United States v. William E. Blake

BROWN, Chief Judge:

Will the real United States Merchant Marine please sail forward.

Appellants have been convicted on seven counts of mail fraud (18 U.S.C.A. § 1341) and one count of conspiracy (18 U.S.C.A. § 371) in the operation of an alleged non-profit organization called the United States Merchant Marine (USMM). Lest we be misled, as the trial court and jury found USMM’s subscribers to have been, the USMM here has no relation to the real United States Merchant Marine. 1 While we accept the jury’s finding that the scheme was fraudulent, and conclude the evidence if credited was sufficient…