Picciurro v. United States

• Decision Date: 10 February 1958
• Docket Number: No. 15794,15795.,15794
• Citation: 250 F.2d 585
• Parties: Leonard PICCIURRO, true name Dominic Frank Picciurro, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee (two cases).
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

250 F.2d 585 (1958)

Leonard PICCIURRO, true name Dominic Frank Picciurro, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee (two cases).

Nos. 15794, 15795.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

January 8, 1958.

Rehearing Denied February 10, 1958.

Kenneth J. Ehlenbach and Charles M. Hanratty, Milwaukee, Wis., for appellant.

George E. MacKinnon, U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn. (Hyam Segell, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Paul, Minn., on the brief), for appellee.

Before GARDNER, Chief Judge, and WOODROUGH and VOGEL, Circuit Judges.

GARDNER, Chief Judge.

Leonard Picciurro, Shirley Frances Picciurro and Charles Lipscomb were charged in two indictments, the first of which charged them with conspiring together and with each other to persuade, induce, entice and coerce a woman to travel in interstate commerce from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, for the purpose of prostitution, debauchery and other immoral practices in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371. Eight overt acts were charged. The second indictment contained two counts. The first count charged them with unlawfully persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing a woman to travel in interstate commerce by railroad train from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the purpose of prostitution, debauchery and other immoral practices in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Sections 2422 and 2 and the second count charged them with persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing a woman to travel in interstate commerce by airplane from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for purposes of prostitution, debauchery and other immoral practices, also in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Sections 2422 and 2. The actions were consolidated for purposes of trial.

Shirley Picciurro and Charles Lipscomb who were charged jointly with appellant pleaded guilty and thereafter the action proceeded to trial against appellant alone. We shall refer to appellant as defendant.

At the times of the alleged commission of the various counts of the indictments Shirley Picciurro was the wife of defendant but on October 18, 1956, she was divorced so that at the time of filing of the indictments and at the time of the trial the relationship of husband and wife no longer existed between Shirley Picciurro and defendant.

There was evidence introduced by the government tending to prove that defendant and one Rosario Gagliano, who was known as Joe Gag, purchased Club 166 at Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, which is a suburb of Milwaukee, in the year 1954, and thereafter the business was operated and owned by the defendant and Joe Gag. The club was a white frame building, rather large, with a bar and dining room downstairs and separate rooms upstairs, including a bath and kitchen. In May of 1956 it was decided by the defendant and his partner to have prostitutes working at the club. Shirley Picciurro testified that the first conversation between herself and defendant concerning the hiring of prostitutes took place in May, 1956, in the presence of Joe Gag and that at that time it was agreed that they would have prostitutes working there. Subsequently there were conversations between herself and defendant in the presence of Joe Gag to the effect that if while Shirley was absent from the club she ran into a prostitute that would be suitable for the club she should contact the defendant and discuss whether they should hire her. On or about July 10, 1956, Shirley came to St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to her leaving Menomonee Falls she again discussed the prospect of hiring a prostitute for Club 166 with defendant and Joe Gag in the event that she ran across anyone who was interested in such a job. It was decided that if she did find someone that she should call defendant. Shirley was in St. Paul approximately a week and a half before she met one Gretta Cotier. At the time of her first meeting Gretta was with one Ronnie Campbell, a known prostitute, and Charles Lipscomb who was acting as her panderer. Lipscomb inquired of Shirley whether Club 166 was a place of prostitution and when told that it was asked if Gretta could get a job there. In accordance with defendant's instructions Shirley called defendant two or three days after her conversation with Lipscomb. After so telephoning defendant Shirley told Gretta that it was all right for her to go to Menomonee Falls and they made arrangements to go by train on approximately July 24, 1956. Shirley was supposed to purchase the ticket for Gretta's transportation but forgot the money at her mother's house and as a result they missed the train that they planned to take. Shirley subsequently tried to call defendant to advise him of this fact but she was unable to reach him and finally called the daughter of the bartender at Club 166 and told her to tell defendant that he should meet a later train. Shirley and Gretta subsequently left the St. Paul Depot via the Milwaukee Road to Milwaukee and arrived at approximately two o'clock the following morning. The defendant met the train and was introduced to Gretta Cotier and the party subsequently went in the defendant's car to his home in Milwaukee. There was testimony by Gretta, corroborated by testimony of other witnesses, as to the financial arrangements that were made whereby she would split her earnings as a prostitute with defendant and his partner Joe Gag. The defendant used Gretta to attract customers into his house of prostitution and tavern and to curry favor with local authorities so he could remain open. To this end he advised Gretta that she should have sexual relations with the Sheriff of Waukesha County in order that the club could continue in business on its then present basis. Gretta permitted herself to be photographed in the nude by the defendant and on order of defendant performed a strip-tease dance on top of the bar one Sunday afternoon. There was evidence that one Rita Brooks and one Kathleen King, admitted prostitutes, worked at Club 166. At the end of approximately three weeks Gretta Cotier returned to Minneapolis. Relations between her and the defendant were very friendly and the defendant called a cab for her and made a reservation for her airplane ticket. The defendant told her that it would be nice if she would come back again and she left her clothes there with the thought of coming back.

