United States v. Dale Clifford Robinson, United States of America v. Earl R. Chew, United States of America v. Benny O. Green

This is a consolidated appeal of the convictions of the three appellants by a jury for conspiring to steal and receive government property, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 . We affirm.

Facts

The Gila Bend Gunnery Range, located in Arizona, is a test site for Air Force weapon ry. Large amounts of valuable metals such as brass and aluminum are left on the ground after the testing. From time to time, this scrap metal is collected by the Air Force and sold. Theft of the scrap materials is a continuing problem.

The Waterhole Bar, located in Gila Bend, is apparently a hangout for traffickers in brass and aluminum stolen from the range. Air Force personnel, including two of the government’s key witnesses in this case, frequent the bar in order to receive payoffs for information about the location of the metals. Appellants Robinson and Green were often in the bar. Robinson often got information about the ranges while Green did so on at least one occasion.

During this period, Rica “Stony” Hardin became the girl friend and roommate of Robert Land, a co-defendant not appealing his conviction. She testified that Land, Robinson, and other co-defendants frequently went off to the range at…