United States v. Clinton Manges David Wayne Myers and Carl Hubert Shanklin

BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge:

This appeal involves a plot to retain the oil and gas rights to a parcel of submerged property in Corpus Christi Bay, Nueces County, Texas, known as tract 350. The indictment alleged that appellants prevented the leased mineral rights from reverting to the state by submitting false documents to state regulatory agencies and making corrupt payments to a state official.

Appellants appeal their convictions and sentences on charges of conspiracy and mail fraud; their briefs teem with an overabundance of evidentiary, statutory, and constitutional challenges. Many of these…