My Old Man

I remember vividly an IRS prosecution case involving Dave Beck. The present generation will not likely remember him, he preceded Jimmy Hoffa who later became president of the Teamster Union. While Beck was heavily involved in the labor movement and did much toward improving workers wage, particularly teamsters, he became known as a labor racketeer. Beck was tried for income tax evasion. Specifically, he borrowed from the Teamster pension fund, using the money for personal use which then constituted income which he had not declared.
The trial was held in Tacoma and was presided over by Federal Judge George C. Boldt who later gained fame for granting certain fishing rights to Indians. The trail started at 9:00 a.m. on a Monday and as one would expect, the time dragged on for empaneling the jury. By 10:30 only three jurors had been selected. Judge Boldt was getting impatient, then he said, "When the jury is selected we will break for lunch." Then the defense and prosecution ended their bickering and got down to the business of expeditiously selecting the jury.
I was the first witness on the stand being confronted with the best defense attorneys money could buy. I had a hard time concealing my trepidation. I was to introduce IRS records or the lack thereof. Early on I could tell that the defense strategy was to discredit government witnesses. I was asked long rambling questions which I did not understand. Repeatedly I would say, "I don't understand your question would you please rephrase it." Then the attorney would look at the jury and with body language infer, how could I be so stupid as to not understand his simple question. This went on for a time until Judge Boldt interceded and said, "Councilor, I don't understand your questions either." One can imagine the effect this had on the jury.
Later my boss, William E. Frank, District Director of the Seattle IRS District, received a letter from the U.S. Attorney, praising me for my testimony. An abstract of the letter follows:

Mr. Schweizer was the first witness to testify..... and by his excellent appearance and demeanor reflected most favorably on himself and the Internal Revenue Service. He did in fact set a standard for Government Representatives who thereafter testified which created a most favorable impression on the  court and jury.

Dave Beck was found guilty and served five years in a Federal penitentiary.

From I Remember When... by Herman Schweizer.

The last meal I had with my Father, when he was 93 years old and dyeing of cancer, he said to me he was surprised I was still alive and that my experiences fighting drug corruption were really interesting and I should write a book.
 
I have big boots to fill - my old man.

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Captain Bill Schweizer U.S.M.M., missionary, founder, and Wolfy
Mountaintop Sea Ministries International

Without menses-malice.