Evening star., 1932-02-19
Decision to Drop Contest and
"Take His Medicine"
Comes as Surprise.
FOUR INDICTMENTS
ARE STILL PENDING
Prosecutors Dodds and Burkinshaw
Refuse Comment on With
drawal Of Action.

Withdrawing his appeal from a con-
viction obtained more than year ago,
G. Bryan Pitts who climbed from an
obscure clerkship to become the execu-
tive head Of the F. H. Smith Co., today
began serving 14-year sentence in
the penitentiary for conspiring to en-
bezzle $4,000, 900 from the corporation
he controlled.
Pitts decision to abandon his appeal
and take his medicine" came as q
distinct surprise. Despite the over
whelming mass Of evidence piled up
against him by the Department Of JUS
his innocence and had steadfastly de-
clared he would fight the conviction
to the last.
Four Indictments Pending.
Four other indictments-one for en-
bezzlement, two for perjury and one
for illegal use of the mails-are still
pending against him. 1t could not be
learned whether any of these prosecu-
tions will be dropped as result of his
action today.
Assistant Attorney General Nugent
Dodds and Special Assistant Neil Burk-
inshaw, who prosecuted the case, re-
fused to comment on the withdrawal OF
the appeal.
The step was taken by Pitts through
Attorney Dozier A. De Vane, who also
withdrew an appeal which had been
noted by Pitts from conviction against
him for contempt Of court growing out
,f k,4 {v,tr ~ Ill
documents at the trial Of the conspiracy
charges.
May Be Given Credit.
The sentence in the contempt case
was a year and a day. 1t is expected
this sentence will be allowed to run
concurrently with the original sentence
of IA years. Pitts was refused bail after
his first conviction. and consequently
has received no credit for the IA months
spent in the District jail pending ad-
judication of the appeal. There was q
possibility, however, that he may be
given some credit for this time.
According to testimony at the trial,
Pitts entered the Smith company in
minor position, but rose rapidly until
he controlled the organization.
Thousands of small investors were
through the sale of greatly inflated
bond issues. Many of the bonds he
sold are now utterly worthless.
c. Ebert Anadale and John H.
Edwards, jr., vice presidents, who stood
trial with Pitts on the conspiracy
charge, have since turned against him
and made voluntary statements to the
Department of Justice. Their teSti-
mony was used against Pitts at the
contempt trial
What effect. if any. the abandonment
of Pitts appeal will have on the future
prosecution of the contempt matters
could not be learned. When Pitts was
found guilty Of this charge by Justice
F. D. Let's, however, Mr.. Dodds in
formed the court that additional cita-
tions would be brought against other
persons connected with the fabrication
OF the allegedly spurious documents"
Stripped of His Fortune.
Pitts now finds himself virtually
stripped of the vast fortune he accum-
ulated as head of the Smith company.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue seized
his palatial Florida home, his expen-
sive automobiles, his wife's ieWelry,
bonds and other securities in satisfac-
ton of claims for unpaid back income
taxes. He has also been named with
officials of the bureau as defendant
in a suit by the present Smith COM
pany to recover all of these assets on
the theory that they were stolen from
the company by Pitts in the first place.
Pitts, who has been in Gallinger
! Hospital for several days undergoing
treatment for nasal hemorrhages, was
sent back to the Jail yesterday. 1t Is
expected he will be sent to Lorton Re-
formatory to begin the penitentiary
sentence in the near future.