Convicted Embezzler Sentenced to Prison
After a heated argument by counsel, William Clifford is sentenced to three years in the Walla Walla penitentiary for stealing two carloads of barley.
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A motion for a new trial for William Clifford, convicted of embezzling two carloads of barley from J. D. Evans, was denied by Judge McDonald in the superior court. Following the denial, and a failed motion for arrest of judgment, Clifford was sentenced to three years in the Walla Walla penitentiary. Upon hearing the sentence, Clifford broke down and cried. The prosecutor, M. O. Reed, noted that despite this conviction and a prior hung jury on a separate larceny charge, further legal proceedings against Clifford are expected to follow.
“Clifford broke down for the first time since his arrest when the sentence was pronounced, light though it was, and cried.”
This case offers a glimpse into early 20th-century white-collar crime prosecution in Whitman County, demonstrating the rigid approach of the superior court to agricultural property theft, which was a cornerstone of the regional economy.
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