United States v. Ludwig
| Decision Date | 07 April 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 75-5Cr (1).,75-5Cr (1). |
| Citation | 393 F. Supp. 1333 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Ronald Henry LUDWIG and Thomas James Colonna, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri |
Richard E. Coughlin, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., for plaintiff.
Norman S. London, St. Louis, Mo., for defendants.
This matter was tried to the Court sitting without a jury. The defendants were charged by indictment with violating 18 U.S.C. § 2314 on two different occasions. The indictment charges that the defendants caused to be transported in interstate commerce checks drawn against the account of Warrenton Products, Inc., on the Commonwealth Bank of Wentzville, Wentzville, Missouri, which had been converted and taken by fraud.
The checks were given to Colonna by Ludwig, who was the comptroller of Warrenton Products, Inc., at the time. The checks were made out to Colonna and were in the amounts of $19,521.71 and $49,868.71. Colonna deposited them in his personal account at the Bank of Dutzow, in Dutzow, Missouri. Colonna then used his own checks to purchase cashier's checks which he would give to Ludwig. The evidence is clear that neither Ludwig nor Colonna had any right to the proceeds of the two checks in question, and that their actions amounted to unlawful conversion of the funds of Warrenton Products, Inc.
The defendants have raised by motion for judgment of acquittal as a defense that they did not cause the checks to be transported in interstate commerce. The indictment charges that the interstate transportation occurred when the checks, after being deposited in the Bank of Dutzow, were forwarded by mail to the Stockyards National Bank of National City, Illinois. This was done by the Bank of Dutzow in the ordinary course of its business, as it had had correspondent banking relationship with the Stockyards National Bank for some thirty-one years. The Stockyards National Bank forwarded the checks to the First National Bank in St. Louis, Missouri, which forwarded them to the drawee bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Wentzville, Missouri. There is no question that the checks were transported in interstate commerce. Defendants argue that because the checks were deposited in a bank that was located in the same state as the drawee bank, it was not forseeable that the checks would be transported in interstate commerce, and, therefore, the knowledge that the checks would move in interstate commerce could not be imputed to them.
A review of the case law has turned up many cases where a conviction for the interstate transportation of forged, stolen, or fraudulently obtained checks was upheld on the basis of the...
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Sole v. Grand Jurors of NJ For Co. of Passaic & Bergen
... ... Civ. A. No. 74-1446 ... United States District Court, D. New Jersey ... May 5, 1975. 393 F. Supp. 1323 ... ...
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U.S. v. Ludwig
...trial was waived, and the matter was submitted to the district court on a written stipulation. 1 In a memorandum opinion reported at 393 F.Supp. 1333, Judge Meredith found the defendants guilty as charged. From the entry of judgment upon that finding, defendants have taken these The factual......