United States v. Lawrence Wayne Garth

GOLDBERG, Circuit Judge:

Emerson once wrote that “[t]he farmer is covetous of his dollar, and with reason. It is no waif to him. He knows how many strokes of labor it represents. His bones ache with the day’s work that earned it.” 1 In the years since Emerson penned these words, air-conditioned combines have in most instances replaced horse and harness, but farmers, like any other workers in a troubled industry, remain covetous of their dollars.

In this case, the jury found in essence that appellant’s covetousness of the dollar exceeded the bounds of the criminal law. In particular, the jury…