United States v. Sidney Fried

Fried appeals his conviction by a jury for violating 18 U.S.C. § 2314 by transporting in interstate commerce stolen property valued in excess of $5,000. We affirm.

I

In December 1976, it was discovered that seven negotiable Weyerhauser Company debentures, each having a face value of $100,-000, were missing from the offices of a New York City clearing house which had received them from a seller for delivery to his buyer. Both the buyer and the seller were located in New York City; both presumed that the bonds had been stolen.

On January 2 or 3, 1977, Dorward, who was in San Francisco, received a call from DiRodio, who was apparently in Las Vegas, in which DiRodio said that he had access to some bonds that could serve as collateral for a loan Dorward was trying to arrange. DiRodio gave Dorward the serial number, year of maturity, and other identifying data corresponding to one of the missing debentures. In answer to Dorward’s question, DiRodio assured him that there was nothing wrong with the debentures, that “they were not on any list, hot list.”

A few days later, DiRodio, Guglielmini, and Herko met with Dorward at a San Francisco Holiday Inn (the Inn). Although DiRodio said…