United States v. Bertha Mae Brown

Bertha Mae Brown was convicted, after a non-jury trial, of three narcotics offenses in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 174 , and one tax offense involving narcotics, in violation of 26 U.S.C, § 4705(a). Two of the narcotics offenses involved receiving, concealing, selling, and facilitating the concealment, transportation, and sale of 27.680 grams of cocaine on April 26. 1968. The tax offense involved the same narcotics transaction; the Government alleged that defendant transferred the cocaine without obtaining from the transferee a written order on a form issued for that purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury. The third narcotics offense involved receiving, concealing and facilitating the concealment and transportation of 303.650 grams of cocaine on May 3, 1968. Concurrent five year sentences were imposed.

At the trial defendant testified that she was entrapped into committing all of the offenses by the “blandishments” of Lou Fiano, a “special employee” of the Government. The Government did not call Fiano as a witness. On appeal defendant argues that since the Government did not call Fiano as a witness to rebut defendant’s testimony that she was entrapped, it must be held that the…