The “blackmail ring” abortion cases in Philadelphia received some attention in the Lykens Valley area newspapers in 1930. It involved an organized crime conspiracy to extort money from physicians and others performing abortions. The men involved in the ring’s scheme discovered the abortionists, and then pressured them to “pay up” in order to not damage their reputations by them being exposed. The crime ring included crooked lawyers, city officials, fixers, and a “fake” doctor who claimed to be a “naturopath.”
It didn’t work in all cases. There were several trials and although few were actually convicted on the blackmail charges, the naturopath eventually ended up in jail for practicing medicine without a license. Those who testified against the members of the ring, included Dr. Frederick William Faltermayer, himself accused of performing abortions, who had been relieved of $11,500, and a woman who lost $2,500.
When the jury returned a “not guilty” verdict at one of the trials, the judge lambasted them from the bench and ordered them out of the courthouse.
The story is told below through available news articles. It focuses on “Doctor” Cyrus H. Raul, alleged leader of the blackmail and extortion plot. Additional stories could be told about Dr. Faltermayer, but that will be left for another time.
______________________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, March 26, 1930:
BLACKMAIL PLOT HAS BEEN UNEARTHED
Philadelphia Physicians Charged With Extortion
Philadelphia, March 26 [1930] – (U. P.) — With two men, including a physician, under arrest, and warrants issued for six other persons, police today claimed they were well on their way towards smashing an alleged blackmail plot directed at physicians in Philadelphia.
The physician held is Dr. Cyrus H. Raul. Police said they had to batter down the door of his office to arrest him. His alleged accomplice is Lester H. Hines, a self-styled “adjuster.” Their arrest came as the result of charges made by Dr. Frederick William Faltermayer.
Raub and Hines are charged with “conspiracy to extort and blackmail with divers other persons.”
Joseph Lestrange, assistant superintendent of police, claims that Raub was the head of the alleged “ring,” which he said included other physicians, nurses, lawyers and minor politicians. Their plan, Lestrange said, was to send women to certain doctors for illegal operations and then threaten to expose the physicians.
____________________________________________________
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 26, 1930:
2 HELD ON CHARGE OF EXTORTION PLOY AGAINST PHYSICIAN
Accused of $6500 Blackmail; Police Suspect Organized “Ring”
Money Paid on Threats of Ruining Professional Reputation; Other Warrants Out
Two men, one describing himself as a naturopathic physician, were arrested last night on charges of extorting $6500 from a Philadelphia physician under threats of ruining his professional reputation.
At the same time police announced that warrants had been issued for a number of others, including at least one attorney, in connection with the same case.
Inspector of Police LeStrange, in charge of the investigation, said last night that the case has all the earmarks of an organized system of extorting large sums from physicians.
Has Police Record
One of those held is Cyrus H. Raul, 45, of Spring Garden Street near Twenty-first, who said he is [a] practicing naturopath. Police added that on January 28, 1930, he was paroled from prison here after serving three months for practicing without a license.
The other now in custody is Lester Hines, of Arlington Street near Fifty-sixth Street.
Both are charged with conspiracy to extort, extortion and blackmail.
The two men are accused of extorting $6500 from Dr. Fred William Faltermayer, of Allegheny Avenue near Broad Street.
According to police, Raul and Hines accused Dr. Faltermayer of directing patients to a woman for alleged illegal operations and threatened to expose him unless he paid large sums.
Dr. Faltermayer, who was questioned at length last night by Inspector LeStrange, denied the accusations of the men. He said that he paid the sums requested in order to avoid any scandal and to save his professional reputation.
Trapped By Marked Bills
According to police, Dr. Faltermayer paid $5000 last September. About two weeks ago he was again approached, this time for $2500. He demurred, and finally a compromise was reached at $1500.
The physician then called in private detectives, marked money was placed in a package, and when Hines called for it, he was placed under arrest. At a subsequent hearing before Magistrate Hamburg, Inspector LeStrange said, Hines was released without bail for a further hearing on Friday.
