Reid v. United States, 12769.
| Decision Date | 16 November 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. 12769.,12769. |
| Citation | 177 F.2d 743 |
| Parties | REID et al. v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
W. Paul Carpenter, Atlanta, Ga., O. C. Hancock, Atlanta, Ga., for appellants.
Allen E. Lockerman, Spl. Asst. to U. S. Atty., Atlanta, Ga., J. Ellis Mundy, U. S. Attorney, Atlanta, Ga., Lamar N. Smith, Asst. U. S. Atty., Atlanta, Ga., for appellee.
Before HUTCHESON, McCORD, and SIBLEY, Circuit Judges.
This appeal is by Fletcher Reid and Johnnie Miles from a conviction on March 24, 1949, and sentences imposed on April 1, 1949, upon an indictment returned July 24, 1946, which charged them and Phil Bodne, Benjamon Reid, and Murray Cowan, and other persons unknown, with conspiring together to violate Title III, Section 2(a) of the Second War Powers Act, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 633, and two specified Ration Orders, and with defrauding the United States in respect of its governmental function of the rationing of gasoline. The period of conspiracy named was from January 1, 1945, to the date of indictment, July 24, 1946. The object of the conspiracy was stated broadly to be to obtain gasoline ration coupons and sell them to the black market and thus defeat the orderly distribution of gasoline, a rationed commodity, while the United States was at war. Five overt acts were alleged, each averring a transaction in which Bodne, Cowan, and Fletcher Reid were named as participating, and no one else.
1. Each appellant insists that the evidence did not warrant the submission of his guilt to the jury, and that motions raising that question ought to have been sustained. The evidence is plain that an entire building in Atlanta several stories high, closely guarded, was used by the United States to store and issue new ration coupons for gasoline, and on a different story to receive and store used coupons; that some 20 employees only had access to the coupons, supposedly watched by guards. That Johnnie Miles was employed in handling the new coupons and was a messenger who came and went alone from the building and delivered coupons outside; the argument being that he, by connivance of a guard, could easily smuggle cartons of coupons to unauthorized persons, and had the best opportunity to do it. The evidence is direct that Fletcher Reid, running a filling station, delivered such coupons in large quantities to black market customers for large sums of money, and had formally confessed his guilt. Bodne pleaded guilty. Cowan turned witness for the prosecution. There is ample evidence to show such a conspiracy as is charged, and that Fletcher Reid was the sales outlet for the coupons. Without going into detail, there was as to Miles evidence that on one occasion Fletcher Reid was approached by a witness, Cullins, to buy 100,000 gallons of coupons, that Reid made a telephone call, and stated he could get the coupons about four o'clock; a few minutes before the hour Johnnie Miles drove up in an automobile and handed Reid a paper bag which Reid took back into a room; that Cullins then asked Miles if he could not in future get coupons direct from Miles, but Miles said if Cullins wanted any more tickets he would have to see Reid. Cullins then followed Reid into the room and Reid gave Cullins a paper bag containing the desired coupons and Cullins paid him $7000. There was also evidence that Miles had a salary of only about $1500 per year but about this time bought two nice automobiles; and that a shortage of about 11,000,000 gallons of coupons was discovered at the storage building in June, 1945. There was enough to carry to the jury the question of...
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