Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-12-01
PONz| DRAWS
SENTENCE OF FIVE YEARS
"Not Guilty" Plea ON
Charge OF Using Mails In
Fraudulent Scheme.
WRONG INTENT
Court Acts Only on First of Forty
I Three Counts OF Indictmcnt-.iI-
legged Wizard" Now Must Face
Lawyers for ii, 900 Creditors.
!SGpesial TO The Times 1nispatcn.l

= EQSTON, Nov. 3O.--Charice I.onzi.
I promoter Of III. quick rich Sch~il2 ia
!. which thousands Of persons invested
!, l,iilicns Of dollars before Il cc,iars-i
q ai<t August, pleaded guilty - GsIai:
- he mails in "a scheme TO dcfraud in
!, the Federal District Cour, 'oiay.
- Sentence OF five years in the Ply
Isinouth County jail WAS imposed Ivy
Judge Hale. The court took into CON
! sideratIon only the first count OF one
\ indictment ot for;y-;hrco counts. in
( which il was charged rouzi had rep
resented falsely tina; he was able 10
pay interest at the rate OF 80 per cent
In forty-fi days from profits made
In International postal reply coupons.
So In arguing on the question 81 sen
tence. Daniel II. Coakley. senior coun-
z sci for ponzi. told The court that IL
was only atte- advice from counsel
and members or the iiscrcditei iinan-
cicy's family that he agreed 80 re
tract his plea Of not guilty and plead
/ guilty instead.
Without Intent to Drfrau,l.
Il! mir. Ponzl insisted and stiil insists
z that there was in his mind no intent
to .defraud any one" his counsel do
clared.
.{ The little Italian. who. with prison
sentences in Canada and this country
behind him. developed hs suppos ed
scheme ot exchange in International
postal coupons TO proportions that
made him - marked figure in finance
r only to have his house Of easy money
q topple over on him when the props
OF income from investors wor" pulled
out. had an air of swaGgcr when N"
II faced the court. He was the Same
y dapner lnan-abouttcwn when hc
stepped from the Cambridge jail this
-inorning As in the days when ne war
: the idol OF the street crowds y new
. tailored suit. smart rravat. handher-
chief IN breast Hocke; and feet
s adorned with spats made ronz again
n man of presence.
AS he faced another long PRISON
sentence while his youthful wife
{ sobhed on his shoulder. I've rcncilel
on a memorandum bioci> h!s parting
Z, words 10 the public Sic transit gloria
: mundi tThus passes the glory o,
j the world. and handed /, 10 the press
s Emphatic III Ills Plea.
i When he went up to the bench
Z 10 plead a moment later. he was "m.
nhatic when he said 81 do" TO III,
clerks question: whether he wished
to change his plea OF not guilty. and
was equally assertivc as he made the
plea Guilty" in You'd tones in the
next breath Then Pouzi leaned over
resting his head on his arm, while II,
: listened to his counsel's plea for {:
light sentence.
Ponz! will begin his sentence a
the county jail IN plymouth wi,l
cighty-hye counts Of the Federal in
Glctments against him on Me. aut
with charges OF larceny in man.
81 counts outstanding against Hun il
the State courts. lie is due also L
face his creditors. Of whom there ar,
more than u 900, on December S
when he will be subject 10 their In
terTogations as to what W. did wit,
the millions int-usted 70 him. OF whic!
his Federal receivers have been abb,
to retrieve only q small mart