## Facts

- James Fallon worked for Suburban Auto Brokers (SAB), a used-car broker that bought vehicles and resold them to dealers or consumers.
- SAB engaged in an odometer-rollback scheme, altering odometers to show substantially lower mileage before resale.
- To conceal true mileage, SAB sought new Wisconsin vehicle titles that did not state an odometer reading at transfer, allowing SAB to insert any mileage figure when reselling.
- SAB obtained new titles by submitting title applications and prior titles at a Wisconsin exam station; the station mailed the application and documents to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WDOT), which processed and issued the new title.
- The government introduced documents (titles, reassignment supplements, and odometer statements) signed by Fallon reflecting purchases of high-mileage cars and later resales with lower mileages.
- SAB drivers testified that, following Fallon’s instructions, they transported vehicles and that many odometers were rolled back between pickup and delivery.
- A cooperating co-conspirator, Huebner, testified under an agreement conditioned on providing satisfactory testimony; the district court later struck his testimony and instructed the jury to disregard it.

## Issues

1. Whether WDOT-related mailings used in processing title applications were sufficiently connected to the fraudulent scheme to satisfy the “use of the mails” element of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 for the challenged counts.
2. Whether the jury’s exposure to a co-conspirator’s testimony—later stricken with a curative instruction—required reversal due to unfair prejudice or insufficient remaining evidence.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed Fallon’s convictions for aiding and abetting mail fraud and for conspiracy to alter motor vehicle odometers.
- The court held the WDOT mailings were in furtherance of the scheme because obtaining new, blank-mileage titles was essential to executing the fraud.
- The court held any prejudice from Huebner’s testimony was cured by striking the testimony and instructing the jury to disregard it.
- The court found the remaining documentary evidence and driver testimony sufficient to support the verdict.

## Legal Principles

- Mailings that are routine or administrative can satisfy 18 U.S.C. § 1341 when they are a normal part of, and essential to, a transaction on which the fraudulent scheme depends.
- A mailing need not itself be false or deceptive if it is used for the purpose of executing the fraud.
- Juries are presumed to follow instructions to disregard stricken testimony absent a record showing compelling reasons to conclude otherwise.
- When challenged testimony is stricken, convictions may stand if the untainted evidence independently proves the defendant’s knowing participation in the scheme.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Fallon’s convictions because the state title-processing mailings were essential steps enabling falsified mileage representations, and because the trial court’s instruction to disregard the stricken cooperator testimony, combined with strong independent evidence of guilt, prevented reversible prejudice.


United States v. Fallon, 776 F.2d 727 (7th Cir. 1985)