Dеfendant, John Jacob Wells, was indicted for violating the federal bail-jumping statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3150 (1982). 1 The indictment resulted from defendants’ failure to appear at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minnesota (FCI-Sandstone), to begin serving a five-year prison sentence. Following a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Maine, defendant was convicted of the bail-jumping offense and was given a three-year prison sentence to run consecutively to his existing five-year sentence.
Defendant filed a timely appeal to this court, contending that the evidence adduced against him at trial failed to establish a violation of section 3150. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1982). We will affirm for the reasons stated in this opinion.
I. Factual History
On July 16, 1981, defendant Wells was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment following his conviction for conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana. At the sentencing proceeding, defendant sought permission from the district court to surrender voluntarily or “self-report” to the institution at which he was to serve his sentence. The district court granted the request and ordered defendant to' report for service of his sentence at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons within thirty days of the date of sentencing or, if defendant appealed his conviction, within thirty dаys of the date of affirmance by the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Tr. at 12. Defendant then executed an appearance bond that day after the district court set bail pending appeal. The bond provided that defendant appear “at such ... places as a defendant may be required to appear in accordance with any and all other directions relating to the defendant’s appearance in the above-entitled matter as may be given or issued by the magistrate or the United States District Court for the District of Maine.” Tr. at 14.
Defendant did not report to FCI-Sandstone on April 22 or at any time thereafter. The toll records for defendant’s telephone in Cobbtown, Georgia, indicate that at 9:55 a.m. on April 22, 1983, a collect call was billed to that number from the Atlanta, Georgia, airport. Later that day, at 11:51 p.m., another collect call was charged to defendant’s telephone number from the Minneapolis, Minnesota, airport — an airport near FCI-Sandstone.
A warrant for the arrest of defendant on bail-jumping charges was then issued. On November 21, 1983, Wells was indicted for willfully failing to appear as required at FCI-Sandstone in violatiоn of 18 U.S.C. § 3150. Defendant was apprehended on January 9, 1984, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying documents that identified him by the name of Claude Cantrell. He also drove a motor vehicle registered in the name of Claude Cantrell. Following a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Maine, defendant was convicted of violating section 3150 and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
II. “Court or Judicial Officer” under 18 U.S.C. § 3150
Defendant Wells was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 3150, which reads in relevant part:
“§ 3150. Penalties for failure to appear Whoever, having been released pursuant to this chapter, willfully fails to appear before аny court or judicial officer as required, shall, subject to the provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, incur a forfeiture of any security which was given or pledged for his release, and, in addition, shall, (1) if he was released in connection with a charge of felony, or while awaiting sentence or pending appeal or certiorari after conviction of any offense, be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both,____”
18 U.S.C. § 3150 (1982) (repealed 1984, current version to be codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3146).
The indictment alleged that defendant failed to appear as required at the Federal Correctiоnal Institution at Sandstone, Minnesota. Defendant contends that FCI-Sandstone does not fit within the meaning of the phrase “court or judicial officer” in section 3150 and that, therefore, the district court erred in instructing the jury that failure to report to a United States prison falls within the purview of the statute. 2
On appeal, the Fifth Circuit reversed Clark’s conviction, holding that a probation officer is not a “court or judicial officer” within the meaning of section 3150. The court focused its analysis on the statutory language which defined “judicial officer” as “any person or court authorized ... to bail or otherwise release a person before trial or sentencing or pending appeаl____”
There is a substantial line of authority to ■support the proposition that a person’s failure to report at a designated place and time to begin serving a prison sentence constitutes a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3150. The first such decision was
United States v. West,
Subsequently, the Fifth Circuit — the court which had decided
Clark
— followed the holding in
West
with its decision in
United States v. Logan,
Other courts of appeals’ decisions have followed the reasoning of
West
and
Logan,
while distinguishing
Clark
on its facts. In
United States v. Bright,
Two other courts of appeals have agreed that a person’s failure to obey a court order to report to a United States Marshal at a designated time and place for the purpose of being delivered to prison to serve a sentence is a violation of section 3150. In
United States v. Harris,
The facts of the case at hand are closely analogous to those present in West, Logan, Bright, Harris, and Burleson. The primary difference is that, in this case, the defendant was ordered to report directly to the prison at which he would serve his sentence rather than to a marshal who would then take him to the prison. Nevertheless, we conclude that a prison can just as easily be considered an agent of the court for the purpose of taking custody of a sentenced defendant as is a United States Marshal. It is оf little significance that a defendant on bail is ordered to report directly to the prison at which he will serve his sentence, as opposed to his being ordered to report to a marshal who will then take him to that same prison. Failure to comply with either order was well within the intended proscription of section 3150 of the Bail Reform Act of 1966.
