U.S. v. Kroesser

• Decision Date: 11 May 1984
• Docket Number: No. 82-3095,82-3095
• Citation: 731 F.2d 1509
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kenneth D. KROESSER, Roger D. Harmon, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1509

731 F.2d 1509

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kenneth D. KROESSER, Roger D. Harmon, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 82-3095.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

May 11, 1984.

Mark L. Horwitz, Orlando, Fla., for defendants-appellants.

Donald E. Christopher, Asst. U.S. Atty., Orlando, Fla., Louis M. Fischer, Atty. Appellate Sect., Crim. Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before TJOFLAT and FAY, Circuit Judges, and WISDOM ^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

Roger Harmon and Kenneth Kroesser, former employees of the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, appeal their convictions, following trial by jury, for the crime of retaining and concealing Federal Reserve notes stolen from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We find no reversible error, and accordingly affirm.

I.

Prior to their commission of the crime charged in this case, Roger Harmon and Kenneth Kroesser were both employed by the Bureau in Washington, D.C., as Physical Security Specialists. One of their job assignments was to witness the destruction of sheets of Federal Reserve Notes that had been removed from production runs in order to spot check for blemished bills. ¹ On several occasions, beginning in the fall of 1977, Harmon and Kroesser hid some of the sheets while the workers whose job it was to destroy them were out to lunch. Then, after work, they would retrieve the hidden sheets, conceal them under their clothing, and leave the premises. Each sheet contained sixteen Federal Reserve Notes. The currency consisted primarily of twenty dollar bills but also included large amounts of $50's and $100's. Kroesser estimated that he and Harmon had stolen currency with a face value of at least $750,000, a stack of sheets between four and five inches high, by 1979, when they resigned from the Bureau. They disposed of none of this currency, however. Rather, they secreted it in a safe in Kroesser's home in Virginia.

After they resigned from the Bureau, Harmon and Kroesser moved with their families to Sanford, Florida, and became partners in a saloon. They brought Kroesser's safe, and the currency, with them to Sanford and kept it in a bedroom in Harmon's house. After they arrived in Florida, the currency was disposed of and secreted in a variety of ways. Some, perhaps as much as $16,000, was spent directly by Harmon and Kroesser; a large amount was stored in the safe in Harmon's house; a small amount was stored in a strongbox in a closet in Kroesser's apartment in Sanford; and the largest part of the currency was sent abroad in a "laundering" operation.

In mid-April of 1982 Harmon's elder son, Doug, stole the safe Kroesser kept at Harmon's house, and along with two accomplices blew it open. Harmon ultimately succeeded in recovering approximately $20,000 of the stolen currency from his son, which he returned to Kroesser, though an additional $40,000 was apparently taken by the accomplices.

Harmon and Kroesser were concerned about being detected if they passed too much of the money themselves. ² Kroesser eventually discussed their concern with Denny Pennell, whom he met when he and Harmon acquired the saloon; he told Pennell that he had a large quantity of stolen currency that he wished to launder. Denny introduced Kroesser to his father, Jack Pennell of Fort Myers, Florida, a reputed organized crime figure. An arrangement was made in which Kroesser delivered $200,000 in currency to Jack Pennell at his home, and the money was disposed of abroad. Several months later Kroesser and Harmon each received $40,000 and Denny Pennell received $12,000 from Jack Pennell's Orlando attorney, Mark Cooper. ³ Kroesser subsequently delivered $300,000 of the stolen currency to Jack Pennell to be laundered in the same fashion. Kroesser and Harmon never received payment from Pennell for this batch of currency, however.

Kroesser's involvement with the stolen currency eventually caused his marriage to break up; his wife divorced him. Following the divorce, Kroesser became romantically involved with Cynthia Queen. Queen shared Kroesser's apartment in Sanford. One day early in March 1982, while cleaning, Queen discovered, and after searching for and finding a key, opened, the locked strongbox in Kroesser's closet. Inside she found $20, $50 and $100 Federal Reserve Notes both cut and in uncut sheets. Several days later at a restaurant Queen told Kroesser of her discovery. Kroesser, visibly upset, left the restaurant. Queen followed, joining him in the parking lot. Kroesser lost his temper; he beat her and admonished her not to mention the currency again. Kroesser later confessed to Queen that he and Harmon had stolen the money while employed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Shortly after the beating Queen was visited by her father who was disturbed by her bruises. Queen told her father about the money and showed it to him. At her father's urging, Queen took several sheets of the notes to protect herself against Kroesser. She locked these sheets in the trunk of her car, and she also told her father of the names of the other persons Kroesser had said were involved.

