U.S. v. Parnell

• Citation: 581 F.2d 1374
• Decision Date: 24 July 1978
• Docket Number: Nos. 77-1334,s. 77-1334
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dennis Edward PARNELL, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lacy Lee PARKER, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. R. D. BROWN, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry G. WYCHE, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kenneth M. GUNNING, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James R. LEATHERS, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jarrel H. COX, Defendant-Appellant. to 77-1340.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1374

581 F.2d 1374

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dennis Edward PARNELL, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lacy Lee PARKER, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. R. D. BROWN, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry G. WYCHE, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kenneth M. GUNNING, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James R. LEATHERS, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jarrel H. COX, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 77-1334 to 77-1340.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

Submitted on the Briefs May 8, 1978.

Decided July 24, 1978.

Rehearing Denied in No. 77-1340 Sept. 20, 1978.

Hubert A. Marlow, U. S. Atty., Hubert H. Bryant, Asst. U. S. Atty., Tulsa, Okl., for plaintiff-appellee.

Jim H. Heslet, Tulsa, Okl., for defendants-appellants Parnell and gunning.

William R. Grimm, Barrow, Gaddis & Griffith, Tulsa, Okl., for defendants-appellants Parker, Brown and Leathers.

Gene Stipe and Robert McCune, Stipe, Gossett, Stipe & Harper, McAlester, Okl., for defendant-appellant Wyche.

John C. Humpage, Topeka, Kan., for appellant Cox.

Before BARRETT and McKAY, Circuit Judges, and BRATTON, District Judge.

BRATTON, District Judge.

Appellants take these appeals from criminal convictions for aiding and abetting the interstate transportation of falsely made and forged securities (cashier's checks), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 and 18 U.S.C. § 2, and conspiracy to commit the substantive offenses, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

Evidence presented at trial established that between April 1 and July 1, 1975, appellants and others engaged in a scheme to purchase grain from granaries in Mississippi, Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado and Kansas, using as payment falsely made and forged cashier's checks drawn on the Union National Bank of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Valid cashier's checks were obtained from the Union National Bank in Tulsa and were later reproduced in blank by a printer. The reproduced instruments were then imprinted in an amount in excess of $1,000 with a check protector machine. In addition, the checks were imprinted with the name of the granary to be defrauded, the date and the false signature of a fictitious bank official. The forged instruments were then turned over to other members of the conspiracy who used them as payment for grain purchases. The grain so purchased was quickly resold to other grain dealers, and the funds acquired divided among the co-conspirators.

It was established that a precursor to the conspiracy charged here was a scheme implemented in February and March 1975 by the appellant Dennis Edward Parnell and two confederates, Ralph J. Teenor and Jimmy Culver (both of whom entered guilty pleas to the charges arising from the events in April and May 1975). A checking account was opened in the Broadway National Bank in San Antonio, Texas, and an apartment was rented in that city. Between $2,000 and $3,000 was placed in the account and after a purchase of grain was made using checks drawn on the account, but before the checks were presented for collection, the parties withdrew the funds from the account. The plan evidently was not foolproof, as Jimmy Culver testified: "We did it once and then the second time the man we bought from flew down there and cashed the check, he beat us to the bank." Having concluded that the scheme had some imperfections, Parnell, Teenor and Culver sought advice from the appellant Lacy Parker. As Culver put it, "We were discussing him taking over this account and showing us how to do it, and about that time we came into possession of a cashier's check that someone had taken from a girl." They used this stolen cashier's check to buy grain, and as Culver explained, "That cashier's check went so well that Ralph Teenor and Dennis Parnell came up with a way to get more cashier's checks. We decided to do that." In this manner the conspiracy charged here was born.

In April 1975, at Parnell's request, Judy Dianne Nanny Casey purchased a cashier's check for Parnell in a nominal amount at the Union National Bank in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Parnell then found a printer who produced counterfeit blank cashier's checks, purportedly issued by the Union National Bank.

Judy Casey also rented an apartment for Parnell at his request in downtown Tulsa, in the name of Dianna Butler. She had a telephone installed in the apartment in Dianna Butler's name. The number of the telephone installed at the apartment was 585-8032.

