New-York tribune., 1920-12-25
Hotel AstOr
BurglarC
5000 Years
Judge Mcintyre Said He
Would Have Given Him
'Life,' but He Could Then
Get Out in Twelve Years
Plea of Youth Unheeded
Court Declares the Robbers
Now in City Have MUIR
der in Their Hearts

Judge John F. Mcintyre, in General
Sessions, yesterday sentenced Lawrence
Hawthorne, twenty-five years old, to
not less than thirty and not more than
sixty years in Sing Sing. Early in
the week Hawthorne pleaded guilty to
one of five indictments charging him
with participating in the Hotel Astor
robbery on December Is.
Hawthorne received the sentence
calmly. 1t is nearly three times as
stiff as life sentence, and Judge Nc
Intyre stressed the point that only
for that reason was he not giving life
to Hawthorne. Under favorable cir
cumstances man given life sentence
can go free in twelve years.
Asks for Leniency
Before the court pronounced sem
tence Hawthorne made a plea for
leniency, explaining that he was youpg
and that he had been the dupe Of two
professional criminals who had been
his pals in the attempted robbery. He
denied that he had had any intention
of killing any one, and said that it
was his first actual ofense, although
he admitted having been arrested once
before at the Hotel Commodore. He
added that his father was the owner
of the Fairview Stock Farm, at Wells
Vile, Va.
In his remarks before pronouncing
sentence Judge Mcintyre said that if
Hawtho orne had bee. convicted on all
of the five indictments against him it
would have been possible for the court
to sentence him to 235 years in prison.
He added that he intended to send
Hawthorne to prison for life, but be-
cause it was too short time" he had
decided to make the number Of years
specific
81 have been asked" he said, "to
consider your youth and be lenient in
the imposition of sentence. l do not
feel l would be doing my full duty if
| yielded to the opportunities of your
self and others to free you from long
term OF Imprisonment. This city in
recent times has been invaded by q
lawless set of thugs, thieves and muir
derers. Who have been perpetrating
crimes FOR some time. | feel, however,
that the police have been doing as
bet they could, and l wish to add that
IN my Judgment the policemen of this
city are brave and fearless body of
men. Certain conditions have become
such as to render it difficult to cope
with them to the extent of appre-
nding all violators of the law.
"Thc man who enters the premises
of a cit zen and has upon his person a
deadly weapon 1r attempts to use an
instrument Of death will kill if he is
intercepted in the slightest way. Such
q man should be imprisoned during his
natural life, without hope of pardon
commutation or compensation tine
You entered the premises in the Hotel
Astor with two others You and they
were armed. 1t was by the mercst
chance that the occupants of the room
escaped with their lives There will be
no mercy from me.
Had Murder in His Heart
every man who is convicted before
me Of burglary or robbery must expect
from now and henceforth the severest
penalty the law will permit me to i'm
pose upon transgressors. The man who
is involved in criminal transaction
and has upon his person deadly
weapon is a potential murderer, ant
has in his heart fiend sh and murderous
intent. Where one commits the crime
of robbery and has upon his person z
deadly weapon it is safe to assume
that it is his intention to take human
life if resisted in the slightest degree
In May Of this year Judge Mcintyre
imposed sentences of tifty-two years
and six months upon Rodriguez ant
Herra, two Spanish sailors, who com
m tied burglary in the Hotel Knicker
booker in December, 1919.