The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-01

for only a handful of the states 150 witnesses to appear before the jury of eight women and six men thus far.
 Jurors Closely Guarded
 Several of the jurors have been locked in a downtown hotel since the first week of the trial and all of them have been in the sheriffs custody for six weeks. Two of the jurors were alternates and will not get to pass on the guilt of the 33 defendants unless something hap pens to one of the first 12.
 The case, on trial before Circuit Judge Earl c. Pugsley, an outstate judge, Is known locally as the county graft case" The warrant in it's charged Duncan c. McCrea, former Wayne county prosecutor, ex-Sheriff Thomas 0. Wilcox and some of their aides accepted an es- timated $250,000 over a flve-year period for protection of suburban vice and gambling.
 O'Hara said that collection ale legged in the county case" would be shown to be comparatively minor since his investigators had uncovered payments in other eases which total approximately $2,500,- 900.
 McCrea Charges Politics
 Former Prosecutor McCrea, who was named in three warrants be- sides the county warrant, has charged that the indictments were the result of political plot to "get me-" The grand jury replied with action by indicting former Mayor Richard w. Reading of Detroit, for whom O'Hara actively campaigned in 1887, and many deputy sheriffs of the only Republican administra- ton in Wayne county since 1895. O'Hara is @ Republican. McCrea and Wilcox are Democrats. Both McCrea and Wilcox were removed from office by Michigan's former governor, Luren D. Dickinson. O'Hara said he expected to show in the county case that McCrea and Wilcox were broke when they took office; that they were able to pay home mortgages, campaign debts, and buy winter and summer homes; that the payments wer possible because each had a collector who visited underworld establishments; and that such expansion" would have been impossible on McCrea' s $l1 1,000 annual salary and Wilcox's $7,000 salary alone.
 Both of the alleged graft collect ors are state witnesses and at pre- liminary hearings they testified concerning tehir activities. Other state witnesses include allegd rac- keteers who admitted making monthly payments on a fixed scale -$10 per slot machine, $50 per brothel, $100 to 0300 per handbook depending upon business volume and $1,000 a month a crap table.
 "Pay Or Close Down"
 At preliminary hearings, held tc get the witnesses on the record and make threatened violence uselss 1t was testified that each establish ment had to pay both collectors tc remain in business. Evidence was introduced to show that those who refused to pay were promptly clos ed, but allowed to open as soon as they "got right"
 Judge Homer Ferguson's one- man grand jury. called by the cir cult court as @ result of Legations of police graft in suicide notes left by a sub-colector's spurned sweet heart, has named 349 defendants in its various warrants and 52 John Does. One hundred forty-two per- sons were named co-conspirators and were placed under witness bonds by the state.
 Of the 349 defendants, n, most of them policemen whose names witnesses knew but could not iden- tify in person, were released at the