United States v. Peter Wylie, United States of America v. Sheldon Perluss, United States of America v. David Bachrach

The defendants (Wylie, Perluss, and Bach-rach) bring this appeal from their convictions on a seven-count indictment charging a large scale LSD manufacturing and distribution operation. They raise several arguments on appeal which fall into three general categories: (1) the adequacy of the government’s denial of electronic surveillance; (2) the outrageousness of the government’s involvement in the criminal enterprise; and (3) various challenges to the length of sentences which were imposed. We find no reversible error and affirm their convictions. For the reasons stated hereinafter, the sentences are vacated and we remand for resentencing.

I. BACKGROUND

This criminal enterprise had its origin with the defendant Bachrach’s dreams of great wealth. Bachrach, a sometime college teacher, talked with his friend Alfred Bloch about one such scheme for making large amounts of money. The two men discussed the possibility of obtaining ergo-tamine tartrate (ET) which is used for manufacturing LSD, and the possibility of selling LSD itself. The discussion eventually took concrete form when Bachrach paid $2,000 to send Bloch to Poland in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain LSD crystals.

For…