Atlanta Daily World

Negro First to Be Pullman Porter
Convicted Under
New U. S. Law

ST. LOUIS, Mo., Sept. 21 (By Floyd J. Collins for the Associated
Negro Press) The Cochran anti-
extortion law, less than six months
old, being enacted by Congress
after the unsolved Lindbergh kid-
apping case, was pressed into
service for the first time Saturday
when Alfred M. Hudson, 19-
year-old of 4122 Cook Avenue, was
sentenced to six months in the
county jail by Federal Judge
Wham of the East St. Louis district.

Judge Wham stated before he
imposed sentence that the absence
of actual harm done by the
defendant proved an extenuating
circumstance.

The Federal Cochran law provides
for a sentence of 20 years
in the penitentiary and a fine of
$5,000 on conviction. Hudson was
charged and convicted of attempting
to extort money by blackmail
from R. Green, well-known
undertaker of this city. Mr.
Green received an anonymous letter
postmarked East St. Louis,
Illinois, and demanding that $300
be given a man in his employ
having a scar near his right eye,
to be delivered to the writer, or
"be taken for a ride to hell." The
letter was turned over to city detectives
who questioned Hudson
because the scar over his eye
tallied with the one mentioned in
the letter and he was also an employee
of Green. Hudson finally
admitted writing the letter.

After being asked by the Judge
why he wanted the money and
that amount, he said, "I wished to
attend an embalming school."

"Your intentions were worthy, but
you should have employed other
means of satisfying them,"
the Judge advised him.