Montani pleaded “Not guilty,” and stood trial. After two days, exactly a month and a day subsequent to the robbery, he was convicted by a jury, and sentenced to not less than ten years and not more than eighteen years and two months in prison, with hard labor.
A word must be said about the prompt action of the District Attorney’s office in the taxicab case. Where crime has had such publicity there is an opportunity to make a demonstration of great value by pressing the prosecutions. It was not lost. Under Assistant Charles C. Nott, Jr., evidence was succinctly laid before judges and juries, the trials finished in a matter of hours, and convictions and sentences secured within six weeks after the robbery. Furthermore, the various sentences were just, being carefully graded according to the part played by each offender, his character and previous record, and his individual effort in facilitating justice.
| Name | Arrested | Pleaded | Sentenced | Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montani, Geno | Feb. 26,’12 | Feb. 29,’12 | Mch. 16,’12 | Not less than 10 yrs. nor more than 18 yrs. 2 mos. Judge Seabury. |
| Kinsman, Edw. | Feb. 26,’12 | Mch. 1,’12 | April 9,’12 | Not less than 3 yrs. nor more than 6 yrs. Judge Crain. |
| Splaine, Eugene | Mch. 2,’12 | Mch. 4,’12 | Mch. 25,’12 | Not less than 7 yrs. 6 mos. nor more than 14 yrs. 6 mos. Judge Seabury. |
| Delio, Robert | Feb. 28,’12 | Mch. 4,’12 | Mch. 29,’12 | Not less than 2 yrs. 6 mos. nor more than 4 yrs. 2 mos. Judge Seabury. |
| Pasquale, James (“Jimmie the Push”) | Feb. 28,’12 | Mch. 4,’12 | April 8,’12 | 6 mos. Penitent’ry. Judge Davis. |
| Lamb, Joseph (“Scotty the Lamb”) | Feb. 27,’12 | Mch. 18,’12 | Mch. 29,’12 | Indeterminate sentence, Elmira. Judge Seabury. |
| Arbrano, Matteo | Mch. 2,’12 | April 3,’12 | 2 to 4 years. Judge Davis. | |
| Albrazzo, Jess | Mch. 26,’12 | Mch. 18,’12 | 3 to 6 years. Judge Davis. | |
FINAL
A WORD ABOUT THE NEW YORK POLICE
It has been the writer’s good fortune to look into the work of both the London and the New York policemen recently, within the same year.
A somewhat embarrassing point arose.
In London, the “bobby” was anxious to know which police force the writer considered best. The “bobby” gets his ideas of the New York “cop” from such accounts as filter through the cable dispatches from our newspapers. He hears chiefly the worst, and pictures the “cop” as a lawless individual, wielding pistol and club indiscriminately, with whom it is not safe to pass a civil word. So, when he puts his little question about the respective merits of the two organizations, he reserves the right to keep his opinion that the London force is best anyway.
In New York, it is much the same. The “cop” has heard just enough about the “bobby” to regard him with mild tolerance. He pictures him as a policeman servile to the last degree, thankfully accepting sixpenny tips from pedestrians, and occupied chiefly with unarmed thieves and harmless political offenders.