Opinion ID: 493632
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Intent to Cause the Mails to be Used

Text: 26 Appellants assert that the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that they intended or otherwise contemplated the use of the United States mails in furtherance of their scheme to defraud. Contemplation of the use of the mails is one of the three elements of the crime of mail fraud conspiracy: (1) an agreement between appellants and others (2) to commit the crime of mail fraud, and (3) an overt act committed by one of the conspirators in furtherance of that agreement. See United States v. Ortiz-Loya, 777 F.2d 973, 981 (5th Cir.1985). We review the record to determine whether the government proved the second element beyond a reasonable doubt. 27 [C]onspiracy to commit a particular substantive offense cannot exist without at least the degree of criminal intent necessary for the substantive offense itself. Ingram v. United States, 360 U.S. 672, 678, 79 S.Ct. 1314, 1319, 3 L.Ed.2d 1503 (1959). See also United States v. Harrelson, 754 F.2d 1153, 1174 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 908, 106 S.Ct. 277, 88 L.Ed.2d 241 (1985); United States v. Beil, 577 F.2d 1313 (5th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 946, 99 S.Ct. 1422, 59 L.Ed.2d 634 (1979). There is no specific intent requirement regarding use of the mails in a substantive mail fraud case. The test to determine whether a defendant caused the mails to be used is whether the use was reasonably foreseeable. The defendant need not intend to cause the mails to be used. R.A.G.S. Couture, Inc. v. Hyatt, 774 F.2d 1350, 1354 (5th Cir.1985). See also United States v. Blankenship, 746 F.2d 233 (5th Cir.), reh'g denied, 750 F.2d 69 (5th Cir.1984); United States v. Finney, 714 F.2d 420 (5th Cir.1983); United States v. Toney, 598 F.2d 1349, 1355 (5th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1033, 100 S.Ct. 706, 62 L.Ed.2d 670 (1980). The government's burden, therefore, is to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that appellants agreed to engage in a scheme to defraud in which they contemplated that the mails would likely be used. 28 The government's proof meets this standard. Although Cole and Gray both admitted that the mails were not always used to transport documents from Meridien to Baton Rouge, there was no dispute that the standard method of transporting the documents was via the United States Postal Service. Cole testified that the ordinary course of business was for UCMM to use the mails to send documents to UCFC. Gray testified that the usual transmission would be by mail. A jury properly could find that use of the mails to transmit these documents was reasonably foreseeable, and was understood by defendants to be so, despite the fact that the number of documents never transmitted to Louisiana and the frequency of the use of alternative methods of transmission to Louisiana combine to create reasonable doubts as to whether the Clark or MBM loan documents were actually mailed. 29 A determination that appellants could and did reasonably foresee that the mails would be used to further their conspiracy does not depend on a finding that the mails were actually used. The conspiracy was complete as soon as the agreement was reached and one overt act was committed. Therefore, appellants' violation of the conspiracy statute occurred, at the latest, when they fraudulently applied for the loans. That violation cannot be erased because subsequent events transpired in such a way that nothing was ever mailed. 30 Appellant Massey asserts that the evidence connecting him to any intent to use the mails is too tenuous to allow for his conviction on the conspiracy count. Massey claims that while appellant Wages, a UCMM employee, may have known that documents were mailed from office to office, Massey had no knowledge that any documents would be transferred from the Meridien office. 31 We reject appellant Massey's argument, for the evidence established that Massey could have foreseen and did foresee that the mails would be used. Co-conspirator Danny Baker testified that his and Massey's insurance firm, the Massey-Baker-Molpus Insurance Co. (MBM), was in the business of providing insurance for collateralized property on behalf of UCMM. These insurance policies would be provided for properties on which UCMM was providing loans, loans for which approval by the home office in Louisiana was a normal ingredient. It is difficult to conceive that Massey did not reasonably foresee that doing business with the Mississippi branch of a Louisiana corporation would result in the use of the mail by either the branch or the home office. 32 Further, Baker testified that MBM had other business dealings with UCMM, including loans made by UCMM directly to MBM. One of those loans became central to the government's charge of mail fraud: the MBM loan for the purchase of computer equipment from M-P Duplicating Systems. The proceeds of the loan, $61,425.00, were given to Massey by Wages on a check drawn on a Baton Rouge bank from the bank account of United Companies, Inc., located in Baton Rouge. The check, with United Companies' address in Louisiana clearly appearing on its face, was endorsed by Massey. The jury could find that Massey knew that he was dealing with a branch office. Having determined that it was reasonably foreseeable that documents would be mailed from a Mississippi branch office of a Louisiana corporation to the home office in Baton Rouge, we find that this evidence is enough to establish that Massey reasonably foresaw that the mails would be used. 33 Moreover, we find that the abundant evidence tying Massey to the various other parts of the scheme to defraud suffice to establish that he was a member of the conspiracy, regardless of his subjective knowledge of the relationship between UCMM and UCFC in Baton Rouge. It is well settled that once the existence of a conspiracy and the defendant's participation in it are both established, slight evidence of the defendant's knowledge of the scheme may be sufficient to sustain the jury's finding that he or she was a member. United States v. Malatesta, 583 F.2d 748, 756 (5th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 962, 99 S.Ct. 1508, 59 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979). See also United States v. Reda, 765 F.2d 715 (8th Cir.1985); United States v. Marsh, 747 F.2d 7 (1st Cir.1984); United States v. Green, 735 F.2d 1018 (7th Cir.1984); United States v. Crockett, 534 F.2d 589, 594 (5th Cir.1976). A conspiracy has been established in which it was reasonably foreseeable that the mails would be used. Massey's participation in that conspiracy has been established. We find the evidence summarized above satisfies the Malatesta 's slight evidence standard. 34 We reject appellants' second argument regarding their convictions for conspiracy to commit mail fraud.