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Show UTAH FUEL COMPANY GUILTY OF FRAUDULENT ACQUISITION OF COAL LAND. Pays Fine of Eight Thousand also One Hundred Ninety-two Thousands for Coal Extracted. Salt Lake City, Utah, March 29 A notable victory was won by the United States government In tho district dis-trict court this afternoon, when tho Utah Fuel company paid ' Into court $200,000 and pleaded guilty to the charge of obtaining coal land by fraud. The company, a subsidiary corporation corpora-tion of the Rio Grande railroad, together to-gether with Henry G. Williams. Robert Rob-ert Forrester, George A. Moore, William Wil-liam D. Foster, Elroy N. Clark and Alexander H. Cowle, officers and employes, em-ployes, was Indicted by a federal gTand Jury in April, 1907, for obtaining obtain-ing fltle to 1,440 acres of coal land In Sevier county, Utah, through dummy dum-my entrymen. The validity pf the Indictment was attacked as was the constitutionality of the law under which It was brought. Both law and indictment were ultimately sustained by the supreme su-preme court of the United States and the defendants wero on the verge ot trial by jury when the surrender took place. The plea of guilty was entered today to-day by J. F. Valle, general counsel for the fuel company. The court assessed as-sessed a fine of $8,000 and Judgment for $192,000 In favor of the government govern-ment for coal taken from the ground. The land roverts to the public domain and the company loses the 514,400 fee originally paid, as well as tho further sums paid to the dummy entrymen, through whom It was taken. The indictments against the individual indi-vidual defendants were dismissed, as were five suits In equity Involving many thousands of acres taken up by dummies as agricultural land and at-terward at-terward turned over to the fuel company. com-pany. Special Attorney Fred A. May-nard, May-nard, who has prosecuted the coal cases for tho government, explains tho dismissal of the equity cases by saying say-ing that the land Involved had been bonded and the bonds sold through the Morton Trust company or New York to Innocent purchasers. Rather than reimburse those purchasers to the amount of $2,000,000, it was deemed deem-ed advisable to accept the plea ot guilty in the criminal case, and let the title to the bonded property remain re-main undisturbed. . An indictment for perjury against Thomas A. Moore, which grew out ot the testimony before the grand Jury, was also dismissed. In reacquiring the 1,440 acres involved in-volved in today's action, the government govern-ment Is . enriched . to the amount ot $100,000. that being the appraised value of the Sevier county land at the present time. . |