Oby Burks v. United States

Appellant was one of twenty individuals indicted for conspiracy ( 18 U.S.C. § 371 ) (a) to accept wagers; (b) to evade the wagering occupational tax ( 26 U.S.C. § 4411 ); and (c) to evade the excise tax imposed by 26 U.S.C. § 4401 , in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201 .

The objects of the conspiracy alleged' in Count I were to be accomplished' through the conducting of a wagering' pool or lottery commonly known as the “numbers.” Defendant Oby Burks was the alleged “banker”; defendant Florence Wilson was the alleged “bookkeeper”; and the eighteen other defendants were allegedly “writers”, i. e., individuals, who would accept bets from betters, deduct the writer’s commission, pay the-“receipts” to the “bank” and deliver “winnings” from the “bank” to the betters. The overt acts charged in Count I were that defendant Burks arranged a credit card charge account for his various, writers, and that they severally charged gasoline to those accounts. Burks was. acquitted on this count, and convicted in substantive Counts II, III, IV, V and VI.

In Count II, defendant Oby Burks was charged with conducting a wagering pool' and lottery in February 1959 in Los. Angeles, California, and in failing…