United States v. Deardorff

343 F. Supp. 1033, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11359
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 5, 1971
Docket71 Cr. 111
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 343 F. Supp. 1033 (United States v. Deardorff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Deardorff, 343 F. Supp. 1033, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11359 (S.D.N.Y. 1971).

Opinion

MOTLEY, District Judge.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

A two count indictment was filed against defendants on January 28, 1971. The first count charges defendants with conspiring to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1952 (the Travel Act) by agreeing to use an interstate facility to intentionally promote, manage, establish or carry on or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment or carrying on of the unlawful activity of bribery. The second count alleges, as a substantive violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952, that the defendants used interstate facilities to intentionally promote, manage, establish or carry on, the unlawful activity of bribery in violation of the Penal Code of the State of Pennsylvania, or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment or carrying on of such activities.

The Government alleges the following account. On January 18, 1966 defendant Kenneth 0. Tompkins, then the mayor of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and defendants Robert McKee and J. Howard *1036 Deardorff, then city eouncilmen of Johnstown, caused the approval of an ordinance to permit sealed competitive bidding for a cable television franchise in Johnstown. Six days later, on January 24, Irving Kahn, president of Teleprompter, travelled from New York to Johnstown to meet with those three city officials. At the meeting Kahn, Tompkins, McKee and Deardorff agreed that Teleprompter would pay the three Johns-town officials a $15,000 bribe if they would vote in favor of awarding the cable television franchise to Johnstown Cable TV, a subsidiary of Teleprompter.

At the February 1, 1966 meeting of the committee of the whole of the Johns-town City Council, Tompkins, McKee and Deardorff voted to reject all bids on cable television submitted by Teleprompter’s competitors.

At a general session of the City Council on February 8, Tompkins made a motion to arrange a meeting with officers of Teleprompter to discuss terms for a cable television franchise. Deardorff seconded the motion, and all three defendant officials voted for it.

Finally, at the March 2 general session of the Johnstown City Council, these three defendants voted for Ordinance No. 3678, which granted Johnstown Cable TV a ten-year exclusive cable television franchise with an option to renew for ten years.

Meanwhile, on February 25, 1966 Kahn and Teleprompter transmitted $7,-000 to defendant Tompkins in Johns-town. Tompkins, in turn, gave McKee and Deardorff each $2,000 sometime in March. On August 26, 1966 Kahn and Teleprompter sent Tompkins another payment, this time of $6,035.61. A third payment of $1,464.39 was made to Tompkins by Kahn and Teleprompter on October 20. Tompkins again gave McKee and Deardorff $2,000 each soon after receiving the last installment from Kahn and Teleprompter.

The Government alleges, in sum, that Kahn sent Tompkins a total of $14,500.-00, of which Tompkins gave McKee and Deardorff $4,000 apiece. In return, it is charged, the three defendants used their official positions to provide Teleprompter’s subsidiary with the exclusive Johnstown cable television franchise.

Defendants have made a variety of pre-trial motions. They move to dismiss the indictment on the ground that their alleged conduct does not violate federal law, and on the ground that the grand jury was improperly selected. They also move to dismiss the conspiracy count. They further move for a bill of particulars and for discovery and inspection. There is also a motion for an order directing the government to ascertain and disclose the fruit of any monitoring it has conducted.

II. MOTION TO DISMISS THE INDICTMENT BECAUSE THE ALLEGED CONDUCT DOES NOT VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW

There can be no doubt that the alleged activities of defendants fall with-m the literal terms of the statute. The relevant part of 18 U.S.C. § 1952, including its title, reads as follows:

“Interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.
(a) Whoever travels in interstate or foreign commerce or uses any facility in interstate or foreign commerce, including the mail, with intent to—
(1) distribute the proceeds of any unlawful activity; or
(2) commit any crime of violence to further any unlawful activity; or
(3) otherwise promote, manage, establish, carry on, or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment, or carrying on, of any unlawful activity,
and thereafter performs or attempts to perform any of the acts specified in subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3), shall be fined not more than $10,000 *1037 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.
(b) As used in this section ‘unlawful activity’ means (1) any business enterprise involving gambling, liquor on which the Federal excise tax has not been paid, narcotics, or prostitution offenses in violation of the laws of the State in which they are committed or of the United States, or (2) extortion, bribery, or arson in violation of the laws of the State in which committed or of the United States.”

Defendants are charged with carrying on unlawful activity in violation of Section 1952(a) (3). The unlawful activity with which they are charged is defined in subsection (b) (2) as “. . . bribery ... in violation of the laws of the State in which committed or of the United States.” The phrase “business enterprise” used in defining unlawful activity in subsection (1) of § 1952(b) is not used in subsection (2) delineating bribery as an unlawful activity. Read literally, therefore, the statute does not require that bribery in violation of § 1952 be connected with a criminal business enterprise. The indictment thus clearly alleges facts bringing defendants within the terms of the statute.

Defendants contend, however, that bribery must be connected with, or in aid of, a racketeering enterprise to violate § 1952. In support of this interpretation they point to the language of the title of § 1952, the section’s legislative history, and its recent interpretation in Rewis v. United States, 401 U.S. 808, 91 S.Ct. 1056, 28 L.Ed.2d 493 (1971). For the reasons which follow, the court rejects defendants’ interpretation of § 1952 and finds their alleged conduct within its terms.

The title of § 1952, as reproduced above, refers to “interstate or foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.” Defendants feel that this title, in conjunction with legislative history, requires that connection with racketeering enterprises be considered an element of the offense. However, the title of a statute cannot limit the plain meaning of the text, and is resorted to only where ambiguity already exists. Brotherhood of R. R. Trainmen v. Baltimore & O. R.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
343 F. Supp. 1033, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-deardorff-nysd-1971.