Evening star., 1936-02-27
ONLY FIVE FREED
|. BY Jury IN ILLICIT
| LIQUOR RING TRIAL
Court Room Is Crowded to
Hear Verdict Returned
Last Night.
PRECAUTIONS ARE TAKEN
TO AVOID DISORDERS
Defendants Face Terms From Four
Months to Two Years-Ap.
peal to Be Taken.

Sixteen alleged bootleggers, who
have been on trial in District Su-
preme Court for two weeks were in
Jail today, convicted of a huge illicit
liquor conspiracy. They face maxi
mum sentences of from four months
to two years imprisonment.
After deliberating almost six hours
jury of II men and ! woman re-
ported in crowded court room be-
fore Justice F. Dickinson Let's. at
1o:40 o'clock last night. Five of the
original 81 defendants were found
not guilty.
Despite strenuous objection Of
counsel, Justice Let's refused to re-
lease the convicted 16 on bail, pend.
ing an appeal.
Court Room Crowded.
Although it was late when the jury
arrived at verdict, the court room
was filled to capacity with friends
and relatives of the defendants and
other spectators. Anticipating that
there might be trouble, either with
the crowd or with the defendants.
court officials had 20 deputy United
States marshals present to maintain
order
There was no demonstration while
the foreman of the jury delivered the
verdict as to each of the 81.
An immediate appeal is expected to
be made by attorneys for the principal
defendants, since they feel that at
least three substantial questions of law
were developed during the lengthy
trial.
Outstanding among these was
whether presentation of evidence OBJ
tanned by Federal agents over tapped
telephone wires was legal. Defense
attorneys maintained throughout the
trial that the communications act of
1884 prohibits any one divulging the
purport of interstate communications
This act also applies to the evidence
Introduced by the prosecution in
tended to show that Arthur Bartolozzi,
| one of those convicted. received ap-
proximately $4,000 in telegraphic
money orders. Both the telephone
calls ard the money orders were in
admissible, 1t was contended.
The money orders to Bartolozzi
auegedly were in payment for whole
sale alcohol shipments from Trenton.
N. j., to Washington for distribution
here.
Validity Of Law Questioned.
The second legal point brought up
by the defendants concerns the valid
ity of the Districts new jury law,
which permits service of Government
employees. This question now is being
! threshed out in another case in the
! United States Court of Appeals. There
were eight persons on the liquor con-
spiracy jury who received compensa-
tion from the Government.
| Defense attorneys also argued that
written statements ccucerning a slay-
ing two years ago, which were pre-
sented as evidence to show the rela-
tlon among several of the defendants,
should not have been admitted.
Those convicted are Samuel Sloan
Montgomery, alleged head of the ring,
which was said by Federal agents to
have furnished Washington with about
10000 gallons of illegal liquor weekly
since repeal of prohibition: Earl Funk,
Joseph Samuel Bond, Albert H. Smith,
Montgomery's lieutenants; Bartolozzi.
who was said to have supplied about
| 5000 gallons of alcohol week to the
| Washington organization: John Manoi,
George F, Tear. Belford r. Longnecker,
Laurence j. Swami Leonard Smith.
Charles E. Hawkins, Clarence E. Ross,
Cornelius Carter. Julia Beck. Frank C..
Smith and Raymond Hawkins.
Those Exonerated.
All those exonerated were co!ored.
They are Carroll Thomas, Upton Dor
sey, Corlis Sims, German Wright and
Frank Newton.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant
United States Attorneys Henry A.
Schweinhaut and Howard Boyd.
Karl o. Spiess. special investigator
of the Federal Alcohol Tax Unit, who
spent almost year in the investigation
Of the conspiracy, sat at the counsel
table beside the prosecutors through
out the trial.