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Show STOCK SWINDLERS! PLEAD GUILTY i NEW YORK, Dec. 22. As punishment punish-ment for carrying on a stock swindle ;by mail, alleged U) have extended over 'a period of two ean and to have netted net-ted millions in pioflts, four promoters of the firm of Burr .Brothers, incorporated, incor-porated, were each tentenced today to "a gear's Imprisonment on Blackwoll's Island The pilsoners are Shelton C Burr, president of the corporation; his brother, Eugene H. who was becre-tary-treasuier: Charlesfll Tohoy, vice president, and Edwin Wesley Preston They offered unexpected pleas of guiltybefore Federal Judge Holt late today. The Indictment upon which they "wore called to face trial charged a swindle inolIng SGS.000 in connection connec-tion with the sale of stock of the People's Peo-ple's Associated Oil company, but the government alleged that this was but one of a continuing series of fraud.-., estimated to have Involved nearly 530,000.000. with Slo.000,000 profit to the promoters. Counpel for the defendants said that rather than InvoHc tho expense of summoning witnesses from distant points, it was decided to'plead guilty to the indictment. Tho maximum sen-tenco sen-tenco possible on this charge Is eighteen months, and counsel for the defendants urKed clemency It wah argued that the promoters had reason to believe that tho stocks would prove profitable, but now realized that tho lonresenuitlons concerning the enterprise enter-prise were too 3trong. United States District Attorney Wiso opposed the plea for clemency. fudge Holt pronounced sentence as a year each and the men were taken to the Island tonight. A littlo more than a year ago tho four men were prospering, occupying expensive offices in a. Broadway skv-scraper skv-scraper On November 20 1910. rel-oral rel-oral agents raided their offices in connection con-nection with a general roundup of al leged stock swindlers ordered by Postmaster Post-master General Hitchcock. Their business malnh had been the salo of stocks andJbonds in oil and gold mining enterprise1; Among their promotions wero the Neada Ooldflol 1 Mining. Mlllinc & Smelting company, capitalized at $5,000,000: the Briliph-Amcrlcan Briliph-Amcrlcan Copper Mines &. SmeltlnK company, capitalized at S5,000.00u: the Holcomb Automatic Engine company, capitalized at 53,000.000 the Toledo Wabash and St. IjouIs railroads, capitalized capi-talized at $C,000,000 the Arirona Cooper & Gold Minos company, capitalized capi-talized at $1,500,000, the Long Beach, Mexico & Arizona Mining company, capitalized at $1,500,000, and about twenty other corporations with stock issues ranglnp from $400,000 to 1.-000.000. 1.-000.000. The government had other indictments indict-ments pending, but no others had been returned, and it was agreed in open court that with plpas of guilt in the case at hand, further prosecution would bo abandoned, oo |