Jordan v. United States
| Decision Date | 26 January 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 8450,8451.,8450 |
| Parties | H. T. JORDAN, Jr., Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. Gervase A. BRYANT, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Carmon C. Harris, Oklahoma City, Okl., for appellants.
Michael C. Stewart, Asst. U. S. Atty., Oklahoma City, Okl. (B. Andrew Potter, U. S. Atty., Oklahoma City, Okl., with him on the brief), for appellee.
Before PHILLIPS and HICKEY, Circuit Judges, and BRATTON, District Judge.
H. T. Jordan, Jr., and Gervase A. Bryant were convicted on three counts of a twelve count indictment. Count 1 charged a conspiracy to knowingly make or cause to be made false statements to the Federal Housing Administration for the purpose of obtaining loans, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Sec. 371, and Counts 6 and 10 charged substantive counts of making or causing to be made, false statements to the Federal Housing Administration, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Sections 1010 and 2. Of the remaining nine counts, two were withdrawn from the consideration of the jury and not guilty verdicts were returned as to the others. Following conviction and sentencing defendants appeal.
Defendants were builders and sellers of homes, the purchases of which were financed by lending institutions upon loan guaranties of the Federal Housing Administration. Count 1 charges that the defendants conspired among themselves and with others to make or cause to be made false statements to the Federal Housing Administration, knowing such statements to be false. Fourteen overt acts were alleged under this count. Count 6 charges that the defendants made or caused one Hill to make a false statement as to the income of Hill in that it was represented that Hill was employed by the defendants' organization at an annual salary of $7,200.00, and that such false statement was made for the purpose of influencing the Federal Housing Administration to insure the loan on certain property. Count 10 charges that the defendants caused one Jackson to make statements to the Federal Housing Administration to the effect that he was trading his equity in certain property as a part payment on property which he claimed he was purchasing from the defendants, and that he intended to occupy such property being purchased from the defendants; that both of these statements were false and were made for the purposes of influencing the Federal Housing Administration to insure a loan on such property.
The principal ground urged by defendants on appeal is that the evidence was insufficient to support the findings of guilty as to the three counts. Defendants urge that the evidence is insufficient to support the guilty verdicts as to the two substantive counts, and that the defendants cannot be found guilty as to the conspiracy count since there was no direct evidence of the conspiracy and the only evidence offered was that which went to prove the substantive counts. They urge that if the defendants were found not guilty of all substantive counts charging offenses which the defendants were alleged to have conspired to commit they could not be guilty of the conspiracy, and particularly so when the Government relies upon the same evidence to prove the conspiracy and the substantive counts.
There is substantial evidence to sustain the verdicts of guilty by the jury as to the two substantive counts. As to Count 6, a finding by the jury that the statement that Hill was drawing a salary of $7,200.00 a year was false is clearly supported by the evidence. It is abundantly clear that during the several months he was employed by the defendants Hill drew no salary at all and at most may have earned in commissions $800.00. As to Count 10, Jackson testified that the defendants proposed to him that the house could be bought in his name and then transferred as an equity to someone else and that he never intended to move into it. The reason he went along with the proposal was at the time the only source of income that he had was doing work for the defendants and he was afraid to say no to the proposition. This was more than sufficient to support the jury's finding of guilty on this count.
The gist of a criminal conspiracy is an agreement to violate a law of the United States and one or more overt acts by one or more of the conspirators to effect the objects of the unlawful agreement....
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