Sentence:  On one of his 1921 <WSD>ventures</WSD> he was actually come upon by a Detective Sergeant John J. Ryan down on his knees with a tool embedded in a labour office safe in the Postal Telegraph Building ; the jury wanted better evidence than that and he was acquitted , at a cost of $ 30000 in bribes , it was estimated . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome