Show SHERIFF IS ARRESTED Indicted for Allowing Prisoner Pris-oner to Escape WHICH PRISONER DID NOT Sheriff George H Naylor Charged With Permitting the Escape of A H Curtis Who Was Treated as 0 Trusty and Sent on Errands Nay lor Blames U S District Attorney C O Whittemoro for Causing His Arrest Says That Whittemore Requested Re-quested Curtis Be Treated Lenient Sheriff George H Naylors arrest on the charge of allowing C prisoner to escape Is attributed hyh and by his friends to personal animus on the part ot United States District Attorney X tho indict O Whittemore by whom IIdlct ment was signed The Sheriff was arrested ar-rested yesterday and was released by United l States Commissioner Twomey on 500 bonds furnished by County Treasurer Dale and Arthur Barnes reurer The charge against him Is that he allowed a Federal prisoner A Ii Curtis Cur-tis to leave the jail and go unguarded upon the streets at certain times contrary con-trary to the statutes of the United States The maximum penalty for the offense is a fine of 2000 and two years Imprisonment In the State penitentiary penitenti-ary I Curtis was arrested last year for sending lottery l lists through the United States mails When brought to trial he pleaded guilty and was sentenced sen-tenced to serve a term of eleven months in the county Jail and to pay n fine of 250 After he had been In jail forD few months he was allowed to leave it at intervals to help with the work In the kitchen and occasionally ally to do errands for Mrs Nnylor He proved entirely trustworthy and never failed to return to his cell to spend the night So far as known ho made not the slightest attempt to escape When the grand Jury meta few days ago the matter was brought to and was always in the Jail before 9 I oclock at night SAYS TRAP WAS SET Just what Mr Whlttornores motive Is In getting me Into this trouble I am unable to say We were friends when we were boys and have been on the best of terms ever since Although we arc politically of a different faith I cannot believe that this Influenced his action to any great extent l am sure however that some personal animus entered into the matter In fact It looks to mo as If he had deliberately set a trap for me and I foil into It Sheriff Naylor was of the opinion I that the arrest never would have been made If Curtis had been n State Instead In-stead of a United States prisoner He found Justification however In a statute which provides that Federal prisoners shall be treated In all respects re-spects as those of the State This lathe la-the statue Persons convicted of crime In any of the courts of the United States in < the State of Utah as well as prisoners prison-ers held to answer before such courts for a violation of any of the laws of the United States shall be received and held in the Jails of any couflty of this State under the same regulations and laws governing prisoners held under un-der the authority of the State See I 581 Rev Stat of Utah The story of Curtis agrees in all respects re-spects with that of the Sheriff He stated yesterday that In all his eight months Imprisonment he had not been absent from the Jail yard more than I five hours in the aggregate CURTIS STANDS BY SHERIFF Once In n while I was sent down I the street on errands1 said Curl when seen at the Jail yesterday On one of these trips I met United States Marshal Miller and shook han ls with him He asked me about my petition for a pardon and said he hoped I would get out soon I also met Deputy Marshall Mar-shall Smyth Neither them hinted that I had no business to be out of the jail In fact they seemed to be glad 1 was enjoying a little liberty For some time 1 have been treated almost al-most a tme of the Sheriffs family nnd 1 would not for the world have abused their confidence by trying to escape Curtis said that when his trial was pending lat winter Attorney Whitte more called him into his office and advised ad-vised him to plead guilty assuring him that If he did so he would get off with the payment of n fine or at the most ninety days in Jail DENIES PERSONAL MOTIVES Mr Whittemore declined to make any specific reply to Sheriff Naylore charges except to deny emphatically tht any personal or political motive lay behind his ac lonHe was acting he said simply in accordance with the I duties of his ofllce l 1 r 1 r rI WjWt 1 h I 1NFr 1 ib i I 4 gk TI I Lt11 f < I I Sheriff Naylqr Arrested Yesterday their attention They were Informed by Judge Marshall that the liberty allowed al-lowed to Curtis was in direct violation of the law and acting upon this instruction in-struction after taking evidence from the Sheriff the prisoner and Jailer T F Thomas they returned a true bill against Sheriff Naylor as above stated Vs soon as he learned of the Indictment Indict-ment the Sheriff went to United States Marshal Glen Millers office and gave ilmself up to Deputy Marshal Sm thEo th-Eo at once obtained bond and was released re-leased from custody BLAME ATTORNEY WHITTEMORE Sheriff Naylor and the prisoner Curls Cur-ls both maintain that the latitude given to the prisoner was In response to a request from Mr Whlttcmore and that he knew for several months that Curtis was regarded tin a trusty Its It-s also maintained Mr Naylor that the practice of allowing a certain amount of freedom to trusted prisoners prison-ers has been followed at the county jail for many years by pervious SherIffs ffs and is the custom at thp State penitentiary and other penal InstitutiOns Institu-tiOns all over the country I am at a loss to understand why Mr Whittemore should bring this charge against me said Mr Naylor yesterday Last summer he called me up over the telephone and said that complaint had been made at his once that Curtis was being discriminated I against at the Jail and was not being treated as well as the other prisoners 1 I assured him that there were no favorites fa-vorites In the Jail and that all wer j treated alike and all wcro treated well I He then asked me as a personal favor to use all the leniency I could I toward Curtis that he was not a bad fellow and had been pretty severely dealt with He said he would be glad If I would make prison life as easy as T could for him Shortly after that upon this suggcstlon I began to give Curtis certain liberties about the house and yard Sometimes he would be sent II down tho street on errands He never abused my confidence in the slightest Because the Indictment is signed in my name said Mr Whittemore It does not follow of necessity that I brought the matter before the grand jury That might have been done by the court or by one of the Jurors As to Mr Naylors statement that I requested re-quested him to give the prisoner liberty lib-erty I can say that If he makes any defense of that kind when brought to trial and I dont think ho will we will meet It successfully Ils no adequate ade-quate excuse to say that the Sheriff was only following the custom of other penal institutions I In favoring certain trusties as there Is no provision In the laws for any such custom Cur tins sentence specified that he should be confined In the county jail for eleven months I gave no permission to the Sheriff to let him out of that confinement halC the time Further than that 1 do not care to dlscuan the case I do not believe In trying a casein case-In the newspapers before It Is I tried before the court CASE IS UNUSUAL So far as known no case like this ever has come up In this State before The circumstances are peculiar In that I the Sheriff Is charged with allowing a prisoner to escape when as a matter I of fact the prisoner did not escape or even attempt to do so The violation of the law I ISj therefore purely technical tech-nical and It Is believed the punishment punish-ment will be nominal Just sufficient to serve as an example to other ousto dlans of prisoners The hearing of Sheriff Naylor has not been Aat |