While the testimony revealed a number of separate grain purchases, a transaction typical of those involved in the scheme occurred at the Bigelow Farmers Elevator in Bigelow, Minnesota on May 17 and 19, 1975. In early May the manager of the Bigelow Farmers Elevator had received a telephone call from someone identifying himself as "George Hendricks," who said he wanted to buy corn. A price was quoted and a bargain struck for ten truckloads, which were to be paid for by cashier's check. On May 17 and again on May 19 trucks arrived at the elevator and were filled with corn to Hendricks' order. After the last of the grain was loaded, Ralph Teenor gave the manager of the elevator five cashier's checks totalling $30,000, purportedly drawn on the Union National Bank of Tulsa, showing the purchaser's name as George Hendricks. At the manager's request, Teenor left a telephone number which he said was George Hendricks' number in Tulsa. The number was 585-8032. When the cashier's checks were deposited, they "bounced." An official from the Tulsa Union National Bank testified that those cashier's checks had not been issued by the bank, that the alleged authorized signer was not known to the bank, and that the checks were counterfeit. Ralph Teenor testified that the first load of grain that was purchased in Bigelow on May 17 was later sold to the O'Neill Grain Elevator in North Sioux City and that the second load, purchased on May 19, was sold to the Farmers Elevator in Elk Point, South Dakota. Payment was made to Ralph Teenor, by check. Teenor cashed those checks and paid the cash received to Jimmy Culver. Culver then disbursed the cash to the owners of the trucks, the printer and the drivers.

Sufficiency of the evidence

Each appellant makes the claim that the evidence was insufficient to establish that he participated in or knew of the conspiracy or acted with criminal intent. On appeal, the evidence must be

"viewed in the light most favorable to the government to ascertain if there is sufficient evidence, direct or circumstantial, together with the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, from which the jury may find (a) defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

United States v. Butler, 446 F.2d 975, 978 (10th Cir. 1971). Further, the circumstantial evidence required to support a verdict need not conclusively exclude every other reasonable hypothesis and it need not negative all possibilities except guilt. United States v. Henry, 468 F.2d 892, 894 (10th Cir. 1972). An illegal conspiracy is "an agreement between two or more persons to commit one or more unlawful acts, and is complete when one or more of the conspirators knowingly commit an act in furtherance of the object of the agreement." United States v. Thomas, 468 F.2d 422, 424 (10th Cir. 1972), Cert. denied, 410 U.S. 935, 93 S.Ct. 1389, 35 L.Ed.2d 599 (1973). In reviewing a conviction for conspiracy, the question is whether the circumstances, acts and conduct of the parties are of such character that the minds of reasonable men may conclude therefrom that an unlawful agreement existed. Jones v. United States, 251 F.2d 288, 290 (10th Cir. 1958), Cert. denied 356 U.S. 919, 78 S.Ct. 703, 2 L.Ed.2d 715.

The evidence was clearly sufficient to establish that Dennis Edward Parnell was a willing participant in the scheme from its inception. He arranged for the rental of an apartment and a telephone in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the number of which telephone was to be used by other members of the conspiracy in the event any of the granaries wanted to contact the fictitious purchasers. Additionally, Parnell found a printer and arranged for the production of counterfeit blank cashier's checks. He also furnished several forged selective service registration cards which were used as identification to facilitate the passing of the forged cashier's checks. Finally, he turned the fake cashier's checks over to the other members of the conspiracy who used them as payment for the grain purchases.

As to Lacy Lee Parker, the evidence established that he, too, was a knowing participant in the conspiracy. Parnell, Culver and Teenor turned to Parker for assistance when they realized the deficiency in their original scheme to purchase grain with checks drawn on the account in the San Antonio bank. It was established that on several of the grain purchasing trips Parker used a false name to check in at hotels and then telephoned granaries and arranged the purchase and resale of grain. On a trip to Vicksburg, Mississippi, for example, Parker ordered grain in the name of "Jerry Dickson" and then gave Ralph Teenor an envelope containing several falsely made cashier's checks to purchase the grain he had ordered. In Van Buren, Arkansas, on another grain buying trip, Ralph Teenor cashed a $17,000 check he had received for resale of the grain they had purchased with the cashier's checks, and handed the bulk of the cash to Parker and Culver, who split it between themselves.

With respect to Larry G. Wyche, the evidence establishes that he, too, was a willing and knowing participant in the conspiracy. It appears that Wyche undertook the telephone duties as a replacement for Parker, who quit the conspiracy after the Illinois grain buying trip. It was Wyche who made the calls to arrange the purchase of grain in Bigelow, Minnesota, and...