UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.  No. 00-4862

SCOTTIE LEE GRAVES,

Defendant-Appellant. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Durham.

James A. Beaty, Jr., District Judge.

(CR-00-123)

Submitted: May 31, 2001

Decided: June 15, 2001

Before WILLIAMS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and

HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. 

COUNSEL

Louis C. Allen, III, Federal Public Defender, Eric D. Placke, Assistant

Federal Public Defender, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant.

Walter C. Holton, Jr., United States Attorney, Michael F. Joseph,

Assistant United States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for

Appellee. 
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c). 

OPINION

PER CURIAM: 

Scottie Lee Graves was convicted of four counts of mailing a

threatening communication, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 876 (1994).

He now appeals, raising two issues in his formal brief. Graves also

moves for leave to file a supplemental pro se brief. While we grant

the motion, we find that none of the arguments raised in either

Graves’ formal brief or his pro se brief has merit, and we therefore

affirm. 

I

Graves was convicted on North Carolina state drug charges and

sentenced on March 26, 1998, to 80-100 months in prison. He was

prosecuted by Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Richard

Panosh. Starting in July 1998, Graves wrote seventeen letters to

Panosh. The letters were mailed primarily to Panosh at his office;

however, several letters were mailed to his home. Graves admitted to

an FBI agent that he had mailed all seventeen letters. 

Graves was charged with five counts of mailing threatening communications, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 876. A jury convicted Graves

on Counts One, Two, Three, and Five. None of the charged letters

contained a direct threat against Panosh or his family; indeed, Graves

in some cases specifically stated that the letter was not a threat. However, language in each letter easily could have been interpreted as

threatening, and Panosh testified that he construed each letter to be a

threat against him and/or members of his family. 

In the letter charged in Count One, Graves wrote, "I will not rest

until I do what I must do. . . . [T]he Bible says an eye for an eye."

The letter charged in Count Two told Panosh, "I hold you responsible

for each day that I’m spending in prison. . . . I am not responsible for

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casualties in societies [sic] future or yours." Graves wrote in the letter

charged in Count Three, "I’m around REAL Killers and now begin

to THINK LIKE THEM and understand why they HURT people

. . . . It’s people LIKE YOU who turn people like me into a KILLER."

Finally, in the letter covered by Count Five, Graves wrote, "Say your

prayers Panosh. . . . Don’t worry, NEVER would I dirty my hands

with your HELL BOUND BLOOD. . . . I will NEVER hurt you

myself but I . . . praise anyone or thing that will hurt you." 

Graves was sentenced to sixty months in prison. He now appeals

his convictions and, in his informal brief, challenges his convictions

and sentence. 

II

Prior to trial, the district court ruled that six of the twelve

uncharged letters and the envelopes in which they were mailed were

admissible under Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) on the issue of intent. The six

letters were mailed during the same time period as the charged letters.

The text of the six letters was very similar to that of five charged letters; additionally, Graves drew cartoons on some of the letters’ envelopes that were menacing. For instance, one drawing was of a dog

with teeth bared, attacking Panosh’s name. On another envelope, a

muscle-bound man was offering a "ride" to Panosh inside a chain that

was attached to the bumper of a pickup truck. Clearly, the implication

was that Panosh would be dragged behind the truck and his body torn

apart. The caption to the drawing drove home this point. It stated, "If

I ever get out, and YOU need a ride, please call US. . . . [W]e will

pick up the pieces. Ha Ha. Hop right in, Dick!" 

Given the somewhat ambiguous nature of the charged letters,

admission of the six uncharged letters was not an abuse of discretion.

See United States v. Maxton, 940 F.2d 103, 106 (4th Cir. 1991) (in

prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. § 876, extrinsic evidence to prove intent

to threaten allowed if threatening nature of communication is ambiguous). We conclude that the six letters were relevant and necessary to

the element of intent, reliable, and not unduly prejudicial. See United

States v. Queen, 132 F.3d 991, 995 (4th Cir. 1997). 

UNITED STATES v. GRAVES 3
III

Graves contends that the evidence was insufficient to convict him.

We uphold a jury’s verdict of guilt if there is substantial evidence in

the record to support it. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80

(1942). Here, looking at the evidence as a whole, including both the

charged and uncharged letters, we conclude that there was sufficient

evidence to convict Graves on the four counts. 

IV

In his informal brief, Graves complains about alleged irregularities

in his state criminal trial; these claims are not cognizable here. He

also reiterates the claims raised in the formal brief. Finally, he appears

to complain that his federal sentence should have run concurrently

with his state sentence. He is mistaken. Graves’ federal sentence was

required, by statute and under the sentencing guidelines, to run consecutive to his state sentence. See 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a) (1994); U.S.

Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5G1.3(a) (2000). 

V

We accordingly affirm. We dispense with oral argument because

the facts and legal contentions are fully raised in the materials before

us and argument would not aid the decisional process. 

AFFIRMED

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