Andrew Pruitt was the chief supervisor at the Fort Lewis army base commissary meat department. In 1978, Pruitt, Patrick Weber, and Reagan Joe Baker formed a corporation to operate two restaurants in Washington known as Steak N' Lobster, Incorporated.

Pruitt and Frank Long, another supervisor at Fort Lewis, diverted meat that had been ordered for Fort Lewis to various locations including Pruitt's restaurant, Steak N' Lobster.

The meat was diverted after commissary personnel examined the meat. Pruitt or Long would direct portions of the meat back to the truck, and the driver for Randy's Meat was instructed to deliver the meat to various locations, including the Steak N' Lobster restaurant. Or the meat would be labeled "will call" with Fort Lewis marked on the boxes, and Weber would then pick up the meat at a later time.

The FBI began an investigation and arrested all the men. Three months before the trial, Pruitt was killed in a hunting accident, but he had written a statement before that exculpating Weber and Baker. Long and Baker were found guilty of theft, conspiracy, and perjury.

On appeal, the men argued that proof that the meat belonged to the United States was necessary for the case to proceed in federal court. The meat contracts provided:

Unless this contract specifically provides for earlier passage, title to supplies . . . shall pass to the government upon formal acceptance, regardless of when or where the government takes physical possession.

The question then boiled down to whether the meat had been identified and whether the United States had accepted the meat and had some interest in the meat. Provide your analysis of whether the men could be charged with theft. [U.S. v. Long, 706 F.2d 1044 (9th Cir.)]