The most recent bail reform amendments and their accompanying legislative history support our conclusion. The Bail Reform Act of 1984 provides for a newly worded bail-jumping statute which specifically states that a knowing failure to surrender
“The holding in United States v. Clark [412 F.2d 885 (5th Cir.1969) ] that a probation officer is not a judicial officer ... is specially endorsed, and section 3146 should be interpreted tо reach the same results. Bail jumping is an offense intended to apply to actual court appearances before judges or magistrates and not to other court personnel, with the sole exception of a failure to surrender for service of sentence, as covered in subsection (a)(2). In this situation the Committee believes that the failure to appear is tantamount to a failure to appear before a court and is equally deserving of punishment.”
S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 32-33, reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News 3182, 3215-3216. In summary, the language of the new bail-jumping statute squarely prohibits the activity for which defendant was convicted and the legislative history gives no indication that the new statute represents a change from the old bail-jumping statute under which defendant was convicted.
We conclude, therefore, that a failure to comply with a court order to report to a prison for serving a sentence constitutes a failure "to appear before any court or judicial officer” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3150. Accordingly, we hold that, as a matter of law, the district court did not err in instructing the jury that defendant’s failure to report to FCI-Sandstone falls within the purview of section 3150.
III. “As Required” under 18 U.S.C. § 3150
Defendant next contends that he was improperly convicted under section 3150 because there was no еvidence that his failure to appear at FCI-Sandstone constituted a violation of a court order. Only violations of court orders are punishable under section 3150.
United States v. Bright,
Although the district court directed the Bureau of Prisons to select the specific prison, as well as the specific date — within a thirty-day period — at which defendant was to surrender himself, the court reserved for itself all the significant discretionary bail decisions. It was the court that considered all the relevant statutory factors
5
in determining whether to grant bail to the defendant. Moreover, the court determined the amount of bail, as well as the terms and conditions of defendant’s release. Finally, the court set a relatively
“The court directs that defendant report to the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons no later than 30 days from this date or on affirmance from the U.S. Court of Appeals.” 6
Defendant claims that the court’s requirement that defendant report within thirty days of affirmance was vague and that the court’s order granted too much discretion to the Bureau of Prisons. Defendant maintains that, because the meaning of the term “affirmance” in the order was unclear, the district court erred in instructing the jury at his bail-jumping trial that the date of affirmance was March 28, 1983 — the date that this court issued its mandate affirming defendant’s сonviction for narcotics offenses. 7
We find no error in the district court’s instruction that the date of affirmance in the court’s order referred to the date that the mandate was issued by this court. Once defendant appealed his narcotics conviction, the district court lost its jurisdiction over the case and did not regain jurisdiction until this court issued its mandate of affirmance, notwithstanding the fact that a judgment of affirmance had been filed at an earlier date.
See United States v. Rush,
Moreover, that the district court’s order permitted the Bureau of Prisons to select a specific date for defendant to report within thirty days from the date of affirmance is not a significant delegation of authority to the Bureau. Rather, the flexibility was reasonably necessary to provide the Bureau time to find space in one of its prisons for the defendant and to set a date at which it was convenient for the prison to receive the defendant. Therefore, the date on which defendant was to report was sufficiently specific, such that it was determined by an order of the district court and not by an exеrcise of excessive discretion by the Bureau of Prisons. It is of little significance that the date was communicated to defendant by the United States Marshal’s office, rather than by the court directly.
Finally, that the court’s directive requiring the defendant to report for service of sentence called for the Bureau of Prisons to designate the particular prison at which defendant should report did not alter the nature of that directive as a court order. The district court did not specify a particular prison because it did not have the authority to do so.
See Ange v. Paderick,
In this ease, the defendant had requested the privilege of self-surrendering directly
In summary, there was no improper delegation of authority to the Bureau of Prisons in the court’s directive and thus that directive is properly characterized as a court order, the violation of which subjects a person to criminal liability under section 3150.
IV. “Willfulness” Under Section 3150
Defendant contends that, as a matter of law, the Government’s evidence presented at trial was insufficient to prove that his failure to surrender at FCI-Sandstone was “willful” and, therefore, proscribed by section 3150.
Willfulness is an essential element of a violation under section 3150.
United States v. Ott,
In deciding whether there was sufficient evidence for the jury’s finding beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant’s failure to appear was “willful,” this court must consider the evidence as a whole, taken in the light most favorable to the Government, together with all legitimate inferences to be drawn therefrom.
United States v. Hensel,
In support of his contention that his failure to appear was not proven to be willful, defendant cites three decisions in which a defendant indicted under § 3150 was found not to have acted willfully and therefore was not subject to criminal penalty.
