United States v. William Cilenti

The defendant-appellant was indicted on two counts with the sale of (1) 110 grams of heroin on July 30, 1966 and (2) 99.1 grams of cocaine on August 17, 1966. After a one-day trial before the court without a jury, he was convicted on both counts. The sentence was five years on each count, the sentences to run concurrently.

On January 20, 1970, the Supreme Court in Turner v. United States, 396 U.S. 398, 90 S.Ct. 642, 24 L.Ed.2d 610 (1970) held that the § 174 presumption “is valid insofar as it permits a jury to infer that heroin possessed in this country is a smuggled drug.” A contrary result…