The United States of America vs. Louis Piquette (No. 28821)

Federal criminal case file at Chicago in which Dillinger's attorney Louis Piquette was convicted of harboring. The appeal went to the Seventh Circuit as No. 5550.

Date: 1935-03-20/1941-05-14
Kind: case-file
Source: National Archives Catalog
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
NAID: 405218934
Docket: 28821
Rights: A record of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, held by the National Archives in Record Group 21, Records of District Courts of the United States. A United States government work, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The National Archives catalog marks use "Unrestricted." Series "Criminal Case Files" (NAID 624785), National Archives at Chicago.

The National Archives describes this file as the case in which Piquette, “the attorney of bank robbers Homer Van Meter and John Dillinger,” was “accused and convicted of harboring the fugitives from justice.” The Seventh Circuit’s opinion on the appeal from this case is more exact: the conviction concerned Van Meter, and Piquett had earlier been acquitted on the charge concerning Dillinger. It says he introduced them to the surgeon William Loeser, who altered their appearance, and that the indictment charged a violation of Section 141 of the Criminal Code (Title 18, Sec. 246). The general note records the appeal to the Seventh Circuit at Chicago as No. 5550.

The file has 88 page images; they were not read for this archive. The Seventh Circuit’s opinion is filed as Piquett v. United States. NARA spells the name Piquette; the reported opinion spells it Piquett.

itemThe United States of America vs. Louis Piquette, Wilhelm Loeser, Harold Bernard Cassidy, and Arthur W. O'Leary (No. 28341)Federal criminal case file at Chicago against Dillinger's attorney Louis Piquette and others. The National Archives says Piquette and his investigator arranged surgery to alter the appearance of Dillinger and Homer Van Meter.itemPiquett v. United States, 81 F.2d 75 (7th Cir. 1936)The Seventh Circuit's opinion on the appeal of Louis Piquett, Dillinger's attorney, from his conviction for conspiring to harbor Homer Van Meter. The court notes he had earlier been tried and acquitted on the charge concerning Dillinger. Judgment affirmed.