Record contained sufficient evidence to support jury's guilty verdict on charges of conspiracy, bribery and obstruction of correspondence, arising out of scheme that required defendants-postal workers to intercept packages containing marijuana that had been sent by co-conspirators to addresses of innocent third-parties, whose names were given to co-conspirator by one defendant, and to give intercepted packages to another co-conspirator. Record showed that packages were sent to individuals who had placed holds on their mail, and that said individuals qualified as "addressees" whom sender intended to receive packages. As such, defendants' interception of said packages satisfied all elements of obstruction of correspondence charge under 18 USC section 1702. Ct. rejected defendants' contention that term "addressee" included unnamed co-conspirator whom sender actually wanted to receive package. Also, record supported one defendant's conspiracy to commit obstruction of correspondence conviction, where: (1) said defendant had admitted to mishandling approximately 10 packages; (2) defendant received money from co-conspirator after people whom defendant described as drug dealers came to retrieve said packages; and (3) defendant conceded that she knew what she had been doing was wrong. Too, record supported bribery convictions, where record showed that both defendants received money from co-conspirator after intercepting packages, and where defendants admitted either that their actions were in violation of postal regulations and/or that they knew what they were doing was wrong.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Reasonable Doubt