United States v. Saavedra

684 F.2d 1293 (9th Cir. 1982)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The scam involved wrongfully charging Western Union money orders to improperly obtained Master Charge numbers. This was dreamed up by inmates in the pro. per. section of the Los Angeles County Jail. The inmates would telephone people whose numbers had been obtained from the city phone book and would pose as law enforcement or bank security personnel checking on credit card problems. The inmate would have the person read off his or her credit card number to 'verify' it, and would then call Western Union and order a money order, charging it to the misappropriated credit card number. The inmates used people such as D to go to a specific Western Union office, present identification, and identify the amount of the order, the sender, and when it was sent. P did this using the names Carlotta Santana and Charlotte Carpenter. D deposited most of the money in the inmates' jail accounts. D was arrested, caught in the act. During trial, three victims of the scheme testified that they received telephone calls from unknown males who identified themselves as law enforcement officers and elicited the victims' credit card numbers. The District Court ruled the testimony concerning statements made by the unidentified callers admissible as declarations of coconspirators. Fed.R.Evid. 801(d) (2) (E). D was convicted and appealed.