U.S. v. Meester
| Decision Date | 20 May 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-8769,83-8769 |
| Parties | 17 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1518 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Constance Haas MEESTER, Jeanne Sanfratello Tumulty, Robert Haas, Edward Conrad Sawyer, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Clyde M. Taylor, Jr., Tallahassee, Fla., for Meester.
John M. Sims, Albion, Mich., for Tumulty.
N.C. Deday Larene, Detroit, Mich., for Haas.
Stephen Marc Slepin, Tallahassee, Fla., for Sawyer.
William P. Adams, Asst. U.S. Atty., Macon, Ga., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Before RONEY and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges, and TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge.
The appellants, Constance Haas Meester, Jeanne Sanfratello Tumulty, Robert Haas and Edward Conrad Sawyer, were charged in a multiple count indictment with various drug related offenses. The evidence adduced by the government at the trial established the existence of a loosely organized group of people engaged in the importation and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. The government primarily relied on the testimony of witnesses who were actual participants in the importation and possession scheme and who testified pursuant to plea bargains or in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Meester, Tumulty, Haas, Sawyer, and Herman Whitlow were tried before a jury in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. At the conclusion of the evidence, the district court granted a directed verdict in favor of Haas and Sawyer on one count. The jury thereafter convicted the appellants on all remaining counts. All five defendants filed notices of appeal. On September 25, 1984, Whitlow's appeal was dismissed as moot because of his death. We now affirm the convictions of Meester, Tumulty, Haas and Sawyer.
In the fall of 1979, George Kersting met with Judy Haas McNelis in Jamaica and agreed to try to fly a load of marijuana out of Jamaica. Kersting's first attempt, in conjunction with pilot Frank Corry, was unsuccessful due to mechanical problems with the plane. On November 16, 1979, Corry paid $92,268.00 in cash for a Piper Navajo airplane designated by the registration number N9044Y. The retail purchase order, signed by "J. McHenry," listed Aircraft Amalgamated Corporation, a Florida corporation formed by the appellant Sawyer, as the purchaser. Kersting and Corry made three flights to Jamaica for McNelis in the N9044Y aircraft. They returned to Florida each time with approximately 1,250 pounds of marijuana. Following the third trip, Kersting traveled to Texas and remained there for several months.
In April, 1980, Kersting, accompanied by Garry Childers, returned to West Palm Beach, Florida, and moved into a house rented by McNelis in Boynton Beach, Florida. Kersting and Corry subsequently made two trips to Jamaica for McNelis in a Piper Navajo, registration number N9251Y, purchased by Corry on February 28, 1980 for $104,020.00 in cash. The purchase order, signed by "J. McHenry," listed Aircraft Amalgamated Corporation as the purchaser.
In mid-April, 1980, McNelis, Kersting and Childers traveled from south Florida to the residence of Robert Haas, McNelis's father, in Valdosta, Georgia. Subsequently, Haas paid $8,400.00 in cash for a trip to the Caribbean in a Lear Jet for the purpose of locating Corry, who was stranded on one of the islands. In addition, McNelis provided Childers with $5,980.00 cash to purchase a pickup truck with a camper shell for use in transporting marijuana. While in Valdosta, Childers saw Meester depart Haas's residence in a rental car with a trunk full of marijuana. McNelis and Kersting returned to Florida in McNelis's Cadillac. Childers followed in the pickup truck, which was loaded with approximately 200 pounds of marijuana. Upon their return to the house in Boynton Beach, the marijuana was transferred to Tumulty.
On April 29, 1980, McNelis purchased her own Piper Navajo airplane, registration number N72599, because Corry was no longer able to work McNelis's smuggling schedule around his airplanes. Corry purchased the plane for $113,380.00 with cash provided by McNelis. The purchase order was signed "Harrison Williams," vice president of United Equity Title Company, a Florida corporation organized by Sawyer.
In early May, 1980, McNelis, Kersting and Childers moved into a house in Gulfstream, Florida. During May, Kersting and Corry imported three 1,250 pound loads of marijuana from Jamaica to south Florida for McNelis in Piper Navajo N72599. Haas made arrangements for the transportation in Jamaica. On May 29, 1980, Palm Beach County, Florida Sheriff's deputies seized Piper Navajo N72599 at Palm Beach International Airport after observing the suspicious circumstances of its landing. Apparently at Corry's suggestion, McNelis asked Sawyer to obtain the release of the plane. On June 11, 1980, Sawyer signed an Indemnification and Hold Harmless Agreement in which he agreed to hold the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office harmless for acts surrounding the release of the aircraft. In the agreement, Sawyer represented that he held all the stock in United Equity Title Company, the registered owner of N72599.
