United States v. Stern

CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJanuary 21, 1994
Docket92-2300
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Stern (United States v. Stern) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. Stern, (1st Cir. 1994).

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion


UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
____________________

No. 92-2300
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Appellee,
v.

AARON STERN,
Defendant, Appellant.

____________________
No. 93-1047

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Appellee,

v.
LAWRENCE GORDON,

Defendant, Appellant.
____________________

APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge]
___________________
____________________

Before
Boudin, Circuit Judge,
_____________

Coffin and Campbell, Senior Circuit Judges.
_____________________
____________________

Martin D. Boudreau for appellant Aaron Stern.
__________________
Lawrence Gordon on brief pro se.
_______________
Paul G. Levenson, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom
__________________
A. John Pappalardo, United States Attorney, was on brief for the
___________________
United States.

____________________

January 20, 1994
____________________

BOUDIN, Circuit Judge. The Miller Act, 40 U.S.C.
_____________

270a-f requires all contractors bidding for government

construction contracts in excess of $25,000 to post

performance and payment bonds, and the Air Force further

requires that a bid bond accompany the bid itself.1 In

order to qualify for consideration, contractors must submit

bonds issued by companies approved by the United States

Treasury and listed in Treasury Department Circular 570,

commonly called the "T-list." See 48 C.F.R. 28.202(a)(1).
___

The bonds must also be submitted on standard government

forms: SF 24 (bid bond), SF 25 (payment bond) and SF 25A

(performance bond).

Defendant Lawrence Gordon was the head of Tower

Associates, Inc., a Winchester, Massachusetts, construction

company seeking to secure a contract to renovate a

photography laboratory at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford,

Massachusetts. In September 1988 Tower submitted the low bid

for the project, offering to perform the renovations for

$1,000,200. This bid was accompanied by a bid bond issued by

Continental Surety Company, a surety or purported surety that

did not appear on the T-list and which apparently had no

____________________

1"Bid bonds" ensure that a contractor will in fact
undertake the contract if its bid is accepted; "performance
bonds" guarantee that the contractor will complete the
project in accordance with the specifications; and "payment
bonds" ensure that those who furnish labor and materials for
the project will be paid.

-2-
-2-

assets. The Air Force employee responsible for overseeing

the bidding process, Lorraine McLoughlin, did not at first

notice this problem and Tower was awarded the contract on

September 30, 1988.

When shortly thereafter McLoughlin learned that

Continental was not an approved issuer, she called Gordon and

informed him that Tower's payment and performance bonds would

have to be written by a T-listed company. On October 17,

1988, Gordon presented a payment and performance bond

purportedly issued by Amwest Surety Insurance Co., a company

that did appear on the T-list. The bond bore Tower's seal,

as well as the signatures of Gordon and one "Alan Stime," who

was listed as Amwest's attorney-in-fact. The bond was

accompanied by a power of attorney, purportedly from Amwest,

also signed by "Alan Stime."

The Amwest bond and power of attorney were counterfeits

fabricated by James Grier, the principal of Continental.

Grier later testified at trial that he produced the bogus

documents at Gordon's request. Sandra Catalano, a Tower

employee, testified at trial that she was present when the

bond was signed by Gordon and defendant Aaron Stern, who

signed the bond as "Alan Stime." At trial, an Amwest

official testified that the bond was not a genuine Amwest

bond and that no "Alan Stime" was or ever had been an

authorized attorney in fact for Amwest.

-3-
-3-

The Air Force rejected the phony bond after McLoughlin

noted that some of the signatures on the bond appeared to be

facsimiles and that the purported Amwest seal was poorly

impressed and illegible. On October 19, 1988, McLoughlin

requested that Tower resubmit its bonds and enclosed standard

government bond forms. The Air Force received a second set

of bonds, on the government forms, from Tower on October 24,

1988. These bonds were also purportedly issued by Amwest,

but the typed name of the attorney-in-fact under the "Alan

Stime" signature was "Aaron Stern." By this time, McLoughlin

had been told by an Amwest employee that Amwest "had never

heard of Tower Associates."

Rather than accept the bonds, McLoughlin forwarded them

to the Air Force Office of Investigations and sent Tower a

notice to cure. On November 18, 1988, McLoughlin notified

Gordon of her communications with Amwest. After requesting

an extension of time to submit new bonds, Tower sent

McLoughlin a third set of bonds on December 13, 1988,

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