In the meantime police learned of the case and began an investigation which last night resulted in the arrest of Raul and Hines.
____________________________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, March 27, 1930:
FIVE MEN HELD TO CAUSE SENSATION
POLICE SEEK “MASTER MIND” AS LEADING EXTORTIONER
Philadelphia, March 26 [1930] – (U. P. — With five men already under bond ranging from $2, 500 to $5,00, and sensational disclosures promised by police within the next 24 hours, authorities today were seeking the “master mind” who directed an alleged extortion plot which victimized Philadelphia physicians.
Twenty witnesses, including a number of young married women, were questioned yesterday concerning illegal operations. Their identity will be kept secret, police said.
Patrick J. McKewen, county Chief of Detectives; Assistant District Attorney Franklin E. Barr, and Joseph LeStrange, assistant Superintendent of Police, conducted the inquiry yesterday. The operations of the alleged “ring” included the sending of women and girls to certain physicians and nurses for illegal operations, LeStrange said. Threats of exposure followed.
Those five under bond are Hyman Abramson, lawyer; E. Louis Cooper, lawyer; Philip Nicholson, adjuster; Cyrus H. Raul, self-styled naturopath and Lester Hines, Raul’s agent.
____________________________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, April 8, 1930:
BLACKMAIL RING CHARGED
Nine Men, Including Politicians, Collected From Physicians in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA, April 8 [1930) – (A. P.) — Accused of being a blackmail ring that has collected thousands of dollars from physicians, nine men, including three lawyers, a city employee and Republican division leader and a constable, were named in indictments returned yesterday by the grand jury.
It was said that the victims of the alleged blackmail, two physicians and a woman, paid $15,000 to avoid prosecution after performing alleged illegal operations, charged in the indictments which did not those said to have performed the operations or those upon whom the operations were performed.
Those indicted are charged with extortion, conspiracy to extort and compounding felonies. They are Cyrus H. Raul, Lester L. Hines, Samuel J. Kaufman, Louis J. Bernstein, Herman Abramson, Milton Kahn, Neil Harkins, Philip Nicholson and Louis Cooper.
_______________________________________________
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 8, 1930:
NINE ARE INDICTED IN BLACKMAIL PROBE
2 Physicians and 2 Women Named as Having Committed Illegal Operations
Defendants in Alleged Extortion Game Include Three Members of Bar
Two physicians and two women were named as having committed illegal operations in indictments returned by the Grand Jury yesterday against alleged members of the blackmail ring who preyed upon medical practitioners.
The physicians declared to have engaged in malpractice are Dr. Fred W. Faltermayer, Allegheny Avenue near Broad Street, and Dr. Howard M. Shriner, Erie Avenue near Eighth Street. The women are Jean Wallace, no address given, and Florence Garrod, East Roosevelt Boulevard.
Despite the naming of the quartette in the indictments, no criminal charges have as yet been made against them. The indictments include as defendants only those charged with having practiced blackmail and extortion.
In the case of Dr. Faltermayer and Jean Wallace, the defendants are Herman Abramson, Porter Street near Sixth, an attorney; Samuel J. Kauffman, Lebanon Avenue near Fifty-fourth Street, an attorney; Cyrus H. Raul, Spring Garden Street near Twenty-first Street, a naturopath, styling himself “Doctor;” and Lester L. Hines, Arlington Street near Fifty-Sixth, an adjuster. A warrant obtained from Magistrate Oswald allegedly was used in the shakedown.
_______________________________________________
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 18, 1930:
JURY FREES 4 MEN IN EXTORTION CASE; ASSAILED BY JUDGE
Lewis Calls Verdict a Travesty on Justice; Denounces Defendants in Bitter Arraignment
Orders Disbarment Proceedings Against Kauffman Accuse by Physician in Blackmail Ring Case
After deliberating five hours and ten minutes, a jury in Quarter Sessions Court last night returned a verdict acquitting four men charged with having formed the backbone of a blackmail syndicate that preyed upon physicians.
