Nordgren

Appellant was indicted and convicted under 18 U.S.C.A. § 91 , 1946 ed., of offering and giving to one MacKenzie, a fishery patrol agent of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior, alleged to be a person acting for and on behalf of the United States in an official function, a bribe with the intention of inducing MacKenzie to refrain from reporting that appellant had fished for salmon illegally in a closed area. He was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of fourteen months and fined the sum of $200. His brief on appeal specifies six errors, not all of which need be noticed.

- His first contention is that the evidence failed to prove the offense chargéd in that MacKenzie was not shown to be a “person acting for or on behalf of the United States in any official function.” The contention was advanced on the trial as one of law, that is, it appears predicated not so much on infirmities in the evidence as on appellant’s construction of 'the statute. There was no objection to the form of the proof as to MacKenzie’s status, nor was there any dispute concerning the facts bearing thereon. It was shown that he was employed during the period from June 18 to August…