United States v. Polizzi, 500 F.2d 856 (9th Cir. 1974)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Nos. 72-2983 to 72-2989, decided April 30, 1974 and modified on denial of rehearing July 18, 1974, before Judges Browning and Duniway and District Judge Renfrew, who wrote the opinion. The appellants were Michael Santo Polizzi, Jack S. Shapiro, Peter James Bellanca, Anthony Giordano, Arthur J. Rooks, Anthony Joseph Zerilli and Emprise Corporation.

The opinion opens: “In 1966 and 1967, appellants Zerilli and Polizzi acquired hidden interests in Vegas Frontier, Inc. (VFI), a Nevada corporation, which leased and operated the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.” It says VFI was licensed to conduct gambling at the hotel, which opened in July 1967, that neither Zerilli nor Polizzi was licensed by the Nevada gaming authorities or disclosed to them, and that VFI was sold in November 1967 to Howard Hughes. The appellants were convicted of conspiracy to violate and of violating the Travel Act (18 U.S.C. § 1952). The court lists eighteen contentions, among them the sufficiency of the evidence, the trial venue and the use of a Justice Department list of Mafia figures, and says “Having carefully considered each of these contentions, we affirm the convictions below.” It treated the evidence against Giordano separately, as the weakest.

The opinion states that “The United States Department of Justice in 1969 included appellants Zerilli and Polizzi on a list of known Mafia figures,” as part of the appellants’ complaint about the list’s use. It also records that the government conducted electronic surveillance against Zerilli, Polizzi and Giordano between 1962 and 1965 and that the court agreed with the district court that the government’s evidence was untainted by it. The label “known Mafia figures” is the Department of Justice’s, as the court reports it. It is not a finding of the court.