Opinion ID: 295786
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Aloisio

Text: 10 At the inception of the conspiracy in August 1967, defendant Grace Cosentino, whose trial was severed, told informer Ted Kay that she and her partners were planning to counterfeit United States government securities, and that she and her boy-friend Smokes, later identified as Aloisio, were going to supply an unidentified banker friend with $1,500,000 worth of such securities. On January 11, 1968, she told Kay that she and Smokes were all set with such securities for their banker friend. Kay agreed to supply her with a purchaser for some of the counterfeit Treasury Notes. Mrs. Cosentino agreed to have Smokes or Solomon present at the time of delivery to protect the proposed deal. Five days later, she reiterated to Kay and Agent Gibbs that Solomon or Smokes would be present at the closing to protect all parties. Gibbs expressed some suspicion of Smokes, but Mrs. Cosentino assured him that Smokes knew of the counterfeiting venture and could be trusted. 11 On the evening of January 17, Aloisio phoned Mrs. Cosentino's home from a restaurant and lounge at 1202 West Grand Avenue, Chicago. He told Mrs. Cosentino's daughter, Antonia, to call her mother and have her call him at HA 1-8760. Antonia relayed this message to her mother who was then in Agent Gibbs' room in the Chicago Airways Motel. Mrs. Cosentino told Gibbs that her close friend Smokes was concerned about her and had just asked her, through Antonia, to call him at HA 1-8760. Mrs. Cosentino tried that number and received a busy signal. Thereafter, Aloisio again telephoned Antonia and told her that he had not yet heard from Mrs. Cosentino. Antonia then called her mother again, and Mrs. Cosentino told Gibbs that Smokes had called again and was concerned about her. 12 Thereafter, Mrs. Cosentino called HA 1-8760 from Gibbs' room. He overheard her say that she was with the man [Gibbs] at the motel room at that time, and was talking to him about the deal, and told this individual [Aloisio] that he had nothing to worry about; that I [Gibbs] was a gentleman, and she didn't see where anything could go wrong and told him not to worry. She also asked him where he was going to be later and told him that she would see him later that day. After she hung up, she told Gibbs that was her friend Smokes who was very concerned about her. She stated that he felt that the deal she was entering into with me [Gibbs] might be a setup, and that because he was such a close friend he was concerned about her welfare and didn't want her to get into any trouble. Over objection the foregoing testimony was admitted into evidence. It indicates that Aloisio was involved in the conspiracy as early as August 1967. Moreover, his telephone conversation with Mrs. Cosentino revealed his knowledge of the conspiracy and his concern for its success. 13 Through Antonia Cosentino and the telephone number testimony, the Government showed that Aloisio was the person to whom Mrs. Cosentino was talking from Gibbs' motel room. Accordingly, the testimony of Mrs. Cosentino's conversation with Aloisio was competent (United States v. Bucur, 194 F.2d 297, 304 (7th Cir. 1952) ) and evidenced a conspiracy in which Aloisio was involved. The remainder of Mrs. Cosentino's statement to Gibbs was also admissible against Aloisio as a statement of a co-conspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy. Aloisio's January 22 appearance with Jasinski outside the motel, surveying the motel for about 30 minutes with the car motor on, corroborated Mrs. Cosentino's and Solomon's statements to Gibbs that morning that they had partners across the street covering the deal. We conclude that there was ample evidence to link Aloisio with this conspiracy and to make him an aider and abettor as to the three substantive counts in which he was named.