United States v. Gregory Alan Mohr

728 F.2d 1132, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 24911
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMarch 2, 1984
Docket83-1108
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 728 F.2d 1132 (United States v. Gregory Alan Mohr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Gregory Alan Mohr, 728 F.2d 1132, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 24911 (8th Cir. 1984).

Opinion

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Gregory Alan Mohr appeals his convictions on two counts of misapplication of bank funds in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 656 (1982) and one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (1982). The case was tried to the court. 1 A motion for acquittal was sustained on one additional count, and Mohr was found not guilty on three other counts. He argues on appeal that his convictions are contrary to the evidence or not supported by the evidence. We affirm.

Mohr was vice president and head cashier of the Citizens State Bank in Donnellson, Iowa. In December of 1980, Mohr began making a series of loans to Jimmy Dee Miller, who already had open loans with the bank totalling $41,884.95 and a real estate loan with the bank of $161,500. Mohr was aware that Miller was involved in commodity trading and that he intended to use the proceeds to meet margin calls.

Debra Kirchner, a bank employee, was requested by Mohr to take out personal loans in her own name and provide him *1134 with the proceeds because bank policy prohibited a bank officer from taking a loan of more than $10,000 from the bank. On December 9, 1980, and January 26, 1981, Kirchner obtained loans of $13,675 and $22,400, respectively, and gave the proceeds to Mohr.

Mohr argues that his convictions on Counts 3, 4, and 7 of the indictment are inconsistent with or unsupported by the evidence. The issue he raises is essentially the sufficiency of the evidence, and the standard we apply is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that “any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

Count 3 charged Mohr with violation of 18 U.S.C. § 656 by granting a loan of $47,-861.64 to Jimmy Dee Miller. Mohr challenges his conviction under Count 3 on three grounds. First, he argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove two essential issues under 18 U.S.C. § 656: whether Mohr misapplied the funds and whether he acted willfully and with intent to injure or defraud the bank.

“Misapplication” under 18 U.S.C. § 656 covers unauthorized and improper conduct, typically conversion of bank funds for personal use by a bank officer or a third party. Violation of state law or bank policy may indicate such misapplication. United States v. Ness, 665 F.2d 248 (8th Cir.1981); United States v. Southers, 583 F.2d 1302 (5th Cir.1978). Here, the bank’s lending limit as to any one customer, as prescribed by Iowa law, increased from $230,000 in 1980 to $270,000 in January, 1981. Miller had been loaned $203,380, and during December, 1980, Mohr granted him additional loans totalling $168,500. The new loan of $47,861.64 on January 28, 1981, therefore violated both state law and express bank policy. We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to establish misapplication of bank funds.

Sufficient evidence also established the element of intent. Jerry Harkins, then president of the bank, testified that in December of 1980, he told Mohr, “Well, don’t loan the guy any more money.” [TR 185] Evidence showed that Mohr himself received at least $40,000 of the money loaned to Miller during December of 1980. The evidence also revealed that Mohr asked Sam Spray to sign a $55,000 promissory note to conceal from bank examiners the extent of Miller’s indebtedness.

Second, Mohr argues that because the government elected to include in Count 3 an allegation that he concealed the making of the loan from the directors of the bank by false and misleading reports, and because he was acquitted on another count which dealt with the concealment of the same loan, the government failed to prove the additional allegation and Count 3 as well. The additional allegation in Count 3, however, was unnecessary to the establishment of a violation under 18 U.S.C. § 656. As mere surplusage, an additional allegation may be disregarded, and the indictment is valid if sufficient allegations remain to charge a crime. United States v. Good Shield, 544 F.2d 950, 953 (8th Cir. 1976); United States v. Archer, 455 F.2d 193, 194 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 856, 93 S.Ct. 135, 34 L.Ed.2d 100 (1972). Thus, regardless of whether the evidence proved concealment, the government did not need to do so; the rest of the allegations in Count 3 sufficiently charged a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 656. Furthermore, the concealment allegation did not constitute a fatal variance between the allegations and proof because the wording of Count 3 sufficiently informed Mohr of the charge against him and posed no danger that he would be prosecuted again for the same crime. United States v. Schoenhut, 576 F.2d 1010, 1021-22 (3d Cir.1978).

Third, Mohr contends that the government elected to increase its burden of proof by alleging that Mohr willfully and knowingly “embezzle[d], abstracted], purloined] and misapplied]” the monies and funds of the bank, using the conjunctive *1135 “and” instead of following the wording of 18 U.S.C. § 656, which uses the disjunctive “or.” Because the government did not prove that he did all four acts, Mohr claims his conviction on Count 3 cannot stand. Where a statute specifies two or more ways in which an offense may be committed, however, all may be alleged in the conjunctive in one count of the indictment, and proof of any one of the acts conjunctively charged may establish guilt. Gerberding v. United States, 471 F.2d 55, 59 (8th Cir. 1973); United States v. McCann, 465 F.2d 147, 162 (5th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 412 U.S. 927, 93 S.Ct. 2747, 37 L.Ed.2d 154 (1973).

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Bluebook (online)
728 F.2d 1132, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 24911, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-gregory-alan-mohr-ca8-1984.