Opinion ID: 362836
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Materiality of the False Declarations.

Text: 7 Gambling operations are illegal under federal law only if conducted by five or more persons. 18 U.S.C. § 1955(b)(1) (1976). The record discloses that the bookmaking operation under investigation by the grand jury consisted of two sides, one handling bets on horseracing and the other dealing with football betting. Neither side involved five or more persons as operators of the business, so, in order to establish that the gamblers' operation was illegal, the Government had to produce evidence linking the two sides. 8 The evidence establishes that Kekich falsely refused to identify, as persons with whom he spoke regarding gambling activities, Joseph Powers and Glenn Rinks. Powers maintained records primarily for the horseracing side of the operation, while Rinks was involved on the football side. If Kekich had truthfully responded to the questions asked before the grand jury concerning his contacts with those persons, he would have provided evidence linking the two sides of the gambling operation. Thus, Kekich's false testimony tended to interfere with a line of inquiry relevant to the grand jury investigation even though the grand jury possessed other evidence which eventually proved sufficient to link the two sides. As such, the testimony was material. 3 See United States v. Phillips, 540 F.2d 319, 328 (8th Cir.), Cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1000, 97 S.Ct. 530, 50 L.Ed.2d 611 (1976). Cf. United States v. Howard, 560 F.2d 281, 284 (7th cir. 1977) (dictum; potential interference with a line of inquiry establishes materiality). 9