Reputed Mob Figure Loses Court Appeal

A federal appeals court Thursday upheld the conviction of Salvatore Pisello, a reputed organized crime figure convicted of failing to pay taxes on more than $300,000 he earned from a series of business deals with MCA Records and Sugar Hill Records.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Los Angeles said the evidence justified the conviction on two counts of tax evasion and also concluded that Pisello had not been unfairly required to prove his contention that the money had been a loan.

The court split 2 to 1, however, in deciding that prosecutors were not required to give to the defense their handwritten notes from interviews with prospective witnesses in the case.

The court majority, in a written opinion by Judge Joseph T. Sneed, said the typed memos prepared from the notes were sufficient notice to the defense.

Pisello, who has denied any connections to organized crime, was sentenced to four years in prison but has remained free pending the outcome of the appeal.