Opinion ID: 774781
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Howick's Statement

Text: 6 In those discussions, Howick admitted that a number of financial documents were present in his home, but offered an innocent explanation for them. He claimed that the materials purporting to be United States obligations came from two sources: Fred Pfahl, in the Philippines, and Clyde Beverly, a resident of Oklahoma for whom Howick, a licensed attorney, had previously done legal work. Howick's tale of how those individuals, and later Howick himself, came to be in possession of what turned out to be in excess of eighteen-billion dollars of bogus financial instruments was set forth in a typed statement prepared by Howick while his house was being searched. 7 Howick asserted in the statement that he had been recruited for this project by Beverly, who claimed to have information on a large amount of currency discovered aboard United States military aircraft that had crash-landed in the Phillippines decades earlier. Also found on the aircraft, reportedly, were the skeletal remains of eight men, their dog tags, and approximately 50 containers marked U-235 007,  possibly referring to the U-235 isotope, of which fissionable uranium is comprised. Howick's role in the project, he explained, was to attempt to authenticate the putative obligations, with the eventual aim of repatriating them--for a fee, of course. 8 Toward that end, Howick contacted the offices of two elected federal officials from Utah to enlist their aid in the authentication process. After discussing the matter with the Secret Service, the office of Senator Robert Bennett informed Howick that the documents were apparently phony, a conclusion Howick chose to accept. Howick also contacted certain private parties regarding the putative financial instruments, including his associate, Joe Wersal. Although it was suggested that Joe tried to arrange some method of using them, Howick wrote in his statement, it was always the intent that each material be thoroughly authenticated before anything was done with it. 9 As for his own views on the documents' authenticity, Howick conceded in his written statement that one piece of currency, supposedly decades old, raised questions  because it showed an oversized portrait of Benjamin Franklin, a 1996 design innovation in United States currency. According to Agent Christine, Howick also conceded that certain silver certificates in his possession were obviously false. At the same time, Howick maintained in his statement that he wasaware of no illegal activity on the part of anyone involved in this matter.C. Fruits of the Initial Search 10 The search of Howick's apartment turned up numerous contrived obligations and related documents, including some that had not arrived in the controlled delivery performed by Agent Bedford. Some of the bogus currency contains defects easily discoverable by a skeptical observer, such as the over-sized, off-center presidential portraits, noted by Howick, on currency ostensibly lost at least forty years ago. Both the silver and gold certificates were, according to Agent Christine, printed by the ink-jet technology commonly associated with personal computers rather than the intaglio method favored by the United States Treasury. 11 Particularly unusual among the ostensible currency in Howick's possession were federal reserve notes in the improbable denominations of $100,000,000 and $500,000,000. Printed by silk screen, the notes are completely blank on one side and approximately twice as large as ordinary bills. The first note shows the phrase ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS beneath a portrait of George Washington--the same one seen on one-dollar bills--while the numeral 100 is printed to the right of the portrait over the Treasury Department's seal, and in each of the four corners. The second note looks substantially similar to the face of the now-withdrawn five-hundred dollar bill, with the numeral 500 over the Treasury Department's seal and in each corner, framing a portrait of William McKinley. The only indication of the bill's true value is the ornamental phrase beneath the portrait, which reads: FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. The notes' eye-poppingly large denominations are thousands of times higher than the highest-denomination currency ever actually printed--$100,000 gold certificates--which were in any event never publicly circulated. 4 12 Certain defects in the contrived certificates and notes were not obvious to an untrained eye. Some had serial numbers printed in yellow, rather than green, ink. The Treasury seals on certain documents were of poor quality. Some bills marked Series 1935 listed Francine Neff as Treasurer of the United States, although Ms. Neff did not occupy that position until 1974. The paper on which the bills were printed was sometimes tinted a brownish color, possibly intended to simulate aging. 13 In addition to the bogus obligations, agents discovered various materials apparently related to the currency-manufacturing enterprise. These included handwritten notes concerning the serial numbers of the putative financial instruments; a letter on Bank of Richmond letterhead falsely stating that a $500,000,000 Federal Reserve note had been issued; photographs of dog tags; simulated microfilm relating to the Tiger Zebra bonds; a catalogue of U.S. currency; and annotated lists of Secretaries of the Treasury. D. The November Search 14 On November 9, 2000, approximately one month after the controlled delivery and initial search, a second search warrant was executed on two computers in Howick's residence. The search, which Howick challenges, see infra, yielded few useful materials. The government did, however, seize computer files containing four versions of Howick's resume, each slightly different from the others. E. Procedural History 15 In a three-count superseding indictment, Howick was charged with (1) possession with intent to defraud of fictitious documents appearing, representing, or contriving  to be an actual financial instrument (specifically, a one-hundred million dollar Federal Reserve note and a five-hundred million dollar Federal Reserve note) with intent to pass, utter, or present the same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 514(a)(2); (2) possession of counterfeit obligations (specifically, gold and silver certificates), in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 472; and (3) bringing counterfeit obligations (specifically, gold and silver certificates) into the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 472. 16 The jury convicted Howick on all three counts. Although the guideline range for Howick's offense level is 97 to 121 months imprisonment, Howick was sentenced to a term of only 24 months, reflecting the district judge's determination that the [o]ffense level overstates the seriousness of the offense. This appeal followed.