The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-12-21
MILLIONAIRE HYDE
FOUND GUILTY OF
FRAUDULENT SALES
Federal Jury Convicts
Him on Three
Counts
MANY TALES TOLD
Witnesses From TWENTY-FIVE
States Claimed Misrep-
RESERVATIONS to Them
MANY TALES TOLD

Sioux Falls, S. D-"Guilty on all
three counts as charged in the in
dictment, was the verdict OF the
/, Jury i'm the federal court last night
in the case OF Charles l.. Hyde of
Pierre. banker, real estate dealer and
reputed to be the richest man in the
State OF South Dakota. who was
charged with using the United States
mail for purposes of fraud.
The jury agreed upon its verdict
Ioul hours after retiring.
Nye Phillips, OF this city. foreman
,of the jury. presented the verdict to
the clerk who presented it to the
court and then read ii. Tense sill
erce prevailed during the reading
of the verdict which declared that
tina, the defendant Charles L Hyde,
was guilty OF all three counts as
charge in the Indictment. Hyde
gave no visible sign. as to now the
verdict affected him except by Il
slight flush and q nervous stroking
of his face with -his hand.
The suspense which followed the
reading of the verdict was broken
by United tSates Attorney +. Il.
Wagner who requested the court to
issue Immediate commitment. claim
ing that such Il custom was the rule.
IC. y. nBtes. attornev for lly&e OBJ
not the rule and practice and ask
ing that the defendant be permitted
to put up Il continuance bond pend
ing Investigations into the records
oi the case for the purpose OF pre-
!, pairing motion for Il new trial
Judge ELLIOTT announced that he
;vsement until 10 o'clock this morn
, ing and then adjourned the court
, until that time.
Prison Term Possible.
The otfense OF which Hyde was
found guilty is described in section
$3.50 of the revised statutes OF the
United States and is punishable b.
Il fine of 500 or imprisonment fol
is months or both on each count
| L.; ~,
sible under the three counts, a fine
cf $lo00 or "a months improsin
u ment or both.
The testimony in the case was con
: lcluded about ll:30 O'Clock yestel
J day morning by the defense. lyd
$ was not put on the stand. c. J
: Morris assistant United States at
torney, then opened the closing ar
gument for the prosecution, takin
lup some Of the points which tn
v government had brought into evi
II dence
l. C. p. Bates made the closing argu
ment for Hyde. holding that Hyde in
u stead OF conducting fraud had don
e much for Pierre and that section an
q had helped boom and build up tn
city.
III f. Il. Wagner, United States a
y torney then closed for the prosecr
ol ton, by setting forth whath the go,
is eminent had tried to prove and a:
ID serting that while the witnesses {
the government who had testified
le the calue of land in Pierre owne
n land there and were men who Il;
ne helped build up the city. the real e
tate dealers. who testified for Hyt
ne had shown their god judgment
ce no, buying any land in his addition
lg He declared that HYDE. instead
~ calling himself a real estate deal
he in his transactions had sent out h
tit advertisements as president OF Il
American Exchange zank and l.
I'd, quested his victims to investigate II
m standing in Bradstreets, and tn
NJ when they toud he was a man rat'
lin as being worth several hundr
lat thousand dollars and the head OF
ce. responsible banking institution, TIL
lid readily accepted his a!luring propo
cir tions.
lat Mr.. Wagner closed at 5:l5 o'clo
ce. and Judge Elliott then instructed t
aid jury regarding the law OF the ca'
cir lie recited the substance of the
er- dictment with its three counts whi
ere constitute three separate offenses a
M stated what would constitute frat
IAN alluring contrivance, he declare