United States v. Cohn, 270 U.S. 339 (1926)

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United States v. Cohn

No. 130

Submitted January 13, 1926
Decided March 1, 1926
270 U.S. 339

ERROR TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

Syllabus

1. Obtaining the possession of nondutiable goods from a collector is not obtaining the approval of a "claim upon or against" the government within the meaning of § 65 of the Penal Code, as amended October 23, 1918. P. 345.

2. Neither is the wrongful obtaining of such goods from a collector a "defrauding" of the government within the meeting of this section, since it deals with defrauding only in the primary sense of cheating out of property or money, therein differing from § 37, which extends to conspiracies to defraud in the secondary sense of obstructing governmental functions by fraudulent means. P. 346.

Affirmed.

Error to a judgment of the district court sustaining a demurrer to an indictment.