The Mail Fraud Ring Exposed
Federal court convicts four men involved in a widespread conspiracy to defraud the public through mail schemes.
By its verdict the jury holds that the trading companies named in the indictment—the Northwestern General Trading Co. of Spokane, the Olympic Trading and Supply Co. of Seattle, the Portland branch of the Northwestern company, and the Iowa Mercantile Co. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa—were operated as part of a conspiracy to defraud the public through the use of the mails. Gale Smith, S. T. Knudson, Clyde L. Davies and Olin C. Fowler, four of the five defendants on trial in the federal court for alleged fraudulent use of the mails, were found guilty. John C. Lawrence, jointly indicted with the others, was found not guilty and ordered discharged. Judge Van Fleet passed sentence upon the four convicted men, after denying their motion for a new trial. Gale Smith was sentenced to one year in the city jail and a $10,000 fine; S. T. Knudson, one year in jail and a $7,500 fine; C. L. Davies, nine months in jail and a $5,000 fine; and O. C. Fowler, three months in jail and a $750 fine. All the convicted men immediately furnished bail and were released pending their appeal to the circuit court of appeals.
“The jury holds that the trading companies named in the indictment... were operated as part of a conspiracy to defraud the public through the use of the mails.”
Mail fraud remains a persistent feature of regional commerce, though modern scams have moved from deceptive mail-order catalogs to sophisticated digital phishing schemes targeting rural Washington residents.
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