Opinion ID: 774781
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Discovery and Delivery of the Unlawful Instruments

Text: 3 In 1999, a Customs Inspector in Anchorage, Alaska intercepted a suspicious package entrusted to Federal Express for delivery. Addressed to defendant Howick at his Bozeman, Montana residence, the package had been sent from the Phillippines by one Fred Pfahl. According to the attached manifest, the contents of the package were legal documents. As we develop later, illegal documents would have been more like it. Inside were counterfeit gold and silver certificates, 2 fictitious Series 1935 Federal Reserve notes, 3 a packet of fictitious Tiger Zebra bonds, and other contrived obligations. 4 At the behest of the Secret Service, a Federal Express employee phoned Howick to confirm that the package would be arriving soon. Using a vehicle and uniform provided by Federal Express, Secret Service agent Kal Bedford then delivered the package to Howick, who volunteered that he had been expecting it. 5 Bedford returned to Howick's residence shortly thereafter, having exchanged his Federal Express regalia for a federal search warrant. While Bedford and other agents performed a security sweep of the premises, Special Agent Timothy Christine remained with Howick. After affirmatively waiving his Miranda rights, Howick discussed matters relating to the phony currency with Christine and later with Bedford.