New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-12
Swindler, 30 Years a Grim
inal, Sentenced as a
Fourth Offender
HIS BRAVADO GONE
AS HE BEGS MERCY
Convicted After The Trib-
une Exposed VictroIa
"Ad" Graft

Charles T.. Ackron, eI-convict, OK
developer, ex-confdence man, was SEN
fenced yesterday to life imprisonment
as an habitual criminal by County
Judge Dyke, of Brooklyn. His fourth
and last conviction was on the charge
Of grand larceny. brought by one Of his
victims who enlisted the aid Of the
Tribune Bureau Of Investigation.
Ackron, who has been dcfying, break
ing and lodging the law for thirty
years, was nothing but trembling,
broken old man when he stood up for
sentence. He had done with his fight
ing, had uttered his last boast He
only sobbed out plea for mercy, while
tears coursed down his checks.
II was the Tribune Bureau Of Inves-
tigation which proved Ackron's undo
ing. In the regular course of its fight
on fraudulent advertising The Tribune
caught Ackron swindling the public by
selling rattleboxes of pine, made TO
look like mahogany. for Victrola phono-
graphs.
As he looked around the crowded
courtroom yesterday and found sym
pathy on the face Of every one-sym-
pathy for an old man-Ackron dared 70
hope for clemency. He tottered few
steps toward the bench OF Judge Dixie
and waved his cane with a gesture
which expressed something Of sbject
supplication.
Falters in Plea for Mercy
"Your honor" he faltered, 81 stand
here convicted as fourth offender, and
yet | am not a criminal at heart" At
this point he broke down, sobbing. He
looked up at the court and his lips
moved, but he was unable TO articulate.
"Ackron," began Judge Dixie, you
have a good deal about you of the man
that I admire. You have a splendid,
bulldog courage"
The court paused, totally unconscious
of the sarcasm which his words i'm
piled There was nothing left Of the
bulldog in Ackron.
you showed this courage" continued
the court, when, with your long rec
ord, you continued to stay right here
in New York, the scene Of your ca
reer. which even from your standpoint
YOU must have realized was notorious.
Even in this case you used your own
name when you sought to defraud the
public again. You belong to brother
hood that calculates the chances. In
this case you played and you lost. |
dislike to impose this terrible sentence,
but / have no alternative. Ackron. |
sentence you to Imprisonment for the
rest of your natural life"
Had Hoped TO Beat Law
The packed courtroom greeted the
sentence with a gasp. An utter silence
followed. Although he had been con-
victed BY jury of grand larceny in the
second degree, and although he had
served three terms in the penitentiary,
and was. therefore, liable TO life i'm
prisonment, a limited sentence had
been hoped for by the few friends of
the old criminal.
Ackron began his career of crime
back in the 7O's, being first arrested in
1877 for robbery. He later turned to
forgery, stock swindling and other
crimes, often being arrested, but serv-
ing only three prison terms-in New
York. Illinois and New Jersey.
He had worn the stripes before he
opened the Tivoli cafe and saloon, in
West Thirty-ffth Street, back in 1899.
lie succeeded in making his place Of
business known as the toughest of all
the tough resorts of Manhattan. lie
boasted of his pull" and his own
craftiness in evading the law, but after
a dozen church societies and scores Of
individuals in vain had appealed to the
policc TO close the place Ackron's crime
factory slipped a cog. The wrong man
was robbed in the Tiyoli. The victim
happened to be State Senator. lie did
not introduce himself to Ackron when
he demanded satisfaction, so he was
beaten up by the walters and thrown
into the gutter-in other words, treated
like any ordinary customer. The State