U.S. v. Lanier, 77-1448

• Decision Date: 07 June 1978
• Docket Number: No. 77-1448,77-1448
• Citation: 578 F.2d 1246
• Parties: 4 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 317 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Lee A. LANIER, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1246

578 F.2d 1246

4 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 317

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Lee A. LANIER, Appellant.

No. 77-1448.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Dec. 12, 1977.

Decided June 7, 1978.

Theodore S. Schechter, Clayton, Mo., for appellant.

Michael W. Reap, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., for appellee; Robert D. Kingsland, U. S. Atty., on the brief.

Before LAY, BRIGHT and HENLEY, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Circuit Judge.

Lee A. Lanier was found guilty by a jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on three counts of a five count indictment charging that he violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001. ¹ The district court, the Honorable James H. Meredith presiding, sentenced the defendant to four years imprisonment on each count, to be served consecutively, and in addition imposed a $10,000 fine on each count. On appeal the defendant urges that reversal of his conviction is required because (1) the evidence was insufficient in a number of particulars; (2) the trial court erred in refusing to grant a requested continuance; (3) the trial court erred in refusing to require the government to give notice of certain evidence to be used at trial; and (4) a number of the trial court's evidentiary rulings constitute reversible error. We have thoroughly reviewed the record and find no prejudicial error.

I. Background.

The charges against the defendant resulted from his activities as a vendor of food stamps in the State of Missouri. The defendant and his partner, Richard Watkins, owned a corporation called Moneytown, Incorporated. Through a number of locations primarily in the St. Louis area Moneytown offered a variety of financial services to its customers and disbursed food stamps to eligible individuals. In October of 1975 an extensive shortage of funds was discovered with regard to the food stamp operation of Moneytown. A subsequent investigation indicated that certain monthly reports submitted by Moneytown had listed numerous bank deposits which had not in fact been made. The indictment involved in this appeal was later returned, charging that by submitting the reports the defendant had knowingly and willfully made a false statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of a federal agency.

The federal food stamp program is administered through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA contracts with each state for the disbursement of food stamps. In Missouri the Division of Family Services is the state agency responsible for administering the food stamp program. The Division of Family Services accomplishes the disbursement of food stamps by contracting private businesses such as Moneytown to serve as food stamp vendors.

Moneytown's function as a vendor included disbursing food stamps to individual purchasers in return for "Authorization to Purchase" (ATP) cards and a designated amount of money. The ATP cards were issued to persons eligible to receive food stamps, and indicated the number of stamps to which the recipient was entitled as well as the amount of cash which the recipient was required to pay for the stamps. In addition to actually disbursing the stamps, Moneytown was responsible for a number of bookkeeping functions with regard to the stamps disbursed and the cash received. Moneytown was also required to deposit the funds received from the sale of food stamps in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for credit to the account of the Food and Nutrition Service, the division of USDA specifically designated to administer the food stamp program. Deposits were to be made daily if cash received equaled $1,000 or more. For receipts of less than that amount deposits were to be made upon accumulation of $1,000, or once each week for receipts totaling less than $1,000 per week.

As a vendor Moneytown was required to complete a daily "FS 20" form which included information as to the total number of stamps disbursed, and the total ATP cards and cash received each day. A monthly report tabulating the daily totals was to be completed on a form denominated "FNS 250." In addition, the FNS 250 form was to include a listing of all deposits made to the Federal Reserve Bank by the vendor for the month. All ATP cards received by Moneytown were returned to the state office, computer tabulated and later reconciled against the figures listed on Moneytown's FNS 250 forms. The FNS 250 form was the monthly accountability form eventually sent to the Food and Nutrition Service in Washington, D. C., for auditing purposes.

