United States v. James Dee Francis Sheker

James Sheker challenges his conviction for impersonating an agent of the Internal Revenue Service to obtain “a thing of value”, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 912 . The “thing of value” sought was the whereabouts of a witness against Sheker in a state prosecution. Sheker raises three claims in this appeal: (1) That the information sought was not a “thing of value” under 18 U.S.C. § 912 ; (2) that his counsel failed to provide him with effective assistance at trial; and (3) that the prejudicial effect of witness Stone’s testimony outweighed its probative value and should not have been received. We affirm.

I. Facts

On April 19, 1979, just before closing time, Sheker entered Hoeflich’s appliance store in Redding, California. Dressed in business clothes, he approached Mrs. Hoeflich and asked for Robert Stokes, a one-time store employee. Mrs. Hoeflich is hard of hearing but heard Sheker say he was attempting to locate Stokes because Stokes had recently inherited a large sum, and “we cannot find any record of it, any bank that it has been deposited in.” She was left with the impression that Sheker was an agent bf the Internal Revenue Service. When she asked him for identification, Sheker…