United States v. Brunet

227 F. Supp. 766, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7228
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Wisconsin
DecidedMarch 30, 1964
DocketCr. No. 64-4
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 227 F. Supp. 766 (United States v. Brunet) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Brunet, 227 F. Supp. 766, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7228 (W.D. Wis. 1964).

Opinion

Rabinovitz, District Judge.

N. S. Heffeman, U. S. Atty., Madison, Wis., for plaintiff. A. E. Sheridan, Sheridan & Sheridan, Waukon, Iowa, for defendants.

The above-entitled matter involves an indictment for violation of Title 18 U.S. C. § 1341, being a mail fraud violation.

The defendant, Everett W. Gross, moves for a dismissal of all seven counts of the indictment.

Section 1341, U.S.C. of Title 18 reads as follows:

“Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, or to sell, dispose of, loan, exchange, alter, give away, distribute, supply, or furnish or procure for unlawful use any counterfeit or spurious coin, obligation, security, or other article, or anything ■ represented to be or intimated or held out to be such counterfeit or spurious article, for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by the Post Office Department, or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail according to the direction thereon, or at the place at which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any such matter or thing, shall be fined not more than $1,-000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. June 25, 1948, c. 645, 62 Stat. 763, amended May 24, 1949, c. 139, § 34, 63 Stat. 94.”

The objections by defendant Gross are that Paragraph 1 of Count I does not allege a crime; that it is duplicitous; that it does not allege the necessary elements of the crime; and that it does not charge the required intent. Gross gives other objections to Count I, which in their composite form, are duplicative and similar to each other. A decision as to Count I will therefore encompass all of the objections.

In Count I the Grand Jury charged that the defendant Gross, together with others, devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises from various persons, some of which were named.

Count I continues and states as follows:

“ * * * whom the said defendants would induce and would attempt to induce to send their money to said defendants, in payment of correspondence courses; that is to say, written and printed instructions and lessons, to be sent and delivered through the United States. Mails, in training, qualifying and fitting said persons to pass Civil Service examinations, as given by the United States Government, and to educate, qualify and secure for' said persons various positions of employment with the Government of the United States, well knowing at the time that the pretenses, representations and promises would be and were false when made, and which scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses,, representations and promises, so devised and intended to be devised by the said defendants was in substance as follows:
“2. It was part of the scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, that the business of selling the contracts for furnishing the said correspondence courses to said students and of inducing said students to subscribe, contract and pay for the same, would be and was-carried on by and in the name of a company known as National Service which was owned, operated, and con[768]*768trolled by the defendant Raymond Lee Brunet.
“3. It was a further part of the defendants’ scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, that the defendants would and did insert numerous advertisements in various newspapers published in various areas, which advertisements would induce the aforesaid students to believe that National Service was engaged in selecting and training men and women for employment in ■attractive positions with the United States Government, many of which required only eighth grade education and no experience and had high ■starting salaries, advancements, no lay-offs, and security.
“4. It was a further part of the defendants’ scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, that the defendants would and did circulate through the mails various letters, circulars and other printed advertising matter, which printed matter so circulated through the mails would and did induce the .student to believe that federal, state and local governments need more than one million replacements each year, that Civil Service workers are able to maintain a good standard of living, buying homes — cars and giving their children a good education, that National Service ‘field counselors’ are able to determine a person’s qualifications for specific positions listed by one personal interview, that Civil Service means security in that the firm cannot fail, there are no strikes or lay-offs, there are periodic pay raises, paid vacations, paid sick leave, and retirement for old age, that the only qualifications necessary for some twenty-six out of thirty jobs listed is an eighth grade education, and that there are many attractive positions open.
“5. It was a further part of the defendants’ scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, that upon one of the said students agreeing to subscribe for one of the aforesaid correspondence courses he or she would be required to enter into a contract with National Service by which he would agree to pay for such course a certain amount of cash at the time of the execution of the contract and the balance of the purchase price thereon in monthly installments until paid in full, the total price of said course ranging from $175.00 to $197.50, said contract being designated as an “Enrollment Agreement”; it was represented by the terms of the aforesaid contract that National Service was a ‘private school’ and that the enrollment and payment of tuition entitled the student to continuous training and coaching until a Civil Service appointment is obtained, but that this is not a guarantee of a job, and that if the student’s enrollment application was not accepted all of his money would be refunded in full.
“6. It was a further part of the defendants’ scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, that by means of the heretofore described advertisements placed in newspapers and the heretofore described printed matter sent through the mails and, further, by means and use of numerous false pretenses, representations and promises, as hereinafter more particularly described, which were communicated to said victims orally by the agents, representatives and salesmen of National Service, the said students were induced to believe that National Service was engaged in selecting men and women for employment with the United States Government [769]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
227 F. Supp. 766, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-brunet-wiwd-1964.