U.S. v. Solomon

• Decision Date: 20 September 1982
• Docket Number: No. 80-5975,80-5975
• Citation: 686 F.2d 863
• Parties: 11 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 717 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert SOLOMON, Charles Sokolow, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 863

686 F.2d 863

11 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 717

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert SOLOMON, Charles Sokolow, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 80-5975.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Sept. 20, 1982.

Patrick D. Doherty, Clearwater, Fla., for Solomon.

Louis Vernell, Miami Beach, Fla., for Sokolow.

Gary J. Takacs, Frank W. Trapp, Asst. U. S. Attys., Tampa, Fla., for the U. S.

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

Before WISDOM ^*, RONEY and HATCHETT, Circuit Judges.

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

This appeal involves an alleged criminal conspiracy. In June 1980, a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, returned a one-count indictment against eight persons, including the defendants/appellants Robert Solomon and Charles Sokolow. The indictment charged the defendants and others with conspiring to commit violations of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 659, 2313, 2314, and 2315: stealing and possessing goods stolen from vehicles in interstate commerce; receiving stolen motor vehicles; transporting stolen goods between states; and receiving stolen goods. Of the eight defendants three pleaded guilty, one was acquitted in a separate trial, one had the indictment against him dismissed, and the other three, including Solomon and Sokolow, appellants, were found guilty. Lee Fruman did not appeal his conviction. We affirm the judgments against Solomon and Sokolow.

I.

On October 14, 1980, the trial of the defendants Solomon, Sokolow, and Lee Fruman began in the district court. The government's case rested upon the testimony of Arthur Reid Collum, the central figure in the alleged conspiracy. Collum testified that in early 1975 he met with Purvis in Tampa, Florida and that they agreed that if Collum stole or hijacked truckloads of goods, Purvis would sell the products for a percentage of the profit through fences in Miami with whom he had done business in the past. Later Purvis identified the fences as Solomon, Sokolow, Katzif, and Bennett.

In August 1975 Collum stole a tractor with a refrigerated T. G. Lee trailer containing fruit juices, from a Ryder Truck rental yard in Tampa. Collum telephoned Purvis to tell him of the theft and to receive instructions. Purvis gave Collum Solomon's telephone number in Fort Lauderdale to call. Solomon was a manufacturer and wholesaler of detergents and bought and sold distressed goods in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Collum called the number and talked with Solomon who told him to go to Lester's Diner and park in the rear of the building. After Collum parked where he was told, Solomon came up, introduced himself, gave Collum his business card, and asked if he was "Reid Collum". After looking at the contents of the trailer, Solomon gave Collum $600 and told him that he would send the rest of the money to Purvis. Collum testified that Solomon knew that the fruit juices were stolen, because he had told Solomon of the theft. At trial Solomon denied that the transaction took place.

After receiving the truck from Collum, Solomon took him to an airport for a flight to Tampa. There Collum called Purvis to report that he had received $600 and that Solomon would be in touch with him. A day or so later, Purvis called Collum and said that he could not reach Solomon. Purvis and Collum decided to drive to Miami to collect the rest of the money due them. On the way, they stopped to call Solomon. Because he was not in, they went to the Reclaim Mart. As Collum explained: "(We went there) because Mr. Purvis knew that Bob Solomon dealt with the people at Reclaim Mart. It was Mr. Purvis's communication to him that he knew that things he had taken Bob before wound up at the Reclaim Mart".

When they arrived at the Reclaim Mart, Purvis introduced Collum to Red Katzif and Louis Bennett, the owners, who were both named in the indictment. Collum saw the stolen fruit juices there. Katzif told Purvis he had paid Solomon between $700 and $800 for part of the load. Purvis told Collum that Solomon received only about $1,200 for the load, so they did not try to obtain any more money from him.

While at the Reclaim Mart, Katzif asked Collum to deal directly with him rather than through Solomon. Katzif told Collum he was interested in dry goods and canned goods, and did not want refrigerated goods. Purvis asked Katzif where they could sell stolen meat. Katzif told them to go to Sunny Isles Motel and get in touch with "Charlie" (Sokolow), the owner of the motel. Katzif agreed to pay Collum one-half of the wholesale price for stolen goods. Purvis and Collum drove to Sunny Isles Motel in Miami where they met Sokolow in the Snackery, an all-night restaurant next to the motel. They agreed that in future transactions they would sell him stolen meat at one-half of the wholesale price. Sokolow said he would buy seven to ten thousand pounds, but could not handle a full load. At trial Sokolow denied that this meeting took place.

