United States v. Perrone

161 F. Supp. 252, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2358
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 8, 1958
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 161 F. Supp. 252 (United States v. Perrone) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Perrone, 161 F. Supp. 252, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2358 (S.D.N.Y. 1958).

Opinion

FREDERICK van PELT BRYAN, District Judge.

In a three count indictment defendants Gastwirth, Effron and Rich and their co-defendants P err one, Goldberg, Manente, Wilson and LoBasso, were charged with (I) receiving and having in their possession woolen goods valued at more than $100 which had been stolen while moving as a shipment of freight in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 659 and 18 U.S.C. §2, (II) transporting such goods valued at more than $5,000 in interstate commerce knowing them to have been stolen in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 and 18 U.S.C. § 2, and (III) conspiring to violate Section 2314 by transporting such stolen goods in interstate commerce knowing them to have been stolen in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

Defendants Perrone, Goldberg, Wilson and LoBasso pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and there was severance as to them. The case was tried to a jury before me against the remaining defendants, Manente, Rich, Gastwirth and Effron.

A motion for judgment of acquittal on all counts by defendant Manente was granted at the close of the Government’s case. At the close of the whole case motions for judgment of acquittal by defendants Gastwirth and Effron on the first count (possession of stolen goods under 18 U.S.C. § 659) were granted. Decision was reserved on similar motions by defendant Rich as to all three counts, and by defendants Gastwirth and Effron as to the second and third counts, and these counts went to the jury. The jury acquitted defendant Rich on the first substantive count (possession) and on the second substantive count (transportation), and acquitted defendants Gast-wirth and Effron on the second substantive count which remained against them. The jury, however, disagreed as to all three defendants on the third count charging conspiracy to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce knowing them to have been stolen, the substantive offense charged in the second count.

All three defendants renewed their motions for judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy count on which decision had been reserved. These motions were denied on the ground that there was ample evidence in the record on this count to go to the jury.

Defendants Gastwirth and Effron also moved to dismiss the conspiracy count on which the jury had disagreed and defendant Rich made a separate motion to the same effect. These motions were upon the grounds that (a) in view of the verdicts of acquittal on the substantive transportation count, a re-trial of the conspiracy count would place defendants in double jeopardy, and (b) that the verdicts of acquittal were res judicata on the conspiracy count. It is these motions which are before me for decision.

The following facts are virtually undisputed :

On May 12, 1955, 224 bales of woolen cloth were shipped from Packard Mills in Webster, Massachusetts, destined for Cohen, Geiss & Warshaw, Packard Mills’ exclusive agents in New York, and consigned to a New York warehouse. They were picked up at the Packard Mills plant in Webster by truck of the New England Transportation Company. The truck arrived at the terminal of that company in Maspeth, Long Island, sometime during the early morning of May 13 and was then to have been driven to the warehouse of the consignee in Manhattan. The truck was left by the driver some distance away from the terminal; and when he returned to pick it up it was missing. Several days later the truck was found abandoned in Brooklyn with all the bales of woolen goods removed. The thieves were not found.

*255 The bales so stolen consisted of cloth of a variety of colors, with a price range in the wholesale market of from $2.85 to $3.75 per yard, or an average price of $3.30 per yard and were worth some $40,-000 at these prices. Each bale was marked with a small metal tag sewn in the cloth bearing the name of Packard Mills, and also bore a yellow ticket or tag bearing the name of Packard Mills and Cohen, Geiss & Warshaw, exclusive agents, and stating the lot, style and bale number. The bale number was also marked on the bale itself.

On June 1, 1955 agents of the FBI discovered 216 of the 224 bales which had been stolen at the plant of Gastwirth Brothers, manufacturers of children’s clothing, in Philadelphia. The defendants Gastwirth and Effron were the sole partners in this business.

The defendant Gastwirth claimed that he had purchased these goods on May 26, 1955 at his New York office from the defendant Rich, a jobber in piece goods who carried on a small odd lot business in New York and was a connection of Gast-wirth or Effron by marriage. The price was $1.50 per yard. Gastwirth had the option of returning any goods that he could not use. He did not see the goods before he purchased them but only one small swatch of material shown him by Rich. Nor did he know the amount of yardage he was purchasing or the colors.

Gastwirth arranged with Rich to have the goods delivered to the Gastwirth Brothers plant in Philadelphia. It was originally contemplated that' the goods would be delivered that night (May 26), and Gastwirth telephoned his partner Effron in Philadelphia to make arrangements to receive them. However, the goods did not arrive at the Gastwirth Brothers plant until the early morning of May 27 before the plant had opened. They arrived in what were described as rather shabby looking trucks with no identifying marks on them, accompanied by the co-defendants Perrone and Lo-Basso, both of whom pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. At about the same time the co-defendant Goldberg, who also pleaded guilty, and who testified for the prosecution, also arrived at the Gastwirth Brothers plant with the co-defendant Wilson.

Employees of Gastwirth Brothers, under the supervision of defendant Effron, were waiting to help unload the trucks. As the goods were unloaded the original wrappings bearing the name of Packard Mills’ consignee, and the yellow mill tags bearing the name of Packard Mills and its exclusive selling agent, Cohen, Geiss & Warshaw, were torn off each bale. Employees of Gastwirth Brothers, who were assisting in the unloading under the direction of the defendant Effron, placed white tags on each bale containing the lot, bale and style number which had been on the yellow mill tickets. The goods were placed on the third floor of the Gastwirth Brothers premises and a tally was taken of the yardage by Goldberg, Perrone and their associates.

After the tally of the yardage had been taken at the Gastwirth Brothers plant, Goldberg or Perrone demanded that Effron pay the truckmen who had delivered the goods for their services. After talking with Rich in New York Effron paid the truckmen $100. Goldberg then demanded payment on account of the purchase price. By this time Gastwirth had arrived from New York, and after consultation with Effron paid $2,000 in cash to Goldberg, who refused a check, as a payment on account.

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Bluebook (online)
161 F. Supp. 252, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-perrone-nysd-1958.