Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-11-17
Letson Balliett, the Napoleon
of Finance" Throws Him
self Upon Courts Mercy
RULING ON EVIDENCE CAUSE
Ballet Was Convicted at His First
Trial of Defrauding Thru the Mails
and Sentenced to Eighteen Months
--Intent Of Ballet to Defrsud, tho
Pivot Of tho Case.
Special to T,mes-hepubllcan

Special to T,mes-hepublIcan
Des Moines, Nov. 17.-Letson Ballet,
accused and once convicted of defraud-
| ing thru the mails, known as a Ma
poleon of finance" has plead guilty to
the charges against him and has
thrown himsel. upon the mercy Of the
| court.
ney, Judge George III. Carr, yesterday
afternoon in the United States district
| court before Judge Smith Mcpherson.
Judge Carr was accompanied In the
court room by the father of the ac-
cused, Judge S. i. Ballet.
There were no preliminaries, Judge
Mcpherson was on the bench when
the door to the court room opened and
District Attorney Lewis Miles accom-
panied by Judge Carr and Judge Ball
liet entered. There were but few per-
sons In the room and Judge McPher-
ston stopped the argument he was
hearing on the request OF MIR. Miles
who stated that Judge Carr had some-
thing to say.
Judge Carr went at once to the point.
your honor" said he, "the defend
against Letson Ballet wishes to en-
ter II plea of guilty.
The court at once called for the
criminal docket and entry Of the plea
was made. Judge Mcpherson then an
nounced that no sentence would be
imposed for several days. The attor-
neys then left the room.
The matter of plea of guilty from
Mr.. Ballet had been under considera-
ton for some time by Judge Carr,
and Judge Ballet, who were counsels
for the defense. After weighing the
matter carefully they came to the de-
cision that the judgment of the feder-
al court as well as the court Of APP
peals was such as to warrant the plea
entered.
Judge Ballet had but little to say
after the plea Of guilty had been en-
tered. preferred to allow Judge Carr
to make a statement of the facts.
"There is in fact nothing to relate"
said he: 1--WE discussed all phases of
the matter before we took this final
action and decided that our best course
lay in entering the plea which we made
this afternoon. The questions in the
case relating to the admissability of
certain evidence were disposed of in
manner which was not altogether ia
vorable to us and we felt that our plea
was warranted.
THE first trial was a great expense
tn <11o vnv.e Now
of witnesses We're called from a dis
lance at great expense to testify. In
view of the fact that q second trial
would be but repetition of the first
we decided to enter our plea before the
government had prepared to advance
the natter"
Letson Ballet is now in Des Moines
but would not be seen. He has no
plans for the future as he is not in a
position to do anything until the SEN
tence Of the court has been passed
upon him. He is in good health and
reports that his business affairs in the
west are in a prosperous condition.
There has been some question as to
who would be on the bench at the
trial. it being rumored that Judge Nc
Pherson would not try the case. This
question is now disposed of, however.
Case Was Sensational.
Judge Munger Of Omaha heard the
trial of the case before. 1t consumed
several weeks, and some of the testi-
lnony was very sensational. The jury
was out a long time and finally return-
ed verdict Of guilty. Ballet got eight
cen months sentence and a heavy fine,
and appealed to the United States CIR
cult court Of appeals at ST. Louis,
which re sersed the decision. The opin-
ion of that court was OF character
which Indicated that the defense would
better plead guilty than to stand a new
trial, and this was decided upon.
The pivot of the case was the intent
Of Ballet to defraud. The government
alleged that he circulated advertise
for which he made enormous
sums of money to sell the stock Of the
White Swan mine and that the revenue
he derived from stock sales went into
this exploitation instead OF into the de-
velopment of the mining property. He
lenied that he had no intention of
spending the revenue he received on
he mine and denied that he was ex-
pending it on the exploitation Of him
self as Cecil Rhodes and in advertis- !
nR the stock so as to acquire a greater
.evenue out of 1t. The question arose
Is to whether the court might assume ,
ais intent in the sale Of the stock by
1is conduct and it was decided affirm
ltfvely. The defense showed that he
lad funds on hand, that he had plans
or the further development Of the
property, ard that what he had ex-
pended baG reen legitimately spent in
'urther:ng the interests Of the COM
,any; hut the fact that little had been
lone on the mine, and that enormous
.lms were paid In exploitation, weigh
ID against him in determining his in
ent.
Facing this legal situation. with adj
yerse decision I'm the point of intent, it
vas deemed better to enter plea of
utility and await the judgment of the
'ourt, aem n.stered in mercy.
AS the cold weather approaches 1t is
advisable to