During the early stages of Moneytown's operation as a food stamp vendor numerous errors became apparent in the FNS 250's submitted by Moneytown when the forms were checked against the ATP card totals compiled at the state headquarters. It also became apparent that Moneytown was not in compliance with the time requirements for deposit of funds collected in return for stamps issued. Due to the fact that Moneytown's system of bookkeeping was leading to inaccuracies in the information listed in the records of its food stamp operation, representatives of the Missouri Division of Family Services went to the Moneytown office each month after May 1975 to assist in the preparation of the FNS 250 forms. In each instance the state employees would prepare a tabulation based on Moneytown's weekly submission of accumulated FS 20 reports, and would go to Moneytown's office at the end of the month to aid Moneytown employees with the preparation of the FNS 250 form.

The FNS 250 forms filed by Moneytown for the months of May through September 1975 contained the statements which formed the basis of the indictment in this case. It is undisputed that the FNS 250 forms filed by Moneytown for those months listed deposits to the Federal Reserve Bank in amounts which reflected the amount of cash received by Moneytown as determined by the number of stamps disbursed and the ATP cards receiving during the period. It is likewise undisputed that the computer records of deposits actually made to the Federal Reserve Bank from June through September 1975 listed no deposits from Moneytown.

The indictment against Lanier charged him with falsely stating the amount of deposits on the FNS 250's for the months of May, June, July, August and September 1975. The forms for May and June were signed by state employees after preparation by them, and the defendant was acquitted on Counts I and II, which were based on those forms. Lanier signed the FNS 250's for July, August and September after being requested to do so by employees of the Missouri Division of Family Services. Guilty verdicts were returned on Counts III, IV and V, based on those forms.

II. Sufficiency of the Evidence.

The defendant's first major contention is that the government's evidence was insufficient to support a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and that his motion for acquittal, made at the close of the government's case and again at the conclusion of the evidence, should have been granted. We disagree. As the statute itself suggests, the essential elements of an offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 include (1) making, or causing to be made, a false statement in relation to a matter within the jurisdiction of an agency of the United States; (2) knowledge that the statement was false; and (3) knowing and willful conduct on the part of the defendant. ² See Bryson v. United States, 396 U.S. 64, 90 S.Ct. 355, 24 L.Ed.2d 264 (1969); United States v. Adler, 380 F.2d 917, 920 (2d Cir.), Cert. denied, 389 U.S. 1006, 88 S.Ct. 561, 19 L.Ed.2d 602 (1967). In determining whether the defendant's motion for acquittal should have been granted, we must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and draw all reasonable inferences in support of the jury verdict. See Glasser v United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed.2d 680 (1942); United States v. Bass, 472 F.2d 207, 213 (8th Cir.), Cert. denied, 412 U.S. 928, 93 S.Ct. 2751, 37 L.Ed.2d 155 (1973).

A. Making the Statements.

Lanier first urges that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he made the allegedly false statements. He argues that the statements made on the FNS 250 forms related to the operation of Moneytown as a food stamp vendor, were submitted on behalf of Moneytown and were signed by the defendant only in his capacity as a corporate officer of Moneytown. He contends that any violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 should have been charged against the corporation rather than the defendant personally. As support for this contention the defendant relies upon United States v. Lange, 528 F.2d 1280, 1288 (5th Cir. 1976), wherein the Fifth Circuit stated: "(W)e do not equate a statement issued by and in the name of a corporation with a statement by an individual." In Lange, however, the court qualified its holding with the following caveat: "(U)nless there is some evidence from which a jury could reasonably conclude that, at the time of signing this affidavit, Lange knew or should have known it to be false and intended to deceive by making one or both of the statements, a directed verdict of acquittal was required." Id. (emphasis added). The record here shows that Lanier took an active part in operating the business and knew about and participated in the fraud on the government. See United States v. Bass, supra. We therefore conclude that the defendant was properly charged in his individual capacity under the statute. ³

Defendant next argues that proof was insufficient that he made the false statements or caused them to be made because the figures on the FNS 250 forms were compiled by the state officials, and his signature alone was insufficient evidence that he made the statements. However, ample evidence established that the defendant knew of the deposit requirements and that he knew that the deposits listed on the forms had not been made. There was direct testimony by the witness Vivian Parker, a former employee of Moneytown, that...