United States v. David E. Lawson

The United States appeals the district court’s order dismissing for lack of jurisdiction the indictment against David Lawson for theft of government property in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641 . At issue in this case is whether the district court erred in deciding that the proceeds of auctioned property are not “government property” within the meaning of the statute. We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3731 and we affirm.

I

David Lawson was an auctioneer who owned and operated Lawson & Lawson Auctioneers, Inc., a California corporation. Pursuant to an ongoing business relationship with the Small Business Administration (SBA), Lawson was hired to conduct five separate auctions to dispose of property and equipment from businesses that had defaulted on SBA guaranteed loans.

Besides his commissions and expenses, Lawson received approximately $256,000 in proceeds from the auctions that he failed to turn over to the SBA. Lawson later declared bankruptcy and the SBA was listed as a creditor. No objection was filed by the SBA in the bankruptcy proceedings and Lawson’s debt to the SBA was discharged by the bankruptcy court.

On June 6, 1989 Lawson was indicted for five counts of theft…