United States v. Wupperman

• Decision Date: 05 June 1914
• Citation: 215 F. 135
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. WUPPERMAN et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

215 F. 135

UNITED STATES v. WUPPERMAN et al.

United States District Court, N.D. New York.

June 5, 1914

John H Gleason, U.S. Atty., of Albany, N.Y., and T. H. Dowd, Asst U.S. Atty., of Cortland, N.Y., for the United States.

Arthur Furber and Chas. E. Le Barbier, both of New York City, for defendant Wupperman.

RAY District Judge (after stating the facts as above).

The crime of 'conspiracy' is sufficiently charged if it be stated that two or more persons, naming them, conspired (that is, agreed together) to commit some offense against the United States (that is, commit some act declared to be a crime by some statute of the United States); and it is also charged that one or more of such parties did an act to effect (that is, carry out) the object of such conspiracy. The offense to be committed must be described with sufficient particularity, but I do not understand that the overt act or acts charged must appear on their face to have been acts which necessarily would aid in the commission of the crime charged. Some act must have been done by one or more to effect the object of the conspiracy, but in and of itself it may have been an innocent act and one entirely disconnected from the crime itself.

And it was not necessary to point out in this indictment why or how the doing of the overt act would or did, or was intended to aid in effecting, or carrying out, the object of the conspiracy. It is sufficient that the act done was done to aid in effecting the object of the conspiracy; was so intended, even if the doing of such act, instead of actually aiding to effect the object of the conspiracy, defeated the conspirators and actually operated to prevent the commission of the crime.

And in charging a conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States and overt acts done to effect the object of such conspiracy it is not necessary to allege that the crime which the parties conspired to commit was actually committed, or that any act in and of itself evil was done in aid of effecting the object of such conspiracy.

And when we come to the counts alleging the use of the mails to execute a scheme or an artifice to defraud or obtain money or property by false or fraudulent pretenses, representations statements, or promises, it must be alleged that a letter or postal card, etc., was deposited in the mail for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, or attempting so to do, and the letter,...