Louis Fiano v. United States

Louis Fiano, whose family name is Louis Friedman, was convicted in the United States District Court of violating the Federal Narcotics Act (Title 21 U.S. C.A. § 174). The conviction is based upon an indictment charging Fiano with knowingly and unlawfully selling and facilitating the sale of heroin to Stephen F. Giorgio, a government under-cover agent. The agent was operating under the assumed name of Louis Di Stephano. Fiano is appealing from the conviction and judgment.

The agent and Fiano became acquainted in a Los Angeles restaurant called “Lucy’s”, where Fiano was an employee in charge of a part of the restaurant. It is agreed that the two met in the establishment many times and the government claimed through the agent’s testimony, which was denied by Fiano, that they talked in a guarded and round-about manner and later more directly about a deal between them wherein the agent agreed to buy and Fiano agreed to sell the agent a comparatively large amount of heroin for the sum of Seventy-Five Hundred Dollars ($7500.00). That later the sum was delivered by the agent to Fiano who told the agent that the heroin would be delivered later. According to the agent, in due time Fiano…