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s-HU* Pleads Guilty to Twenty-Nineand ThrownUikjii the Mercy of the Court.He Is Fined $M,mM and One* to thePenitentiary for One Year at Hard Labor.Shot Hi* Grindstoneththvlgrdomitaorre.ahadcurbort haageEdchiDili,MeEuisokTinThe criminal oases in the circuit court against William II. Scbureman, which were I Oi set down for trial to commence on Mon- h« day, came to a sudden termination yes tor- vvj day by Mr. Sc hu re man entering a plea of prguilty to all of the cases against him. Mr. thSchureman. as is well known, conducted a ne bunking business in Normal under the firm da name of W. II. Schuretnan Co. Cast I tin May the bank failed and an investigation showed that the business of the concern I 1 was in a very bad shape. It was plain to Hieverybody that Mr. Sc hi) re man had done OIbusiness in violation of the law, which pro- W vide* that any banker who accepts deposits wl s | while his bank is known to be insolvent, belt;and th© deposit is lost, is guilty of embes* tin/lament. When the grand jury met in Sep* On tember last the depositors, or a large num- | un bar of them, who had lost by the failure of I an the bank, curno forward and Mr, Sehure- uJ man was indicted in twenty-nine distinct Ne cases. Previous to that time warrants in to large numbers were sworn out by de- tin nositors and Mr. Schuretnan was bound poi over to await the action of the grand jury, mi Th© cases were continued from the Sep- y©j tern her term to the present term at the in- bu: stance of the defendant. Mr. Schuretnan vat secured able counsel and a strong effort on was made to quash the indictments, which in proved to have been drawn with great care, Du and Withstood the numerous assaults made Ml against them. The attempt to quash the cot indictments failing, and the case being thtcalled for trial, nothing was left for Mr. his Schureman to do but to either stand trial sta and permit a jury to say what his punish- I moot should bo or plead guilty and throw | no himself upon the mercy of the court, | WtThere are twenty-nine cases, and the I Gr penalty is a fine in double the amount of the hrlt; deposit embezzled and, if so found, a sen- Gr tence in the penitentiary of from one to in three years. When a plea of guilty was th« entered in all of the cases then it became a vvil question for Judge Tipton to say what the fJ punishment should be. After taking the cit matter under advisement for a short time grr the judge fixed the penalty in each and urn every case at a ftne of double the amount tha of money embezzled and a sentence of one sat year at hard labor in the penitentiary hal with one day in solitary confinement. The fivlt; total amount of the fines imposed is #46.* | me 251123and the number of years of sentence in the penitentiary is twenty-nine. If the sentences were to run consecutively Mr. Schureman would be obliged to go to the penitentiary for twenty-nine years, but.Judge Tiptou thought the punishmentwould be severe enough to make the sentence run concurrently, therefore Mr. Schureman will nave to serve but one year in the penitentiary.The tines will simply stand against him and may bo recovered from him if he ever accumulates property. Or if any depositor sees tit to sue and get a judgment upon his claim he may cause Mr. Schuretnan to lie in Jail at the rate of one dollar a day until the amount is paid, provided also the depositor puts up in advance for Schuremau's board.These indictments were framed upon the law which prohibits a bank officer from receiving bank deposits after he knows his bank is insolvent. The law says that if any banker or officer of a bank shall receive any money as a deposit, when at the time of receiving the deposit, the bank is insolvent, whereby the deposit shall be lost to the depositor, the banker or officer receiving such deposit shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and uponconviction shall be titled in a sum douuie the amount of the deposit taken and may be imprisoned in the state penitentiary not loss than one, nor more than three years.The law also says if the bank fails or goes into involuntary liquidation within thirtydays from the time of receiving such deposit, that will be prim a facie evidence ofintent to defraud the depositors.Mr, Schureman was accompanied In court by his wife and his little children. His brother and his brother9* family were also present, as were Mr. and Mrs. Buckman, of Norman, parents of Mr. Schureruun's wife.At about 8 o’clock the sheriff took Mr. Schureman to Jail, where he remained last night. Today Sheriff Bishop will taae him to Joliet, wnore he wall at once enter upon his sentence. If he makes good time.” as he undoubtedly will, being a man of very quiet and gentlemanly habits, he will be there only eleven months. It is quite likely that he will be employed in the bookkeeping department at the penitentiary, as he is an expert accountant and a line penman.A large crowd was in the court room during the hearing of the case, many of the depositors who had lost money in the bank, being in the front seats. When the deputy sheriff led Mr. Schureman out, nearly ail of the large audience in the court room followed after. The parting scene between Air. Schureman and his children and relatives, which took place in the circuit clerk’s room, was very affecting. All bore up wonderfully well under the trying circumstances. His wife and brother accompanied him to the door of the jail.The pleading and the sentence were the talk of the city alt the afternoon and evening. While many, principally the depositors of the defunct bank, thought that the punishment was hardly severe enough, yetothers, including some who lost by the failure, say that tha fact that Mr. Sehure-man, in pleading guilty to all of the counts, plainly acknowledged that he had done wrong, and this they thought was a great satisfaction. They also say that the disgrace is as complete as if he had been sentenced to twenty-nine years. As Judge Tipton said in sentencing him, a long sentence might, under the circumstances, savor of persecution and and he thought that justice would be served as well by a short sentence us by a long bn©. The sentence seems to meet theapproval of many thoughtful persons, although, of course, a number would like to have had the judge pronounced a much longer one.ingnesandBiOsixhmoiot 1 wil maFitUh;ChihashigfameicuratMrthrdeabe©ThresfroMr eve ce p wa vva one ion up pi a H wawaaisiPiaKa f u ti utnDeThere has been considerable poultry stealing around Downs of late, and the peo-• d A, i * «» *1 .w. wl J if it t htitr h'1 Vn tohuitioitheDei of IIforwedotheantmaspc1turwagre188higwalotivvadat0.AvAvi n cprtleain
Newspaper Details
Bloomington Weekly Pantagraph
Bloomington, Illinois, US
Fri, Dec 01, 1893
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Patty M.
IL, USA 26 Jan 2020
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