From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Nelson v. United States

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Dec 12, 1949
178 F.2d 458 (9th Cir. 1949)

Opinion

No. 12280.

December 12, 1949.

John Nelson, in pro. per.

James M. Carter, U.S. Atty., Ernest A. Tolin, Chief Asst., Norman W. Neukom and Jack E. Hildreth, Asst. U.S. Attys., Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee.

Before DENMAN, Chief Judge, and ORR and POPE, Circuit Judges.


This is an appeal from a judgment and sentence imposed upon appellant following his plea of guilty to two counts of an indictment charging a violation of Criminal Code, § 215, 18 U.S.C. § 338 (using the mails to promote fraud). While only a single fraudulent scheme is alleged, appellant was charged with sending six letters to six different addressees to promote the scheme. After the plea of guilty to two counts, four other counts were dismissed on motion of the government. Appellant was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on each count, to run consecutively, and to pay a fine of $1,000 on each of the two counts.

1948 Revised Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1341.

Appellant contends that there was but one crime because only one fraudulent scheme was alleged, and thus only one sentence could be imposed. The contention is without merit. We have held that several letters mailed in pursuance of one scheme to defraud constitute separate offenses under the statute, and separate sentences may be imposed for each violation. Becker v. United States, 9 Cir., 91 F.2d 550.

The judgment is affirmed.


Summaries of

Nelson v. United States

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Dec 12, 1949
178 F.2d 458 (9th Cir. 1949)
Case details for

Nelson v. United States

Case Details

Full title:NELSON v. UNITED STATES

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Date published: Dec 12, 1949

Citations

178 F.2d 458 (9th Cir. 1949)

Citing Cases

U.S. v. Garlick

Finally, Garlick's attempt to lump the two separate uses of the wires into one transaction fails because,…

United States v. Shelton

Each mailing in furtherance of the scheme constitutes a separate offense under the mail fraud statute,…