U.S. v. Knox

Citation68 F.3d 990
Decision Date08 December 1995
Docket Number94-2489,Nos. 94-2449,s. 94-2449
PartiesBankr. L. Rep. P 76,670 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Mark Allen KNOX and Armando Herman Carreiro, Defendants-Appellants.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Brian P. Netols (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Criminal Division, Chicago, IL, Barry Rand Elden, Asst. U.S. Atty., Criminal Appellate Division, Chicago, IL, for the U.S.

Edward X. Clinton (argued), Mayer, Brown & Platt, Chicago, IL, for Mark A. Knox.

Thomas A. Durkin, Michigan City, IN, Leonard C. Goodman (argued), Chicago, IL, for Armando Peter Carreiro.

Before RIPPLE and ROVNER, Circuit Judges, and MILLER, District Judge. *

MILLER, District Judge.

Armando Carreiro and Mark Knox were convicted by a jury of conspiracy to engage in extortion, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 371, attempted extortion, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951, and conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 371. Mr. Carreiro also was convicted of interstate travel to facilitate extortion. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1952. Mr. Carreiro and Mr. Knox appeal their convictions and sentences, raising several arguments. We affirm.

I. FACTS

Because both defendants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support their convictions, we set forth the facts in some detail, including all of the reasonable, permissible inferences from the evidence in the light most favorable to the government. United States v. Shields, 999 F.2d 1090, 1095 (7th Cir.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 877, 127 L.Ed.2d 74 (1994); United States v. Nesbitt, 852 F.2d 1502, 1509 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1015, 109 S.Ct. 808, 102 L.Ed.2d 798 (1989); United States v. Redwine, 715 F.2d 315, 319 (7th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1216, 104 S.Ct. 2661, 81 L.Ed.2d 367 (1984).

Mr. Carreiro was a Canadian businessman frustrated with the refusal of a Chicago company, Exchange Parts of America, Inc., to pay a $33,000 debt to Mr. Carreiro's company (Silverstone, Ltd.) for the hauling of materials from another Canadian company (Automet Industries, Inc.) to Exchange Parts. Mr. Carreiro hired an attorney to bring suit against Exchange Parts, but the suit languished. Exchange Parts had settled its dispute with Automet, receiving full credit for the freight charges owed to Mr. Carreiro's company, but still did not pay Silverstone. The civil suit produced a default judgment against Exchange Parts, but Exchange Parts filed a petition in bankruptcy before the default judgment became final.

Neither Silverstone nor Mr. Carreiro received official notice from the bankruptcy court of Exchange Parts' filing. Nonetheless, Mr. Carreiro learned of the petition's filing from another creditor and began a long-distance telephonic search for Exchange Parts' vice president of finance, a man named Reding. Mr. Reding did not return Mr. Carreiro's phone calls or respond to a letter Mr. Carreiro faxed to Mr. Reding.

Mr. Carreiro then arranged for Michael Taylor, a former Silverstone driver who had gone into the collection business, to go to Chicago. Mr. Carreiro provided Mr. Taylor with a copy of the settlement between Automet and Exchange Parts and told him to deliver the papers to Leonard Hoppe, Exchange Parts' president. Mr. Taylor travelled to Chicago, where he recruited Mr. Knox to provide transportation in exchange for a share of the recovery. Mr. Knox, in turn, arranged for Alvin McCarver to provide transportation, as well as housing and a telephone at McCarver's house.

Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor presented themselves at the Exchange Parts office without identifying themselves. Mr. Taylor repeatedly asked to speak with Mr. Hoppe about money owed to Silverstone. Told that neither Mr. Hoppe nor another named co-owner were present, the two men left. Exchange Parts personnel notified their vice-president and attorney of the visit, and their attorney called Silverstone's attorney about the visit and the bankruptcy laws. Silverstone's attorney said he would try to speak with Mr. Carreiro.

The next day, less than an hour after Mr. Carreiro called McCarver's house, Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor went with Mr. McCarver to Exchange Parts, parking the car so that the license plate could not be seen. Mr. Taylor again asked to see Mr. Hoppe, and was told that Exchange Parts was in litigation, making it illegal to try to collect money from Exchange Parts. Mr. Taylor was told to contact Mr. Carreiro's attorney for confirmation. As Mr. Taylor continued to demand to speak with Mr. Hoppe, an Exchange Parts employee noted that Mr. Taylor was holding a piece of paper with Mr. Hoppe's license plate number on it. After leaving the business, Mr. Taylor and Mr. McCarver spoke to Mr. Carreiro by car phone, reporting their lack of success and the statement that Exchange Parts was in bankruptcy.

Exchange Parts' attorney again called Mr. Carreiro's attorney to report this visit; Mr. Carreiro's attorney said he would speak to Mr. Carreiro. Mr. Carreiro's attorney sent a letter to Exchange Parts' attorney reporting that Mr. Carreiro had been informed of the bankruptcy filing and its legal effect. Meanwhile, Mr. Hoppe called the police.

