would send out a 1099 from to these people so that they could report-- make sure they would report this money on their income tax.
This is the way or the method that I used to raise cash.
The government introduced the records of the travel agency which booked Meyers' flights to and from Chicago on November 14, 1967. They showed that the flight arrived at Chicago O'Hare Airport at 12:17 p.m. and that the return flight to Philadelphia left O'Hare at 2:10 p.m. Telephone records showed a call from Shoup's office to Barrett's unlisted home telephone number on November 13, 1967. Safe deposit company records showed a visit on November 13 to one of two safe deposit boxes in which Meyers kept cash to make payments.
Shoup Corporation received the last payment from Cook County on the 300 machines in early August, 1968. Meyers then called Barrett and arranged to fly to Chicago to see him. On August 9, 1968, Meyers withdrew $30,000 in cash from his safe deposit box, placed it in a brown manila envelope and sealed it, and placed the envelope in a blue plastic valise. He flew to Chicago where Barrett met him at the airport; they had lunch at the same airport restaurant as before. Again Barrett left the meeting with the valise and the $30,000. Telephone records showed a call to Barrett's County Clerk office on August 7; safe deposit records showed a box entry by Meyers on August 9, 1968.
At the August 9 airport meeting Meyers and Barrett discussed the sale of an additional 300 voting machines. Barrett had called Meyers in April and had said that Cook County needed 300 more machines for the upcoming presidential election but did not have the money. Shortly thereafter Meyers called Barrett and advised him that Shoup could furnish 200 new machines and 100 reconditioned used machines at a rental of $300 per machine for the November election, with an option to purchase the machines and a credit of the rental on...
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