8
In those cases, the Government’s evidence proved only that the defendants were given notice of an obligation to appear, yet
V. Sufficiency of the Indictment
Finally, defendant alleges that the indictment filed against him fails to state a crime
In this case, the district court did not instruct the jury on criminal contempt, and the defendant was not convicted of that crime. Thus, defendant’s contention that his indictment did not charge the offense of criminal contempt is irrelevant.
Defendant contends that the indictment fails to state a crime for bail jumping because it merely charges defendant with failure to repоrt to FCI-Sandstone, rather than to a “court or judicial officer” as specified in section 3150.
14
As we have already concluded previously, FCI-Sandstone is a “court or judicial officer” under section 3150 within the context of this case. Therefore, the language in the indictment that alleges defendant’s failure to report to FCI-Sandstone adequately charges defendant with failure to appear before a court or judicial officer. Viewed in its entirety, an indictment is sufficient if it describes all of the elements of the charged offense using the words of the relevant criminal statute.
Hamling v. United States,
VI. Summary
In summary, the Federal Correctional Institution at Sandstone, Minnesota, constitutes a “court or judicial officer” under 18 U.S.C. § 3150 within the context of this case. The directive requiring defendant to report — within thirty days from the affirmance of his conviction — to the prison designated by the Bureau of Prisons was a court order, the violation of which was punishable under section 3150. The evidence adduced at trial was more than sufficient to demonstrate that defendant willfully failed to report as ordered. Finally, the indictment filed against defendant was legally sufficient to charge the crime of bail jumping under section 3150. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court will be affirmed.
Notes
. Defendant was indicted on November 21, 1983, at which time 18 U.S.C. § 3150 (1982) served as the federal bail-jumping statute. Section 3150 is no longer in force. It has been replaced by a new hail-jumping statute, included in the Bail Reform Act of 1984, to be codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3146. See Bail Reform Act of 1984, Pub.L. No. 98-473, Title II, § 203(a), 98 Stat. 1976 (1984).
. The relevant portion of the district court's instruction to the jury reads:
"Now, the dеfendant is charged with violating a section 3150 of Title 18 of the United States Code which provides in part, 'Whoever being released on bail willfully fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required shall be guilty of an offense against the United States.’ There are three essential elements which must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in order to establish the offense prescribed by the law. First, that the defendant has been admitted to bail pursuant to an order given by a judge or magistrate of the court as charged; second, that the defendant thereafter failed to appear at the Federаl Correctional Institution at Sandstone, Minnesota as required; and third, that the defendant did knowingly and willfully.
“Now, I instruct you that failure to report to a United States prison fails [sic] with [sic] the preview [sic] of the statute. That is, it is afailure to appear before a court or judicial officer within the meaning of those terms as used in the statute from which I just quoted.”
Tr. at 82-83.
. The Clark court was analyzing the language of 18 U.S.C. § 3152, which defined "judicial officer” for the purposes of the Bail Reform Act. This statutory definition remains in effect, though it is currently codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3156(b)(1) (1982).
. Bail Reform Act of 1984, Pub.L. No. 98-473, Title II, § 203(a), 98 Stat. 1976 (1984) (to be codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3146).
. Some of the factors that were to be considered by the distriсt court in setting the conditions of defendant’s release included: his family ties, employment, financial resources, character and mental condition, length of residence in the community, record of convictions and previous court appearances, the risk of his flight or danger, and the likelihood of his success on appeal. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 3146(b), 3148 (1982) (repealed 1984) (current version to be codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3143).
. United States v. Wells, No. 80-00030-09P (D.Me. July 16, 1981) (judgment and commitment order). The written order cited above is substantially the same as the oral order rendered to the defendant by the district court. The oral order stated:
"The Court further directs that each defendant may self-report to the institution as designated by the Bureau of Prisons no later than 30 days of this date on or before the affirmance of the First Circuit Court of the conviction and sentence by this Court of that defendant.”
Tr. at 11-12.
. The date that defendant was ordered to appear at FCI-Sandstone, April 22, 1983, was more than thirty days after the date this court filed its judgment of affirmance (January 25, 1983), yet was within thirty days of the date this court issued its mandate of affirmance (March 28, 1983).
.
See United States v. Wilson,
. Willfulness "cannot be found beyond a reasonable doubt merely from nonappearance and notice of obligation to appear."
United States v. Wilson,
.
See United States v. Yates,
.
United States v. Ott,
.
United States v. Willis,
.
United States v. Guerrero,
. The indictment reads in relevant part:
“On or about April 22, 1983 and continuing up to and including the date of the filing of this indictment, in the District of Maine and elsewhere, the defendant ... wilfully did fail to appear as required at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minnesota; “In violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 3150.”
United States v. Wells, No. 83-00067-P (D.Me. Nov. 21, 1983) (indictment).
