Vincent D. Todisco v. United States

Appellant, following jury trial, was adjudged guilty of attempting to bribe an Internal Revenue agent in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 201 . He appealed from that judgment.

Appellant is an attorney at law practicing in Fresno, California. In March, 1960, he was representing a client in attempting to negotiate a compromise settlement of tax liability as assessed by the tax court. In these negotiations the Internal Revenue Service was represented by Agent Earl E. Oto.

In the course of negotiations appellant had made several statements to Oto assuring him of rewards in the event of a favorable settlement. These overtures were reported by Oto to his superiors. On March 29 and 31 and on April 1, 4 and 5, 1960, conversations took place between appellant and Oto in the former’s law office, during all of which Oto was equipped with a Fargoe device, being a miniature radio transmitter. The conversations in their entirety were transmitted and recorded at the point of reception. The upshot of these conversations was an agreement that upon Oto’s acceptance of a settlement appellant’s fee of $500.00 was to be split between them.

The agreement was never carried through, but on April 6 appellant…