Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 54

524us1$71P 02-16-99 22:29:48 PAGES OPINPGT

Cite as: 524 U. S. 1 (1998)

9

Opinion of the Court

In re Palliser concerned a man who sent letters from New
York to postmasters in Connecticut, attempting to gain post-
age on credit, in violation of then-applicable law. The Court
held that the defendant could be prosecuted in Connecticut,
where the mail he addressed and dispatched was received.
136 U. S., at 266–268. The Palliser opinion simply recog-
nizes that a mailing to Connecticut is properly ranked as an
act completed in that State. Cf. 18 U. S. C. § 3237(a) (“Any
offense involving the use of the mails . . . is a continuing
offense and . . . may be . . . prosecuted in any district from,
through, or into which such . . . mail matter . . . moves.”);
United States v. Johnson, 323 U. S. 273, 275 (1944) (consistent
with the Constitution “an illegal use of the mails . . . may
subject the user to prosecution in the district where he sent
the goods, or in the district of their arrival, or in any inter-
vening district”). Cabrales, however, dispatched no missive
from one State into another. The counts before us portray
her and the money she deposited and withdrew as moving
inside Florida only.

Finally, the Government urges the efﬁciency of trying
Cabrales in Missouri, because evidence in that State, and not
in Florida, shows that the money Cabrales allegedly laun-
dered derived from unlawful activity. Although recognizing
that the venue requirement is principally a protection for the
defendant, Reply Brief 10, the Government further main-
tains that its convenience, and the interests of the commu-
nity victimized by drug dealers, merit consideration.

But if Cabrales is in fact linked to the drug-trafﬁcking
activity, the Government is not disarmed from showing that
is the case. She can be, and indeed has been, charged with
conspiring with the drug dealers in Missouri.
If the Gov-
ernment can prove the agreement it has alleged, Cabrales
can be prosecuted in Missouri for that confederacy, and her
money laundering in Florida could be shown as overt acts in
furtherance of the conspiracy. See 18 U. S. C. § 371 (requir-
ing proof of an “act to effect the object of the conspiracy”).