The Fallen Attorney's Divorce
While serving a long prison sentence in Walla Walla, a once-prominent Spokane attorney faces a divorce filing from his wife.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Spokane—Mrs. Fannie B. Lewis, wife of the Spokane attorney who was sent to the penitentiary last May for larceny, has filed a complaint in the superior court for divorce on the ground of failure to support. Mr. Lewis was a prominent lawyer here and did a thriving business. He was employed to collect two accounts for two different clients and instead of turning over the money collected, he applied it to his own use. He was arrested and convicted on two charges, and was sentenced to eight years and six months on one and seven years on the other, the two sentences to run together. He carried the cases to the supreme court, but was beaten there, and was taken to the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla in May last.
“Instead of turning over the money collected, he applied it to his own use.”
The Washington State Penitentiary, located in Walla Walla, remains the primary state facility for long-term incarceration. The story of a disgraced professional losing both his liberty and his marriage during the turn of the century highlights the rigid social and legal consequences for white-collar crime in that era.
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