Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1907 — GILMAN IN PRISON [ARTICLE]

GILMAN IN PRISON

Found Guilty of Embezzlement by Jury. SENTENCE WAS PASSED THURSDAY And the Former Goodland Banker Oust Serve From One to Three Years at nichigan City. The jury in the case of the state against Fred D. Gilman, the former Goodland banker, returned a verdict of guilty of embezzlement in the Newton circuit court last Saturday morning, and Thursday evening he was given a sentence of from one to three years in the penitentiary at Michigan City, and was taken there the same evening, it is understood. The motion for a new trial was overruled. It is said that sentence was delayed until afternoon, in order that Gilman could go direct to prison without being subjected to the idle curiosity of his former friends and patrons at Goodland, and he started for Michigan City that evening, under care of the sheriff. Since Saturday, at which time Mr. Gilman was placed in charge of his counsel, J udge Darroch, Gilman was virtually at large. He and his wife were guests at the Hotel Kentland, and no effort was made to iWrict his liberty. Many of his former patrons from Goodland called on him and talked over bank affairs, and not a few of his visitors left the hotel convinced that Gilman was not alone responsible for the failure of the bank. While talking to the Indianapolis News correspondent, before his arraignment for sentence, Mr. Gilman said that aside from the stigma that a prison sentence would cast on bis family, be had no dread of serving bis time. “I am innocent of wronging any man,” said he. “My whole life has been spent in trying to help others, and even now I have no malice in my heart for those who perjured themselves on the witness stand to further my conviction. I kept a blose record of the evidence, and I will say that accounts aggregating $27,000 were filed with the trustee of my estate by men to whom I did not owe a penny. A number of my nearest neighbors perjured themselves on the witness stand in this manner.” “There is talk of prosecuting these cases, and if so what is your attitude?” was asked Mr. Gilman. *1 will not testify against them. I do not know the conditions at Michigan City, but I do not want several persons who ought to be there to crowd me out, now that they have succeeded by false testimony in landing me there. An item from Charles Wellington, of Lafayette, is a sample of the stories set afloat by my former friends. Mr. Wellington stated that he lost S3OO in my bank, while the facts show that he bad a credit of that sum in the bank, but the bank held his note for $6,000, and Wellington took an offset when the estate was settled. The booksof the referee in bankruptcy will bear ont this statement.”