Las Vegas optic. (East Las Vegas, N.M.) 1908-1921, 1911-05-23
rogers GETS ) To Z YEARS IN THE
PENITENTARY AND WIGGINS 7 To z

belong to a good family, one of I'll
best families in New Mexico; two
your brothers ! have known for years
they have been intimate friends {
mine; respect them as highly as
do any of my friends in New Mexic,
That is ALL"
Virgins was Calm
Virgins was seated severs
feet away from Rogers when the la
ter received his sentence. Isolate
and alone, apparently without friend
except his counsel appointed by tn
court, who sat near him, he calml
listened to the sentence imposed upol
Rogers, and as calmly arose to receiv'
his own. Asked by the court wheth
er he had anything to say why tn,
sentence of the court should not be i'm
posed upon him, Virgins responded
that he had not Judge Roberts ther
said:
Il will have to sentence you to the
territorial penitentiary. You were, al
one time, as the evidence in the case
showed, sentenced to the penitentiary
for the term of ninety-nine years. Your
liberty for life was taken from you
While you were under sentence the
governor of the territory saw fit to
commute your sentence to twenty
years Imprisonment, and finally to ex-
tend to you full pardon The gov
ernor when he did this doubtless felt
that you had been punished sufficient
ly, and | am sure that he thought il
you were given your liberty you would
never again commit crime. Yop.
have proven false to that trust which
he imposed in you, you have shown
and demonstrated by your action that
You were unworthy of his confidence. |
Your attorneys, it is true, In defend |
ng you, evidently were of the opln-
ion that you were less guilty than
your co-defendant, because he was
the instigator of the crime. But l do
not agree with that contention. You
are a full grown man; whether you
may be educated or ignorant is imma-
terial; the most ignorant of our citi-
zens are able to realize right from
wrong. 1t does not require an educa-
ton to enable a man to distinguish
between right and wrong; between
getting money honestly and dishon-
estly We all know that there is only
one way to acquire money, and that
is honestly. You, being man OF
mature years, when this boy approach
ed you with this plan should have dis
couraged him, and have reported this
fact to his parents. Had you been
an honest man you would have done
so. After having your life given back
to YOU by a kind-hearted governor, in
a very few years we find you again
back leech upon society; so | can
see no extenuating circumstances in
your favor, which should commend
you to the leniency of this court.
"I did feel that you should receive
the same consideration at the hands
of the court that your co-defendant
should receive, but by your voluntary
act you have placed yourself before
this court in such situation that you
do not appear in the same light as
your co-defendant. Every man, when
he commits crime, when he 's
brought into court, when he knows
he is guilty, should say so frankly.
When YOU were arraigned in the court
of the Justice of the peace, on this
very charge you pleaded guilty, be-
cause you were guilty. Not only that,
but you confessed your guilt to dozens
of people, told them all of the cir
cumstances, which clearly indicated
and showed your guilt, and yet when
YOU were brought into this court and
arraigned finally you stultified your
seif, by saying that you were not gull
t., and caused this county-the people
whom you had wronged-to go to the
expense of five or six hundred dollars
of the taxpayers money. in trying you
before jury; attempting to escape
the Just punishment which your crime
merited and which you should have
had the, manhood to accept without
flinching. I am going to impose upor
you an additional two years for you
subsequent actions. You will be sen
fenced to the territorial penitentiarN
to serve a term of not less than sever
nor more than twelve years. Yot
will not be entitled to any clemencl
; at the hands of the board OF. parole
because when you were given one op
portunity you failed to take it. 4
man who has made a misstep, who ha
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