United States v. Bruno

105 F.2d 921, rev'd on other grounds, 308 U.S. 287 (1939)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Bruno (D) and Iacono were indicted along with 86 others for a conspiracy to import, sell, and possess narcotics. The conspiracy charged required the cooperation of four groups of persons; the smugglers who imported the drugs; the middlemen who paid the smugglers and distributed to retailers; and two groups of retailers - one in New York and one in Texas and Louisiana - who supplied the addicts. D indicated that there were three separate conspiracies and not the one that they were convicted of; one between the smugglers and the middleman, and others between the middlemen and each group of retailers. The evidence at trial did not disclose any cooperation or communication between the smugglers and either group of retailers or between the separate retailing groups. But it did show That Ds knew that the middlemen must sell to retailers, and the retailers knew that the middlemen must buy of importers of one sort or another. Thus, the conspirators at one end of the chain knew that the unlawful business would not, and could not, stop with their buyers; and those at the other end knew that it had not begun with their sellers. The evidence did not disclose any cooperation or communication between the smugglers and either group of retailers, or between the two groups of retailers themselves. Ds were convicted and appealed.