Fernando Roig Maldonado v. United States

Defendant-appellant was convicted of the sale and possession of marijuana on January 25, 1961, on two counts, each a violation of Title 21 United States Code § 176a. He was sentenced to eight years on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. Jurisdiction on appeal lies here. 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

Appellant denied the possession and transaction charged. He was identified by the government agent who had allegedly paid him the money for the marijuana; by a second government agent who had watched the transaction from a distance, and by the “special employee” of the government (the “stool pigeon” Ramos) who had known appellant “two or three years,” (Tr. p. 43, 1. 9.) and who had seen the package delivered and money received by the appellant.

Thus the weight of the evidence as to what happened on January 25, 1961, and the extent of appellant’s participation therein, preponderated against appellant’s denial he was present. He was arrested on February 27, 1961, and released the next day. The government states this was because he promised to cooperate with it in leading its operators to various sources of the marijuana. Appellant denies any such “deal.” Appellant went to Porto Rico;…