The next day, Mr. Carreiro tried to call Mr. Hoppe at Exchange Parts and called Mr. McCarver's house (where Mr. Taylor was staying), as well. Mr. Carreiro's telephone calls to various residences used by Mr. Taylor continued for nearly three weeks.

Five days after their last visit, Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor again appeared at Exchange Parts and waited overtly in the parking lot. When a security guard approached them, they drove off. A few minutes later, Mr. Knox (identifying himself as "Mr. Ipsis") telephoned Mr. Hoppe at Exchange Parts. He stated that Mr. Carreiro had hired him to collect the debt and that he would do so "one way or another." Mr. Knox reported that he knew what car Mr. Hoppe drove and where Mr. Hoppe lived. Mr. Hoppe declined to meet with Mr. Knox. Mr. Carreiro telephoned Mr. Hoppe's home that night and demanded the debt's payment through a series of certified checks by the following morning.

Early the next morning, two telephone calls were placed from a pay phone near Mr. Hoppe's home, the first to Mr. Carreiro's residence and the second to Silverstone. As Mr. Hoppe walked from his house to his garage, and then as he drove to work that morning, a car with Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor followed him, with Mr. Knox waving at Mr. Hoppe. When Mr. Taylor shook his fist, Mr. Hoppe decided to pay the debt to Silverstone. He called Mr. Carreiro with word that payment would be made; a few minutes later, Mr. Carreiro telephoned the residence where Mr. Taylor was staying.

Mr. Hoppe obtained the check to pay the debt, but the FBI intervened. When told that sending the check could expose him to prosecution for bankruptcy fraud, Mr. Hoppe agreed to cooperate with the FBI agents. At their request, Mr. Hoppe did not send the check and agreed to allow the FBI to monitor his telephone calls. He called Mr. Carreiro the next day and told him that he could not pay Silverstone because of the bankruptcy, but still hoped to work something out. Mr. Carreiro said Mr. Hoppe should make the check out to another business Mr. Carreiro owned, so Silverstone's name would not appear. Mr. Hoppe said he feared for his family and that Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor intimidated him; Mr. Carreiro simply replied that Mr. Hoppe should make the check payable to the other company. A few hours later, Mr. Carreiro called Mr. Hoppe with another request for the money, saying his hands were "tied".

During the day's ensuing telephone conversations, Mr. Hoppe told Mr. Carreiro frequently that Exchange Parts' bankruptcy made payment illegal and that he feared Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor. Mr. Carreiro offered to send false invoices from his other company for Exchange Parts to pay; Mr. Hoppe said that would be a fraud on the bankruptcy court. Mr. Carreiro told Mr. Hoppe that people would be in touch with him. That night, after Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor drove past Mr. Hoppe's home two or three times, Mr. Knox (again posing as "Mr. Ipsis") telephoned Mr. Hoppe's residence. Mr. Hoppe told Mr. Knox three times that Exchange Parts was in bankruptcy; Mr. Knox said the debt should be paid.

Early the next morning, Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor knocked loudly on the front door of Mr. Hoppe's residence for about ten minutes while Mr. Hoppe's children were alone in the house. The morning after that incident, a police officer found Mr. Knox and Mr. Taylor sitting in car in front of Mr. Hoppe's home. Mr. Hoppe called Mr. Carreiro and said that he and his family were scared to death, but to send Mr. Carreiro a check would be a federal offense for both of them. Mr. Carreiro asked how Mr. Hoppe intended to pay and disclosed his knowledge of Exchange Parts' future under its bankruptcy plan. Mr. Hoppe said he would try to find some cash.

Mr. Hoppe and his family left town for the weekend. Shortly after their Sunday night return, "Mr. Ipsis" called Mr. Hoppe from a pay phone to ask whether progress had been made on finding the money. Mr. Carreiro and Mr. Hoppe spoke by phone again the following evening. Mr. Hoppe said he could have the money together by the following Monday; Mr. Carreiro said "Mr. Ipsis" and his associates were getting impatient.

In telephone calls in the ensuing days, Mr. Hoppe and Mr. Carreiro discussed how the payments would be made. Mr. Carreiro eventually agreed to accept a cash payment from Mr. Hoppe in person. On the promised Monday, Mr. Carreiro told Mr. Hoppe to meet him at O'Hare Airport. Mr. Carreiro later changed the rendezvous point to a restaurant. Mr. Carreiro, Mr. Knox, and Mr. Taylor were arrested at that restaurant.

Following a jury trial that spanned two weeks, Mr. Carreiro, Mr. Knox, and Mr. Taylor were convicted on all counts. Mr. Taylor has not appealed. The district court sentenced Mr. Carreiro to 51...

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