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Al Capone — Part 36

62 pages · May 08, 2026 · Broad topic: Organized Crime · Topic: Al Capone · 62 pages OCR'd
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voto.) t with ahe deuck drivers’ strike there in 1934. Note the policeman the fighting. iment began its case in the m Kronick, (4) Charles Wolk, (Associated Preas phote.} Guilford had mentioned were ‘ped. Guilford himself, secord- to fricnds, was wnexpected)y perous. He changed his home 24 shabby rooming house to & >in one of the best hotels, he -hed” considerable sums of ve, aut Sported many new ies. Doe a @ few weeks he re td io his newspaper attacks 1 the underworld and upen city Oui: officials. Then the Min- “a gar iow, passed by the state ‘iaiure in 1925, was invoked nst Guilferd and his partner, L. Near, on-parblishers of the Sai- ay Press The cage agonist them proses: 2 by Floyd lsc: he press carp law was pecuilar “ihesoia alone. It permitted at a state offclals to sup. wn shal Py fury payer. ublish:e domatier of a Uma! Candalous, or defamatory” werd the cost of carrying the fight to the United States Supreme court. THE Cuicaco TRIBUNE individually engaged counsel for Near. In an epochal decision on June 1, 1931, the federal Supreme court ruled the Minnesota gag law was unconstitutional because fered with the liberty of the press @5 guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment to the federal constitu: tion. In this battle Near and Guil- ford won, and the Saturday Press continued to be published. While these matters were in the courts, Hennepin County Attorney Floyd Olson was busy building a political organization. Defeated in i924, when he ran for governor on a platform which was almest wholly communistic, Olson was cut to gain the support of labor in the three large citles in his state—Minneapo- Us, St. Paul, and Dututh. His opportunity came in 1928, when boodiers in the Minneapolis elty council] became panicky. The boodlers had been operating on a small scale, the ring consisting of half a dozen aldermen. Leader of the ring was Alderman Louis N. Ritten of the "silk stock- ing” Second ward in Minneapolis, He was a former president of the elty councll and a prominent grain merchant in the town. Soon after he entered the council, according to Ritten's own confession, he begun accepting bribes. Then he became ® member cf Heensing committees and of a committee which controled Purchases, Within a short tline Ritten worked out an arrangement with Alderman Frank E, Giebenhain of the Tenth ward, a labor representative, and J. Russell Sheffield, Eighth ward, to accept money which would later be divided among the trio. Certain other aldermen, including John P. Eckbery, a labor party politician from the Twelfth ward; Fred Maur+ er, ancther iabor man from the Third ward, and E. J. Sweeney and W. OH. Rendeli intermittentiy tock part in the boodling. at nes, heeause it ft at aTLLeTe ond AM vere aT tab ae Gov, Floyd B. Olson of Minnesota, who as a county aHorney in Min- neapolis is shown to have failed in his duty of prosecuting certain 2 members of the criminal e that during that afternoon Ruf had been in conference with Melvin Pas- solt and Joseph A. Poirer in the county atlorney’s office, and he be- lieved Ruff had told them every- thing regarding our meeting. “T asked Frank what he would do if he were in my boots, He de- clared I should get & good attorney. ZT asked him whom he would recom- mend and he said, ‘Get Archie M. Cary” [Cary is known In Minne- epolis as the lawyer who appears for the syndicate hoodlums ani other criminals who are able lo pay large fees.] “Brunskil! called Mr. Cary from my office and arranged for a gon- ference, at the same time telling Mr. Cary that ‘Lou is a very good friend of mine," That evening Riiten went to Cary's home for a preliminary con- ference and Cary telephoned EBrun- skill to come to the home also. Rit: ten’s confession continues: “I told Frank I was worried io death and didn't know what to do or where to turn, er words to that effect. Brunskifl declared that he had been in 2 bad fix himself, and that Cary had got him out of trouble.” aa The following day at another con- ference Cary demanded a retaining fee of $5,000, which Ritlen produced. Bitten tells also that Woodward Bitten fells also inal ‘oocdward demanded money to get ont of town, 6aying a grand jury subpena had been issued for his appearance. In all Ritten gave Woodward $3,300 to get out of town. Then he was told that Ruff was about to go he- fore the grand jury. He then de- cided to go before ihe grand jury ang try to get immunity, on advice of Cary. The venfese) movant iies: “A few days taler Cary arranged for a meeting between myself. County Attorney Floyd B. isnn. and himself in a temm at the Minrc- apolis Athletic club At That tite IT told the counts. atforner ever: thing J knew, except the payments to Woodward. The next conference ment, (Tribune photo.) of business men also were indicted, these defendants being named as givers of bribes, the aldermen being charged with their acceptance. But Olson's part in granting Rit- ten immunity frem_ prosecution never before has been made public That confession was obtained by two Minneapolis newspaper men who followed Ritten when the Jatter fied to California. When they returned with the document their editors chose to print only certain excerpts therefrom. During the trials which followed the public was kept in the dark about the Ritten incident. Prose- cuter Olson was praised as # public servant, zealous to uphold the law. Strangely enough the “common pew Ple "—the laboring classes of Minne- apolis, St. Paul, and, in fact, all Minnesota—ralied around him. Just what Olson did for the labor- ing men of Minneapolis is shown in the following table, which lists lhe defendants as te punishments or lack of punishments; Prison Sentences ohn P. Eekberg, labor alder man, Twelfth ward, 10 years, ace cepling bribe; Frank E. Gieben- hain, labor alderman, Tenth ward, 10 years, @ccepting bribe; Fred Maurer, Jabor alderman, Third ward, 2 years, accepting bribe; E. J. Sweenex, labor alderman, Third ward, 2 years, accepting bribe, Fines Morris Eisenstadt, cleaner and dyer, convicted of giving bribe, paid $1,500, James E. Fox, oil broker, pleaded guilty to giving bribe. paid S750 Charges Dismissed. Consent of Siate 4. Russ 1) Shefhels VK stock- Ing” Eighth ward, indicted for re- eciving bribe; Don Green, agent far fire apparatus Manufacturing companys, indicted for giving bribe: Ls , reg! estate breke: tidictend for givies: Imhe; EL FP. Brown. business man, indicted for kiving bribe; Henry M. Basker ville husiness man fmdicted for TET
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