page_title: Harry Ford Sinclair
section_title: Scandal
hierarchical_section_title: Harry Ford Sinclair / Scandal
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Harry F. Sinclair &amp; attys. on stand, 3/22/24 Abstract/medium: 1 negative&#160;: glass&#160;; 5 x 7 in. or smaller
context_page_description: Harry Ford Sinclair was an American industrialist, and the founder of Sinclair Oil. He was implicated in the 1920s Teapot Dome Scandal, and served six months in prison for jury tampering. Afterwards he returned to his former life and enjoyed its prosperity until his death.
  He was an avid owner of sports properties, one of the principal financial backers of baseball's Federal League and a force in U.S. thoroughbred racing. Horses from his stable won the Kentucky Derby and three Belmont Stakes.
context_section_description: Harry Sinclair's high-profile image as a reputable American business leader and sportsman came into question in April 1922 when The Wall Street Journal reported that United States Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall had granted an oil lease to Sinclair Oil without competitive bidding. The oil field lease was for government land in Wyoming that had been created as an emergency reserve for the United States Navy. What became known as the Teapot Dome scandal, ultimately led to a United States Senate establishing a Committee on Public Lands and Surveys to conduct hearings into the circumstances surrounding the government oil lease. The result was a finding of fraud and corruption which led to a number of civil lawsuits and criminal charges against Harry Sinclair and others. In 1927 the United States Supreme Court declared the Sinclair oil lease had been corruptly obtained and ordered it canceled.
  Two weeks after Harry Sinclair's trial began in October 1927, it abruptly ended when the judge declared a mistrial following evidence presented by the government prosecutors showing that Sinclair had hired a detective agency to shadow each member of the jury. Sinclair was charged with contempt of court, the case eventually winding up before the United States Supreme Court who, on June 3, 1929 upheld Sinclair's conviction. He was fined and sentenced to six and a half months in prison, which he served as prisoner #10,520, at the District of Columbia jail.
  While in prison, Sinclair was allowed to work as both pharmacist and physician's assistant, and it was while working within these capacities that he was allowed to be taken by car to attend to the prisoners assigned to work details at the city wharfs.  Public attention and perceived favoritism prompted George S. Wilson, District Director of Public Welfare, to order an end to these rides, but rumors of Sinclair's preferential treatment continued.
  In 1929, Secretary Fall was found guilty of bribery, fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison, making him the first Presidential cabinet member to go to prison for his actions in office.
caption: Sinclair and his attorneys on the state at the Teapot Dome hearing
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