United States v. Robert S. Kelem, United States of America v. Barnett Gartrell

ELY, Circuit Judge:

Following their convictions of several offenses under the mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1341, Kelem and Gartrell brought appeals which we have consolidated. They insist that the statute does not proscribe the particular fraud which they practiced.

It is elementary that the jurisdiction of federal courts is defined and limited by the Constitution and congressional action; hence, statutes such as section 1341 should be carefully and strictly construed in order to avoid extension beyond the limits intended by Congress. Healy v. Ratta, 292 U.S. 263, 270, 54 S.Ct. 700, 78 L.Ed.…