United States V. Beeler

Defendant, John M. Beeler, was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee for obstructing, delaying and affecting commerce by extortion in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (1976).*fn1 Beeler, as Knox County Commissioner of Welfare, allegedly extorted payments from Robert Kenneth Vann, manager of Browning-Ferris Industries of Knoxville, Inc. (BFI). We reverse.