Sapir v. United States, 4912.
| Decision Date | 13 December 1954 |
| Docket Number | No. 4912.,4912. |
| Citation | 216 F.2d 722 |
| Parties | Ben SAPIR, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
John B. Tittmann and T. B. Keleher, Albuquerque, N. M. (A. H. McLeod, Albuquerque, N. M., on the brief), for appellant.
Melvin L. Robins, Asst. U. S. Atty., Albuquerque, N. M. (Paul F. Larrazolo, U. S. Atty., Albuquerque, N. M., on the brief), for the United States.
Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and HUXMAN and MURRAH, Circuit Judges.
Sapir and one Canfield were charged by indictment with a conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 371. From a judgment and sentence on a verdict of guilty, Sapir has appealed.
The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, located at Socorro, New Mexico, hereinafter referred to as the Institute, pursuant to a contract with the United States Navy, was engaged in a research project involving airplane components and missiles. For reasons of military security the contract was "classified." Under the contract, the Institute was possessed of certain property of the United States used in connection with such research program. It was determined that certain aluminum and brass surplus should be sold as scrap. These materials were used in classified experimental work. The aluminum bore marks from which it could be readily recognized as property of the United States. The aluminum was smelted into ingots in order to destroy its identity and in order to make it unrecognizable as property of the United States and to maintain the secrecy of the classified experimental work. Canfield, who was purchasing agent for the Institute, in May, 1953, issued an invitation to bid on the following items: "Aluminum, resmelted, in ingot form" and "Brass, oil radiators, removed from aircraft." The bid form was on the letterhead of the Institute and was the standard form used by the Institute in its ordinary transactions and carried the notation "for sale by the N. M. Institute Mining & Technology, Socorro, N. M." The procedure used in the sale of the scrap was the normal procedure for the sale of property of the Institute. Sapir was the successful bidder. After he had signed the bid and returned it to the Institute, it was approved on May 19, 1953, by Commander J. F. Gill, Development Contract Officer and the Navy representative in charge of the program at the Institute. It was accepted by Canfield, the purchasing agent, on May 25, 1953. Both endorsements were placed on the bid after Sapir had returned it and he had no knowledge that it was approved by anyone other than the Institute. The notice of award of bid, which was sent to Sapir on May 25, 1953, was the regular Institute form and contained nothing to indicate that the United States was in any way involved in the transaction.
On June 12, 1953, Sapir removed 96,580 pounds of aluminum ingots and 2,998 pounds of brass from the property of the Institute by truck and loaded it into a railroad car. The Institute having no facilities for weighing the aluminum and brass surplus, it was agreed that the items would be paid for on the basis of railroad weights. Pursuant to an agreement between Canfield and Sapir, one truckload was not loaded into the railroad car, but was transported directly by truck from its location on the Institute property to a warehouse in Albuquerque. The following day, Sapir gave Canfield $200. The Institute invoiced Sapir only for the 96,580 pounds of aluminum ingots and 2,998 pounds of brass, which were loaded into the railroad car. Canfield knew that the aluminum ingots and brass belonged to the United States.
An essential element of the offense charged was an intent to defraud the United States.1 Sapir could not have intended to defraud the United States, unless he knew the property which he purchased belonged to the United States.
The sole question presented on this appeal is whether Sapir knew or had...
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Corbin v. United States, 5736.
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Forman v. United States, 43
...1955, 348 U.S. 373, 75 S.Ct. 422, 99 L.Ed. 426, require a different conclusion, as petitioner claims. The Court of Appeals there, 10 Cir., 216 F.2d 722, holding the evidence insufficient to convict, had first reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss the indictment, and later, on t......
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U.S. v. Sorrow, 83-8400
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