United States v. Gamble

737 F.2d 853 (10th Cir. 1984)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

United States postal inspectors concocted two schemes. The inspectors used fictitious names to obtain Missouri driver's licenses. They then registered automobiles they did not own and obtained insurance for the automobiles under those names. In cooperation with local Police, they obtained accident reports for collisions that never occurred. The police officer who filled out the fictitious accident reports testified at trial that normally he would face severe sanctions for filling out false reports. Police issued a ticket to one of the inspectors and described the accidents in such a way that the inspector cited would be liable for any damages. After receiving the citations, the inspectors appeared in Municipal Court and pleaded guilty before prosecutors and judges who were unaware that the tickets were shams. One report described a one-car accident in which the driver of the vehicle, in an attempt to miss a stopped vehicle, swerved and struck a post. Postal Inspectors Armstrong and Gillis posed as passengers in the vehicle. The inspectors visited D's office, asking him to help them perpetrate a fraud on the insurance company. On the fourth visit, the inspectors informed D that they had contacted State Farm Insurance Company. Armstrong told D's assistant to write down that he had been unable to work for almost two months. When Inspectors Armstrong and Gillis visited D for the last time, they brought a draft from State Farm Insurance Company for $180, the total medical expense reported to the insurer. Defendant calculated that since they had already paid him $104, they owed him $66. The inspectors gave D a $66 money order and kept the draft. On the second scam, D asked what was wrong and the inspector indicated that nothing was wrong but that the person who was responsible was insured and that there was a chance to make some money. D then said, 'You'll just have to play it up. You can't go out there tell that man ah, I wasn't hurt.' D also said, 'You gotta have a back injury and you gotta have a neck injury or something. . . . We have to write it up to that effect and you'll make some money out of the deal.' D suggested neck and back injuries would be best because they are hard to prove and told them to come back in a few weeks to fill out the insurance papers. On December 11, 1980, the inspectors brought a draft for $160 from Farmers Insurance Group to D's office. A secretary reimbursed them for the $50 they had paid during previous office visits, and the inspectors signed the draft over to D. D was convicted on 4 counts of mail fraud and appealed. D contends that his conviction should be reversed because he did not devise the scheme to defraud insurance companies and because the mailings alleged in each count of the indictment were tangential to the scheme to defraud.