Commitment of William Brown to Leavenworth, 16 November 1920: 'Using the Mails in Scheme to Defraud (Black Hand)'
Printed writ of commitment witnessed by Judge Kenesaw M. Landis and signed by the clerk: William Brown, found guilty on an indictment for 'Using the Mails in Scheme to Defraud (Black Hand)', was sentenced on 16 November 1920 to five years at Leavenworth.
- Date
- 1920-11-16
- Kind
- case-file
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- NAID
- 214445316
- Rights
- A record of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, held by the National Archives at Chicago in Record Group 21. A United States government work, public domain in the United States under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The National Archives catalog lists access and use as unrestricted.
This is file page 1 of the case file NAID 214445316. The printed form, headed “United States of America, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division,” is addressed by the President to the Marshal of the district and the Warden of the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.
It recites that William Brown appeared before the court on 5 November 1920 “to answer an indictment filed therein against him for violating Section 215 Criminal Code, Postal Law. Using the Mails in Scheme to Defraud (Black Hand),” and that, having been found guilty as charged, he was on 16 November 1920 sentenced to imprisonment in the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth for five years. The Marshal is commanded to convey him there. The writ is witnessed by Judge Kenesaw M. Landis on 16 November 1920 and signed by John H. R. Jamar, clerk.
The words “(Black Hand)” are the clerk’s label for the offence on an official court form. The image is the National Archives’ scan, stored here as a reduced copy.