In mid-June, 1980, McNelis traded Piper Navajo N72599 to an airplane dealer in Memphis, Tennessee in exchange for a Beechcraft Queenair, N5595L, and a Cessna 421, N2960Q. Sawyer registered the aircraft in Florida corporations he organized, namely, Queen Bee-ch, Incorporated and Violet's Aviation Corporation. According to Childers's testimony, McNelis wanted to register the planes in corporate names because they would be easier to retrieve if they were seized by the authorities.
McNelis and Kersting subsequently traveled to Jamaica to check on the price and quality of marijuana to be imported into the United States on the Queenair. Upon their return from Jamaica, McNelis was arrested coming through Customs. Childers testified that he picked up Kersting and they then contacted Sawyer to assist in securing her release. In July, 1980, Sawyer introduced McNelis, who was in the market for a pilot to replace Frank Corry, to Frank Marrs, an Eastern Airlines pilot on a medical furlough who was Sawyer's close friend. Marrs agreed to smuggle marijuana in the Queenair for $50,000.00 per trip and to maintain both the Queenair and the Cessna 421 at his private airstrip in Lake Placid, Florida.
In late July and early August, 1980, Marrs made modifications to the Queenair to increase its range and stability for smuggling use. Arrangements were made to use an airport in Sylvester, Georgia for offloading purposes and Childers rented a house on Sherwood Drive in Valdosta, Georgia to store the marijuana. McNelis, Meester, Kersting and Childers subsequently met to make plans to bring a load of marijuana from Jamaica into Georgia. Meester traveled to Jamaica to arrange for the marijuana. Following preparations, Frank Marrs and Kersting flew the Queenair to Jamaica carrying $37,000.00 in cash. No Customs Form 4790, a report on the international transportation of currency, was filed with Customs agents. Upon landing in Jamaica, Kersting gave the money to Meester. Marrs and Kersting picked up a cargo of approximately 1,100 pounds of marijuana and flew it into the Sylvester, Georgia airport. Childers offloaded the marijuana and drove it to the Sherwood Drive address in Valdosta. McNelis and Tumulty, assisted by Childers, inspected and weighed the marijuana and sold it to two purchasers. On August 18, 1980, Meester paid $13,323.22 cash for a new Datsun 280ZX automobile.
Approximately a month after the August importation, Haas and Meester traveled to Jamaica to formulate a deal for a second load of marijuana. On October 5, 1980, Marrs and Kersting flew the Queenair to Jamaica. Kersting carried $56,000.00 in cash obtained from McNelis, again without filing a Form 4790. When they arrived in Jamaica, Kersting gave the money to Haas and then proceeded to load 1,350 pounds of marijuana on the plane. Marrs and Kersting returned to Sylvester, Georgia, where Childers and Dennis Dabbs offloaded the marijuana and took it to the house on Sherwood Drive in Valdosta. Tumulty subsequently secured a purchaser from Michigan by the name of Ron Joslin for this second cargo. Joslin arrived in Valdosta with approximately $70,000.00 in cash.
McNelis gave Kersting $37,000.00 of the cash obtained from Joslin to purchase a third load of marijuana. On October 10, 1980, Marrs and Kersting again flew the Queenair to Jamaica. No Form 4790 was filed for the currency. Upon landing, Kersting gave the money to a Jamaican for delivery to Haas. Kersting and Marrs then transported 1,350 pounds of marijuana to the Sylvester airport. Childers and Dennis Dabbs offloaded the marijuana and took it to a second stash house in Valdosta. Joslin again purchased most of the third load of marijuana, some of it on credit.
Around October 23, 1980, McNelis, Kersting and Marrs traveled to Michigan to check on the marijuana purchased by Joslin on credit. While in Michigan, McNelis sought Sawyer's advice on how to collect the money, but declined to use the person he recommended because of the 50% collection fee. Tumulty, who had accompanied Joslin on his return to Michigan, received several payments from Joslin. Kersting took $90,000.00 of the cash and departed company with McNelis. Joslin subsequently returned the marijuana he was unable to sell to Childers who drove it to South Carolina at the direction of McNelis.
Shortly before Thanksgiving in November, 1980, Haas and Childers traveled to Jamaica for the purpose of setting up the fourth importation. Childers carried $20,000.00 in cash, given to him at the Miami Airport by Haas, for which no Form 4790 had been filed. Haas remained in Jamaica to make preparations and Childers returned to the United States. After receiving...
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