The decision of the jury, which appeared to stun court and spectators, was bitterly assailed by Judge Edwin O. Lewis, who characterized the verdict as a gross miscarriage of justice.
The jurist ordered the jurors dismissed from further service, declaring he didn’t “want to see them any longer about this courtroom.”
Courtroom Crowded
The hearing chamber, room 206, City Hall, which for two days of the trial had been packed to suffocation by men and women attracted by the lurid testimony of women concerning illegal operations they had undergone, was crowded to overflowing when the jury returned. Judge Lewis threatened arrest and prosecution for participants should there be any semblance of a demonstration.
The defendants were seated behind their attorneys, eyes directed upon the jury box. One of them was Samuel J. Kauffman, an attorney with offices at Fifteenth and race Streets; another, Milton Kahn, constable for Magistrate Evan T. Pennock; a third, Cyrus H. Raul, a naturopath, who has served time in jail for practicing medicine without a license. The fourth was Philip Nicholson, alleged to be “fixer” for the extortion ring.
When the trial started Wednesday morning there were seven defendants. Yesterday afternoon, when the Commonwealth closed its case, Judge Lewis directed acquittals for two of them, both attorneys. The freed prisoners, Herman Abramson and E. Louis Cooper, immediately left the courtroom.
Turns State’s Evidence
The seventh defendant, Lester L. Hines, pleaded “nolo contendere” or no defense, having turned State’s evidence when the investigation opened. His fate will be decided by Judge Lewis.
The seven had been specifically charged with having extorted $11,500 from Dr. Frederick William Faltermayer, Broad Street near Allegheny Avenue, who was named by two women as having performed unprofessional operations upon them.
Judge Lewis looked like a man who could hardly believe his ears when the foreman of the jury arose and in a low tone announced the body had found the four remaining defendants not guilty on all bills on indictment.
Despite the Jurist’s warning, a buzz of excitement developed among the spectators, particularly those who had heard Judge Lewis’ charge to the jury. The charge had virtually pointed out that the prisoners had been shown guilty of extortion.
Denounces Defendants
The Jurist, one by one, ordered the erstwhile defendants to their feet where he blasted them with withering words. He declared he would personally direct a movement looking toward Kauffman’s disbarment. He told Kahn he would help to drive him out of public office.
Raul, the naturopath, who calls himself “Doctor,” was told he should not be permitted to practice healing arts anywhere in the State under any conditions.
Addressing the jury – hardly able to keep a tremor of anger from his voice – Judge Lewis said:
“A miscarriage of justice. How you could arrive at such a verdict is difficult for me to understand.
“This was a clear case of extortion as you could find, participate in by a member of the bar, a sworn officer of the court and a physician. Such a verdict as this, rendered by twelve citizens of a free country makes it very discouraging for those who are trying to trample crime and make large cities safe places in which to live.
“Your verdict is a direct encouragement to all lawbreakers.”
The Jurist’s anger appeared to be rising. He looked down at the defendants who were sitting, slight smiles on their faces. His eye alighted on Kauffman.
“Kauffman, stand up!” he exclaimed. The attorney arose.
Orders Disbarment Action
“I direct the District Attorney,” Judge Lewis said, “to present a rule to show cause why you should not be disbarred from practicing in the courts of Philadelphia.
“Further, I will make that returnable before me in this courtroom in ten days. There is no time like the present to settle this. Kauffman, you have no right to practice in our courts..
“When you became a member of the bar you took an oath to uphold the lay, instead you have been polluting it – insulting justice. You have brought disgrace upon yourself and family. But it is your own fault.”
