United States v. Edward Keith Howick

Edward Howick appeals his jury convictions of possession of counterfeit currency, possession of fictitious documents, and bringing counterfeit currency into the United States. We affirm.

I.

A. Discovery and Delivery of the Unlawful Instruments

In 1999, a Customs Inspector in Anchorage, Alaska intercepted a suspicious package entrusted to Federal Express for delivery. Addressed to defendant Howick at his Bozeman, Montana residence, the package had been sent from the Phillip-pines by one Fred Pfahl. According to the attached manifest, the contents of the package were “legal documents.” As we develop later, “illegal documents” would have been more like it. Inside were counterfeit gold and silver certificates, fictitious Series 1935 Federal Reserve notes, a packet of fictitious “Tiger Zebra” bonds, and other contrived obligations.

At the behest of the Secret Service, a Federal Express employee phoned Howick to confirm that the package would be arriving soon. Using a vehicle and uniform provided by Federal Express, Secret Service agent Kal Bedford then delivered the package to Howick, who volunteered that he had been expecting it.

Bedford returned to Howick’s residence shortly…