CRIME: No Taste for Liquor

Kentucky’s old (72) ex-Congressman Andy May stood up in a Washington federal court last week and proclaimed: “I have never tasted liquor, wine or beer . . . if I go to jail my grandchildren will drop out of college.” The two Garsson brothers appealed for mercy too. Henry Garsson made a speech; Murray Garsson wept softly. The Garssons had been convicted of giving May bribes of $53,000 while running a shoestring into a $78 million munitions combine (TIME, July 25, 1946 et seq.); all three faced maximum sentences of six years, fines of $30,000. Judge Henry A. Schweinhaut let them off with a minimum eight months, maximum two years; no fine.