Ordering Kahn to rise, he snapped:
“Kahn, you also took an oath, which evidently didn’t mean much to you. You have made a reputation in the city and it is a bad one – well-known about City Hall. I think you also should be removed from office and I therefore direct the District Attorney to take the necessary steps to have you ousted.”
To Raul, he said:
“You are to be condemned and ought no longer to be allowed to practice in Pennsylvania.”
Branded “Parasite”
Nicholson was branded as a “parasite” by the aroused jurist.
“I understand you hire yourself out to obtain evidence in divorce cases and work hand-in-hand with Kauffman,” he said. “You have come very close to getting a long jail sentence. From now on you will be watched very closely and I warn you to get yourself a legitimate occupation.”
Judge Lewis then launched into an excoriation of abuses at the bars of criminal justice in Philadelphia. Turning from the prisoners to the spectators in the crowded courtroom, he added:
“I want this jury to understand they have been responsible for a gross injustice and wake up with that feeling tomorrow morning, Good Friday. I hope they will remember over the Easter holidays.”
To Court Crier Harry Murray, he snapped:
“Mr. Murray, discharge these jurors from any further service. See that they are given their pay vouchers tonight. I don’t want them around this courtroom.”
Out in the corridor, when court was adjourned, the acquitted men were surrounded by friends who thumped them on the back, shook their hands, and otherwise congratulated them. The four bore smiles of gratification; a decided contrast to the worried looks maintained during the more than five hours the jury had kept them in suspense.”
The concluding passages of the trial itself were marked with verbal fireworks in which counsel for the defense charged the District Attorney’s office with trying to shield its chief witness, Dr. Faltermayer,. The physician was named repeatedly as a mal-practitioner by witnesses.
Tells of “Shakedown”
Hines, who pleaded nolo contendere, was the main witness of the day. he described alleged circumstances in which he had conspired with the other defendants to “shake down” Dr. Faltermayer and how they had succeeded. Kauffman and Kahn he said were the principal actors in the blackmail business.
Hines, under cross-examination by John R. K. Scott, of defense counsel, said Dr. Faltermayer admitted to him being in the business of performing illegal abortions.
“How did he come to do that?” asked Scott.
“When I first gave him my name he asked me if I was a relative of a man working at a Market Street Theatre. I told him he was my brother and he said, ‘You know all the chorus girls at the theatre come to me for treatment. It’s a shame the way they plead with me to help them and then have me arrested.'”
In his address to the jury Scott charged that Dr. Faltermayer “was lying to save his own dirty carcass.” adding, “the District Attorney has known under oath for weeks that Faltermayer committed illegal operations, yet he has made no move to arrest or prosecute the man.
_______________________________________________
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 1930:
TRY 3 IN GOUGE PLOT
Attorney and Two Others Face Jury for Alleged Blackmail
Three men accused of being involved in a blackmail plot to “shaking down” physicians and others alleged to have performed illegal operations went on trial yesterday before Judge Eugene V. Alessandroni in Quarter Sessions Court. They are Louis Bernstine, an attorney, Chestnut Street near Sixty-second; Neil Harkins, Race Street near Twenty-first, a political worker of the Tenth Ward; and Cyrus H. Raul, naturopath, of Spring Garden Street, near Twenty-first. They are charged with taking $2500 from Mrs. Florence Garrod, of east Roosevelt Boulevard, for an alleged operation on Mrs. Florence Casey, Columbia Avenue near Fifteenth Street.
Mrs. Casey testified to the illegal operation, explaining that when her husband learned of it. he consulted Raul. Raul took him to Bernstine, and a warrant was issued for Mrs. Garrod’s arrest. Harkins entered bail for her. Mrs. Casey and her husband received $1000 in settlement, she said. Mrs. Garrod, when called to the stand, denied having performed the operation, declaring Harkins induced her to get $2500 in order to “save her reputation in the neighborhood.” In a statement read to the jury by Prosecutor Barr, made by Bernstein, he said that $300 went to Harkins; $200 to Raul, and the remaining $1000 to him for his fee. The case was adjourned until today, when the defense will open.