The method of operation of the club is well delineated in the testimony of Gretta Cotier, Kathleen King and Rita Brooks, all of whom testified that the arrangement was that they were to take their customers upstairs, that they were to get at least ten dollars per customer and that they were to split their earnings with defendant and Joe Gag. All of these girls were known to be prostitutes by the defendant.

Gretta Cotier returned to Club 166 from Minneapolis by airplane in late August, 1956, and continued to ply her trade as before. The method of apportioning the earnings of the prostitutes was explained by the witness Gretta Cotier. The money was put in a drawer and subsequently split two ways, half going to the prostitute and the other half to Joe Gag and defendant.

In view of the verdicts of the jury we have omitted much of the sordid details of the evidence produced by the government and have assumed that all conflicts in the evidence were resolved by the jury in favor of the government.

The defendant took the stand in his own behalf and admitted that he and Shirley had operated Club 166 at Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. He admitted that Gretta Cotier came to the club on or about July 25, 1956, that she stayed for three weeks and then returned to Minneapolis. He admitted that she subsequently returned for another three weeks, that she stayed at Club 166, that she again returned to Minneapolis and that she had not been back since. He admitted that Gretta was not hired to work as a waitress or barmaid at the club but that she did live upstairs at the club, had her meals or some of them at the club and spent most of her time during the time that she was in Menomonee Falls at the club. He contended that because he was not getting along with his wife Shirley during the summer of 1956 he took over the active management of the business and set the policy and that whatever went on at the club as far as he knew was the result of the policy he had set in the operation of the business. He denied that he had ever had any conversation with Gretta about prostituting. He denied that he had ever discussed prostitution with her. He denied that he had ever received any money of any kind from Gretta. He denied that he even knew that Gretta was coming to Menomonee Falls with his wife Shirley on July 25 or 26, 1956. He denied that he had ever observed Gretta taking men upstairs in Club 166. He denied that he had ever called a cab for her when she left Club 166 the first time. He denied that he had a conversation with her about coming back. He denied that he ever talked with Gretta about how much she should charge customers or what division there was to be of the money. He denied that he had ever received any money from Gretta that she supposedly earned as a prostitute. He denied that he had ever made any arrangements between the Sheriff of Waukesha County and Gretta. He admitted that he had hired Kathleen King and Rita Brooks but denied that Rita Brooks had ever worked as a prostitute at Club 166 and denied that she had ever split her earnings as a prostitute with himself and Joe Gag. He denied that Kathleen King had ever engaged in prostitution at Club 166 and denied that she had ever turned over one-half of her earnings to himself and Shirley. He denied that he ever saw Rita or Kathleen go upstairs with any patrons of Club 166. He denied that Gretta had performed a strip-tease dance at Club 166. He denied that he had ever received any money from anybody with a statement that it was "trick" money and he denied that Club 166 was operating as a...