United States v. James Anton

James Anton was convicted of possession of stolen mail matter in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708 . On appeal, he challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion for acquittal, arguing that the Government failed to prove a theft from the mail and that there was a fatal variance between the indictment and the proof.

On December 11, 1974, Slakey Brothers issued and mailed a check in the amount of $95,410.13 to the Brumley-Donaldson Company. The envelope in which they mailed the check, although properly addressed, was inadvertently delivered to the post office box of Luis Martinez, which was adjacent to that of Brumley-Donaldson. Juan Carlos Soto picked up the mail for Martinez, who did not discover the misdelivered letter until he opened all the mail later that day. Soto and Martinez initially intended to locate the true owners and to return the check. They subsequently changed their minds, however, and decided to negotiate the check for themselves.

They enlisted appellant to assist in their scheme. He succeeded in exchanging the stolen check for a cashier’s check, but was unable to cash the cashier’s check.

Appellant contends that because the intent to steal the check did not…