OCR Text |
Show DIRECTOR ORDERED io juinis posi DISTRICT DRY ENFORCEMENT DIRECTOR DI-RECTOR AND TWO SIDES SUMMARILY SUSPENDED Hints of Irregularities In Conduct of Office Made Following Inveetirja-tlon, Inveetirja-tlon, Covering Several Weeke Of Intermountiin Office Salt Lake City. Orders calling for the immediate suspension of Thea Schweitzer, general prohibition director di-rector for Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, Wyom-ing, and Jerry Z. Hoyt and George Baker, two of his agents, were received re-ceived by Mr. Schweitzer Saturday from Assistant Prohibition Commissioner Commis-sioner Jones at Washington. In the communications Mr. Schweitzer was directed to turn over the affairs of his office to Prohibition Agent Francis Fran-cis P. Madden of .Denver. The suspensions are effective pending pend-ing the completion of an investigation investiga-tion into Mr. Schweitzer's office instigated in-stigated several weeks ago following n raid on the residence of Dr. Maurice Maur-ice M. Critchlow. The preliminary charges upon which the suspensions are made. Include In-clude alleged violations of the interstate inter-state commerce act, alleged conspiracy conspir-acy to violate the interstate commerce com-merce act, the alleged conversion of automobiles and other property seized seiz-ed in raids to private uses, the alleged al-leged padding of expense accounts and alleged drunkenness on the pari of officers involved. In addition, there is also a charge that false statements state-ments were madte by Mr. .Schweitzer or his aides in reporting facta concerning con-cerning the Critchlow raid. The charged violations of and conspiraces to violate the interstate commerce act, it was further learned, are based upon the alleged acceptance accept-ance and use by prohibition agents, including Schweitzer, Hoyt and Baker, of railway passes on the Union Pacific Pa-cific line between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Jfevada. Under the interstate commerce act, federal officials are expressly barred from th? acceptance and' use of such free transportation and penalties of fines not exceeding $2000 or Imprisonment Impris-onment for not exceeding two years, or both, are provided. The railway company is also held as equally liable li-able to prosecution as the users of the paper. The use of passes on the particular trips on which government investigators investi-gators are said to have procured evidence evi-dence was explained hy Mr. Schweitzer, Schweitz-er, it is said, as due to a desire on the part of the government men to conceal their real identity from the train crews and other persons with whom they came Into contact. |