_______________________________________________
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, June 21, 1930:
LAWYER CONVICTED OF BLACKMAIL ON WOMAN’S CHARGES
Louis Bernstine Found Guilty in Medical Shakedown
Neil Hawkins, Tenth Ward Political Worker, Acquitted in Same Case
After deliberating for two hours and twenty-five minutes, a jury in Judge Eugene V. Allesandroni‘s Quarter Sessions Court at 8:35 o’clock last night found Louis Bernstine, an attorney, guilty of extortion and blackmail.
A second defendant in the same action, Neil Harkins, a Tenth Warsd political worker, was found not guilty by the same panel.
The fate of a third man in the trial, Cyrus H. Raul, a naturopath, was taken out of the jury’s hands and put up to Judge Alessandroni by a demurrer filed by Raul’s attorneys.
The three men were charged with having taken $2500 from a woman after she had been hauled before a magistrate to answer charges of having performed an illegal operation.
Judge Compliments Jury
After receiving the verdict, Judge Alessandroni thanked the jurors and paid them a compliment for the manner in which that had handled the case.
“You had a difficult case to try. It presented a real problem and I have no fault to find with your verdict. You have the consolation of knowing that, if an error in law has been committed, that can be rectified.”
The trial, resumed from Thursday resulted in the charges brought by Mrs. Florence Garrod, of the 100 block of East Roosevelt Boulevard, who charged that she had paid $2500 to “protect her reputation” after she had been arrested and accused of having performed an illegal operation upon a Mrs. Florence Casey.
Bernstine admitted that Mrs. Casey had come to him as “clients” upon the recommendation of a friend, but he had listened to their story – about wanting to prosecute Mrs. Garrod for the alleged operation – and told them he did not want to take the case. Later he agreed to represent them if they obtained a sworn statement.
Bernstine Denies Extortion
Subsequently, Bernstine said, he settled the case out of court for $2500. Harkins, he testified, arranged for the settlement and collected the money and was “paid $300 for his services.” The Caseys, he said, signed a paper releasing Mrs. Garrod.
He denied any blackmail or extortion, and insisted that the collected money represented a “settlement out of court” on the part of Mrs. Garrod, in behalf of Mrs. Casey.
Mrs. Garrod denied Mrs. Casey’s story and reiterated her assertion that she had paid the $2500 to protect her reputation.
Attorneys for Raul put the disposition of his case directly into the hands of the court by filing a demurrer and offering no defense. They alleged that the Commonwealth had failed to make a case against the naturopath.
Harkins, testifying in his own behalf, said that he never had met Bernstine or Raul until a friend summoned him to intercede for Mrs. Garrod at the Magistrate’s hearing. He posted bail for her. he said he then visited her and she had told him that Bernstine had told her his clients will settle for $2500.
“I told her that, if she was innocent, she should not pay money, but should get a lawyer, go to court, and fight the case. later she called me on the telephone, said she had obtained the money and wanted to settle. I made the arrangements in her behalf with Bernstine, and he gave me $300 and told me to buy myself a cigar,” Harkins said. The case has not been concluded.
_______________________________________________
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 1931:
QUACK DOCTOR JAILED
Sentenced to Eleven Months for Practicing Without License
Cyrus H. Raul, who figured prominently in the recent expose of quack doctors, was sentenced to eleven months in the county prison and fined $500 by Judge Eugene V. Alessandroni in Quarter sessions Court yesterday, after a jury convicted him of practicing medicine without a license.
After his conviction Assistant District Attorney Barr informed Judge Alessandroni the penalty was only a year in jail with $1000 fine, so in order that Raul would not get any commutation the sentence of eleven months was imposed.
He served a three months’ sentence two years ago for the same offense, but was acquitted last year of being engaged in an extortion and blackmail syndicate operating in this city.
________________________________________________________
News articles from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.