United States v. James Louis Whitt, AKA Jim Whitt

HOLLOWAY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant James Whitt brings this timely appeal from his conviction on thirty counts of mail fraud and three counts of extortion, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1951 respectively. This prosecution was one of many that resulted from an extensive investigation by the F.B.I., the I.R.S., and the United States Attorneys for Oklahoma. The focus of the investigation was the payment to some county commissioners of kickbacks, i.e., bribes, by vendors of equipment and supplies purchased by the counties for road construction, bridge repair, etc.

Defendant Whitt was a county…