United States v. Janyce Carter

720 F.2d 941, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 15483, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 803
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedNovember 7, 1983
Docket82-2174
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 720 F.2d 941 (United States v. Janyce Carter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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. Janyce Carter, 720 F.2d 941, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 15483, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 803 (7th Cir. 1983).

Opinion

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant, Janyce Carter, appeals her conviction and sentence in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, for participating in an unauthorized loan of postage stamps and an attempt to conceal such loan, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, 18 U.S.C. § 1711, and 18 U.S.C. §§ 2073, 2. We affirm.

I.

As of April 15, 1982, Janyce Carter had worked for the United States Postal Service for sixteen years. In August of 1980 Carter was assigned to the Irving Park Postal Station, Chicago, Illinois, as a distribution window clerk. Her responsibilities included the selling of stamps and the performing of other postal transactions with the public.

Prior to beginning her duties as a distribution window clerk, Carter attended a two-day training seminar to review the procedure used in conducting window transactions and to learn her responsibilities in accounting for postal funds. As part of the program Carter received and signed a Public Funds Statement. 1 Carter also received a supply of stamps and cash known as her stamp credit. In acknowledgement of this stamp credit, Carter signed a fixed credit receipt which provided, in part, “withdrawal of fiscal funds for personal use, whether temporary or permanent, may subject employees ... to removal from office, ... and criminal prosecution for violation of Title 18, Section 641 or 1711 United States Code.” Carter also received a Daily Financial Report form which the Postal Service requires each distribution window clerk to use in recording the “stamp sales, ... the various transactions conducted by the window clerk and the cash they have received incident to those transactions.”

Though Daily Financial Reports are completed and filed on a daily basis, audits occur periodically. The Postal Service, through its Postal Supervisors, audits each distribution window clerk three or four times a year to determine if their stamp credit is within certain tolerance levels. 2 If a distribution window clerk’s stamp credit exceeds the tolerance level allowed, the clerk must repay the excess amount to the Postal Service and await a decision by Postal authorities as to whether or not a suspension is in order. Internal audits are also performed by the Chicago Post Office *944 through Postal System Examiners on a surprise basis or upon the request of a supervisor. Postal authorities attempt to conduct audits without the knowledge of the various window clerks, but, because the audits are made on a somewhat regular basis and because of the employees’ rumor mill, clerks usually know of the audits in advance.

The evidence at trial revealed that on the morning of April 15, 1981, Carter learned that she was to be audited by Postal authorities. Carter immediately phoned Anna Shelby, a distribution window clerk at the Wicker Park Postal Station, Chicago, Illinois, and asked for a stamp loan in order that she (Carter) might cover her stamp credit deficiency. 3 During the lunch hour on April 15, 1981, Shelby loaned Carter $4,500.00 worth of stamps. That evening, a Postal System Examiner audited Carter’s Daily Financial Report and despite the $4,500.00 “stamp loan” earlier in the day, the Examiner still found that Carter had a deficit of $1,137.48. Carter agreed to repay this amount to the Postal Service. Later that evening Shelby phoned Carter to determine when the stamps would be returned. Carter informed Shelby that because Carter expected more audits in the next few weeks, she could not return the stamps immediately. During the next three months Shelby frequently phoned Carter asking for return of the stamps and was repeatedly told that Carter was unable to return them at that time. Carter on one occasion stated that she was attempting to secure a loan in order to repay the amount in money rather than stamps. During the period in question Shelby was falsifying her Daily Financial Report.

In late July of 1981, Shelby learned that Postal Systems Examiners were going to audit the Wicker Park Postal Station. When she informed Carter of this audit, Carter again refused to return Shelby’s stamps. Shelby, in turn, borrowed $4,500.00 worth of stamps from Shirley McNeary and “came up clear” on the audit. Shortly thereafter, Shelby returned the borrowed stamps to McNeary. A week later the Postal Supervisors conducted their own audit and determined that Shelby’s Daily Financial Report showed a $4,500.00 deficit. Shelby was placed on an immediate emergency suspension (twenty-nine days). On August 24, 1981, Shelby informed Postal Inspector- Hull, an investigator for the United States Postal Service, that the reason for her $4,500.00 deficit was the previous stamp loan to Carter. Shelby, at that time, agreed to cooperate with the Postal Service in an effort to apprehend Carter. Pursuant to the agreement, Postal authorities taped phone conversations between Shelby and Carter on September 1, 2, and 6 of 1981. On September 6, 1981, the following conversation took place:

Shelby — “I’m not paying it, okay, okay, then okay. I won’t pay it .... Listen okay, well I won’t pay any attention to them. What I’m saying is tomorrow is even a holiday and they’re even talking about bringing me downtown, okay? What I’m saying to you is I loaned them to you in good faith, right? Huh?”
Carter — “Yes, Ann.”
Shelby — “Huh?”
Carter — “Yes, yes Ann.”

Following this conversation the Government called for a Federal Grand Jury investigation and on April 14, 1982, the Grand Jury issued a three count indictment against Carter for the following: (1) conspiring to participate in the unauthorized loaning of postage stamps in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; (2) advising and participating in the unauthorized loaning of postage stamps in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1711; and (3) willfully concealing the unauthorized loan in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2073, 2. At trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts. The trial judge sen- *945 fenced Carter to two concurrent seven-year terms in the custody of the Attorney General on counts II and III of the indictment, to be followed by a five year probationary period as to count I of the indictment.

On appeal, Carter contends:

(A) That the agreement required to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1711 precludes a finding of conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1711 as alleged in count I of the indictment.

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720 F.2d 941, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 15483, 14 Fed. R. Serv. 803, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-janyce-carter-ca7-1983.