Frank Balistrieri was accused of evading $20,000 in taxes for 1959-1960. He was convicted, but continued to appeal. (See other posts for earlier developments.) By 1969, his case was appealed up to the US Supreme Court, with Balistrieri hoping to get the case tossed because the FBI (not the IRS) had listened to him with a hidden microphone.
March 29, 1969: The government filed a brief with the Supreme Court acknowledging they bugged Dominic Frinzi’s office from April to October 1963. The brief said the bug was planted “because of his association with prominent Milwaukee hoodlums and in an effort to develop information bearing on a gangland murder.” (Tony Biernat.) Frinzi told the press he was “shocked at the false allegations of the government… which I am supposed to respect. My association with people has been on a professional basis only. I have always represented people who have sought my services in a professional capacity whether they have been charged with murder, disorderly conduct or a simple pedestrian violation.”
The US Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari for Frank Balistrieri on April 21, 1969. The vote was 6-2 against. The minority (in favor of Balistrieri) were Fortas and Douglas. The minority cited an “astounding record of lawless invasion” by FBI agents. Judge Marshall did not take part.
On April 23, 1969, an informant told the FBI that Frank Balistrieri phoned his wife after the Supreme Court decision and told her, “You finally got what you wanted.” In other words, he was going to jail.
By May 1969, Balistrieri became aware that he was picked up on another wiretap in Chicago, and his attorney Edward Bennett Williams notified the US Supreme Court, filed a request for a rehearing. The court asked Solicitor General Edwin Griswold for a response, and he acknowledged the bug did exist, and the court sent the case back to the lower court on June 16 to determine if this new bug had tainted the case. Judge Omer Poos set the hearing date at July 30.
A remand hearing was held in Springfield on October 9, 1969 regarding Frank Balistrieri’s motion for a new trial in his tax case. The motion was denied by Judge Poos,.
Frank Balistrieri was resentenced by Judge Omer Poos on December 8, 1969 regarding his tax case to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine, plus $4,670 in court costs. This was the third time Balistrieri was sentenced, but he remained free on $15,000 bond pending appeal.
Frank Balistrieri appealed his tax case on May 27, 1970. His primary argument remained that the “taint” of the electronic eavesdropping could not be removed from the case. He also argued that the government had hid evidence because it had been found Balistrieri was briefly heard on another bug in Chicago.
The government filed their reply brief to Balistrieri’s tax appeal on July 31, 1970. They pointed out – again – that nothing obtained from the bugs was used in the tax trial. It had no affect on the case and the outcome would have been no different.
An informant spoke with Frank Balistrieri on August 5, 1970 about his tax case. Balistrieri told the informant he was “going away”, indicating prison. When asked what he would do about it, he said he would hold a “turno”, a meeting of all made members in Milwaukee. Rumors came from Chicago that Balistrieri was to be replaced by Joseph Caminiti. (A local Milwaukee informant told the FBI that Caminiti would probably turn the job down if offered, because of his advanced age and the risk it would cause the Teamsters.)
November 19, 1970: Oral arguments before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. (After the hearing, US Attorney David Cannon informed the FBI that the judges appeared to prefer the government argument.)
January 14, 1971: The Seventh District Court of Appeals rejected Balistrieri’s request for a new tax trial and affirmed the lower court decision.
January 28, 1971: Balistrieri’s attorney Maurice Walsh asked for a rehearing. They argued the government had offered an “unverified, unidentified, admittedly editorialized, resume of what it claims was overheard by eavesdroppers, part of the trespassing gang, who destroyed the best evidence of the evidence thus unconstitutionally obtained.” With the tapes destroyed, Balistrieri was “helpless to develop by examination the accuracy, completeness or any truths concerning the logs.”
The court denied the rehearing on February 10, 1971 with the court of appeals giving them 30 days to apply for a writ of certiorari.
March 11, 1971: Balistrieri filed a petition for a writ of certiorari. On May 3, 1971, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected Balistrieri’s appeal, Justice Marshall not taking part.
US Attorney David Cannon spoke with the Milwaukee FBI and said Balistrieri could file a motion for reduction of sentence or could file for a rehearing, but in all likelihood would soon have to face sentence.
May 21, 1971: Balistrieri’s attorney filed a motion for a stay of execution and a motion to reduce sentence because of their client’s poor health. With the motion, they had multiple affidavits from his doctor. One from December 4, 1969, said Balistrieri suffered from eight things: ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chest pain, hepatic dysfunction, hiatus hernia, diverticula of descending colon, degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine (C5 and C6), and bronchial asthma. A follow-up on April 30, 1971 said Balistrieri was taking peritrate and nitroglycerine, and had multiple blackouts due to acute cerebral anoxia. He once blacked out trying to walk from the bed to the bathroom and soiled himself, and on another occasion blacked out while walking and fractured his tibia. As recently as March, he was taking Isordal, Librium, Demerol and nitroglycerine. The doctor recommended against incarceration, saying this could only make him worse and lead to heart attack. The doctor also felt that Balistrieri may be a burden on the prison because of his physical and emotional needs. Dr. Louis Kagen from the Milwaukee Orthopedic Group, said Balistrieri’s fracture could take 4-6 months to heal because he had “considerable osteoporosis.”
Frank Balistrieri was once more convicted of filing fraudulent tax returns by the Southern District of Illinois court on June 16, 1971 and was sentenced by Judge Omer Poos to one year and one day in prison. Defense attorney Maurice Walsh argued that Balistrieri had diabetes, heart trouble and a broken ankle, causing Poos to reduce the 2-year sentence by half. Poos did not lower the fine, however, which remained at $10,000. Walsh had argued that the newspapers “financially destroyed” Balistrieri, but Poos didn’t buy it. Balistrieri entered federal prison 12 days later.