On April 26 Kroesser struck Queen again. She went to the police and attempted to have him arrested for battery. The arrest could not be immediately effected because the offense was a misdemeanor and required the approval of the State's Attorney's Office. The next day Kroesser moved out of the apartment, transferring the strong box and his belongings to a Winnebago motor home, without informing Queen where he was going. He took the Winnebago to a local campground. That night Queen again went to the Sanford police and requested Kroesser's arrest for beating her. When it was explained that an immediate arrest could not be made, she told the police about the uncut sheets of currency she had taken from Kroesser. The police, led by Detective Ray Bronson, met Queen in the parking lot of her apartment complex, where she gave them the currency she had hidden in the trunk of her car. The police then contacted the Secret Service.

At the suggestion of the Secret Service, the police obtained the approval of the Assistant State Attorney to charge Kroesser with aggravated assault. On April 28, shortly before 2:00 a.m., they arrested him at his tavern. The arresting officers informed Kroesser that he was being arrested for assaulting Queen; they did not inform Kroesser of their knowledge of the stolen currency. They read Kroesser his Miranda rights; he responded that he didn't want to speak about the assault without an attorney. Later, at the police station, in response to a Secret Service request the officers attempted to find out the location of Kroesser's motor home. Detective Bronson, employing a ruse, told Kroesser that an unidentified Winnebago had been involved in an accident, and he asked Kroesser where his Winnebago was located. Kroesser replied that it was parked in the A1A Campground in Sanford but "don't tell Queen."

Bronson then turned Kroesser over to Secret Service agents Connelly and Stronko. The agents informed Kroesser of the true nature of their investigation and that they had the uncut sheets obtained from Queen. Kroesser refused to speak to them without an attorney, so they took him to the Seminole County jail to await his appearance before a federal magistrate.

Once Kroesser was in jail, Agent Connelly asked a police officer to telephone Harmon and tell him that Kroesser had been arrested on assault charges and wanted Harmon to come to the police station to arrange for his bail bond. Connelly had planned to speak to Harmon when he arrived. However, when Harmon inadvertently learned that Kroesser was being held at the county jail, he went directly to the jail, thus avoiding Connelly. There he learned that Kroesser was being held on federal charges.

Once Agent Connelly discovered that Harmon was aware of the true reason for Kroesser's arrest, he along with Agent Stronko and Detective Bronson went to Harmon's home. Agent Connelly told Harmon that Kroesser had been arrested for the theft of uncut currency and asked him if he was willing to cooperate. Harmon said he was, but first wanted to explain his involvement to his wife. The agents agreed. After talking to Mrs. Harmon, he reemerged from the house and accompanied by the law enforcement officers went to the police station. There, Agent Connelly read Harmon his Miranda rights, and Harmon confessed, admitting his role in the theft and disposition of the currency. He was then lodged in the Seminole County jail.

A few hours later Agent Connelly, armed with Harmon's confession and Queen's statement, obtained a warrant to search Kroesser's Winnebago. A search disclosed the strongbox with a large quantity of cut and uncut currency, and an envelope containing additional currency. The search also disclosed some narcotic paraphernalia. Consequently, the Sanford police impounded the motor home.

At 10:00 a.m. on the 28th, after conducting the search, the Secret Service agents took Kroesser and Harmon from the county jail to their office in Orlando for processing. In route, Kroesser attempted to reassure Harmon that everything would be all right, at which time Harmon informed him that he had already given a statement to the agents. At the Secret Service office, Kroesser and Harmon were separated for processing. While Agent Stronko was taking his fingerprints, Kroesser broke down and tearfully voiced his regrets at having gotten Harmon involved. Agent Stronko then suggested that Kroesser tell the truth and cooperate with the investigation. Kroesser responded that he was willing to make a statement.

Agent Connelly reminded Kroesser that he had previously asked for an attorney, and inquired whether he wanted to waive an attorney's presence. Kroesser said that he did. Connelly once...