Collum participated in more than 20 thefts or hijackings between August 1975 and February 1977. In January 1976 Collum stole a trailer fully loaded with cases of Ragu Spaghetti Sauce in jars. He drove off, using a tractor Purvis furnished to pull the trailer. When he got close to the Reclaim Mart, Collum telephoned Bennett who agreed to buy part of the load. According to Collum, Bennett was afraid to take the full load because that would put too much of one type of product in his warehouse and he was afraid that it might look suspicious. After unloading there and calling Sokolow, they drove over to Sunny Isles Motel where Collum talked to Sokolow. Collum told Sokolow he had sold part of a load to Reclaim Mart. Sokolow bought part of the remaining load, about 150 cases, paying Collum between $300 and $500 in cash, then said that he knew someone he could call who would possibly take the rest of the load. Sokolow then called Fruman to see if he would buy some of the sauce, and gave Collum directions for going to Fruman's place of business, Florida Railroad Salvage. Collum drove to the address and unhitched the tractor from the trailer while it was being unloaded. Collum told Fruman that the sauce was stolen. Fruman, the third defendant in the case, took the rest of the load paying Collum in cash. Fruman asked Collum to deal directly with him rather than through others and gave Collum his business card, adding his home telephone number to it.

In July 1976 Collum and McLendon, a confederate, stole a partially loaded truck containing ten to twelve thousand pounds of shrimp and scallops from Variety Seafood in Tampa. After several unsuccessful efforts to sell the seafood, Collum called Sokolow and offered him the goods. Sokolow agreed and directed Collum to Service Cold Storage where he was to meet a certain person, Dave, and tell him that Sokolow wanted the seafood stored. Collum went to Service Cold Storage, turned over the goods to Dave, and signed a receipt using the name Ray Peterson of Southern Seafood. Collum then went to Sunny Isles Motel where he negotiated a price with Sokolow. According to Collum, Sokolow paid him cash but was unhappy with the deal because he could not make much money off the resale of the seafood. He suggested that Collum steal coffee. Shortly thereafter, Collum was able to fill Sokolow's request for coffee.

In early August 1976 in Montgomery, Alabama, Collum and McLendon, stole a truck with a load of 37,000 pounds of coffee. They abandoned the tractor in Birmingham and had the trailer painted. He telephoned Sokolow to see how much of the coffee he wanted. After stealing a second tractor, he pulled the load to Tampa, Florida. At this point, Solomon reappeared. Collum called Purvis, told him that Sokolow wanted part, and asked if Solomon also wanted part of the load. Purvis said that he would give him a call and get back to Collum. Purvis did get back to Collum and said that Solomon had opened a new outlet for that type of goods and would take the coffee. A few days later Collum delivered most of the coffee to Solomon's mini-warehouse in Ft. Lauderdale. Solomon greeted Collum and had several men unload the coffee. While the trailer was being unloaded at Solomon's, Collum and McLendon rented a U-Haul truck to carry Sokolow's order to him. Upon arriving at Sunny Isles, Sokolow sent them to his second motel, Casaloma. There they unloaded part of the coffee. Collum returned to Sunny Isles and collected his money in cash from Sokolow. Collum and McLendon then returned the rental truck and went to Solomon's mini-warehouse. Solomon gave Collum some money and told him that he would be in touch with Purvis after he sold the coffee. A few days later, in Tampa, Purvis called Collum and said he had received the money from Solomon. Collum and McLendon met with Purvis in a parking lot and divided the money, about $30,000. Purvis and Solomon worked out the price for the stolen goods.

That is the gist of the government's case. After the government rested, Solomon took the stand in his own defense. He testified that Red Katzif introduced Collum to him as Ray Peterson. He denied buying any fruit juice or coffee from Collum. He denied that he was a licensed food broker, although he had made a prior statement to that effect, and he denied having negotiated large sales of food items although confronted with a prior statement that he had negotiated food deals as a broker. He testified that he had purchased detergents from Purvis and paid less than the wholesale price because the detergents were distressed goods. He denied that the goods were stolen. Solomon said that it was through this transaction that he had come to know Purvis rather than from the events as related by Collum, whom, he said, he had met only once and that was at the Reclaim Mart where Collum was pointed out to him as a professional killer.

Sokolow testified that he owned two motels, the Sunny Isles and the Casaloma, and the Snackery, a small 24...