Gaston Means used his connections to President Warren Harding to convince bootleggers that he could protect them from the law for a price — and pocketed up to $60,000 a day.
Daily News / NY Daily News Via Getty ImagesGaston Means was one of the most shameless grifters of the twenties and 1930s .
Gaston Means was a natural - born swindler . Though little - known today , this Prohibition - era conman was entangled in some of the highest - profile scandals of the former twentieth 100 .
His talent for fraud , profiteering , and tell apart shockingly bluff prevarication would concern politicians , kingbolt , and even public heroes .
Daily News/NY Daily News Via Getty ImagesGaston Means was one of the most shameless grifters of the 1920s and 1930s.
An Early Fondness For Crime
Gaston Bullock Means was born into a wealthy southerly family near Concord , North Carolina , on July 11 , 1879 . Although he was a undimmed boy , he inherited the nastiness his father and grandpa had been know for , and neighborslater describe Meansas “ mingy than hell . ”
think of himself later claimed that his earliest glad remembering was steal money from his female parent ’s handbag and thengleefully take care onas a housemaid in his home was fired for the stealing .
After a short stretch at the University of North Carolina and ferment as a salesman , Means ’ raw endowment for trickery drew him to detective piece of work . In 1914 , he joined William J. Burns ’ investigator agency in New York . Burns was the former chief of the U.S. Secret Service .
Library Of CongressGaston Means in Washington, D.C. 1924.
In 1915 , Gaston Means attract home press when he was establish scheming to produce a propaganda scoop for the Germans ( a scheme which failed ) . But he later rationalize his partnership with the Germans by claiming it go on before the U.S. had entered the warfare .
While working with the Germans , he was also involved in another dupe that really head to the death of his victim . After a brief period of victimize wealthy widow woman Maude King out of her lot , he invited King on a short hunt trip , during which she mysteriously got shot .
A medical examiner ’s panel rule her death as an accident , but the circumstances were so suspicious that Means was later put on trial run . But he was acquitted after he take that King institutionalise suicide — and that the case against him had been put together by German espionage agents .
Library of CongressJess Smith, Gaston Means’ partner in swindling (left), and Dr. Charles E. Sawyer, President Harding’s personal homeopathic physician.
Gaston Means Goes To Washington
Library Of CongressGaston Means in Washington , D.C. 1924 .
Gaston Means had a talent for always being in the ripe place at the right time , as well as being able to dwell his way out of the ill-timed one . In 1921 , Means ’ former political boss , William J. Burns , was appointed to point the Justice Department ’s Federal Bureau of Investigation . Burns brought Means along as an tec , appreciative of his talent as a detective .
At the time , President Warren Harding had perhaps unknowingly wreak along a crew of crooks when he come to Washington that later come to be known as theOhio Gang . These were the men who were broadly associated with Harding ’s attorney general , Harry Daugherty .
Library of CongressAttorney General Harry Daugherty. Circa 1921 to 1924.
These modest - time politicians and opportunists had gather around the new president and had been his cheerleaders when he call for a return to “ normalcy ” after World War I. But what they were really after were opportunity for bribes , insider information , and other corrupt activities .
Means fit right in with the chemical group . He ended up work underJess Smith , a hanger - on of Daugherty . And before retentive , Smith and Means were run a successful rig in the midst of the Prohibition .
Means would use his acquirement as a investigator to gather information on bootleggers , and Smith would help set up meetings with them , during which he would offer them shelter from the constabulary – for a price .
Daily News/NY Daily News/Getty ImagesGaston Means with his lawyer A.I. Menin, during an unsuccessful fraud defense. Jan. 30, 1925.
Meanwhile , intend collected defrayal through a fishbowl in an empty hotel room , into which his client would deposit as much as $ 60,000 per 24-hour interval . He always looked on from a hiding office .
Library of CongressJess Smith , Gaston Means ’ partner in swindling ( left ) , and Dr. Charles E. Sawyer , President Harding ’s personal homeopathic MD .
It seemed as though the profits of corruption would never end , but little did they know that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was about to have a startling makeover .
Bettmann/Getty ImagesEvalyn Walsh McLean enters District of Columbia Supreme Court to attend the trial of Gaston B. Means and Norman T. Whitaker, who were charged with conspiracy to defraud her. 1933.
Hoover’s Nemesis
“ The Department of Easy Virtue , ” as the Justice Department was nicknamed at the time , was a natural place for Gaston Means , a fraudster and compulsive prevaricator who loved ripping off bootleggers .
A prime opportunity come in 1922 , when George Remus , perhaps the most successful moonshiner in the country , got take in plunder the Volstead Act , otherwise bang as the National Prohibition Act .
Means saw this as a probability to line his pocket . He approached Remus and told him he could fix his case on appeal . All it would be him was $ 125,000 . But Remus went to prison anyway .
Though not everyone descend for Means ’ tricks , he continued making money from strategy like fraudulently sell glass casket . Before long , people started to turn on him , even multitude like Daugherty . Then , Means ’ greatest enemy pounced .
Library of CongressAttorney General Harry Daugherty . Circa 1921 to 1924 .
J. Edgar Hoover had been a rising virtuoso in the Federal Bureau of Investigation . As an honest functionary , he was disgusted by the blatant corruption that took piazza during the Harding organization .
He particularly execrate Means , who was roll in the hay for trick such as hiring a made - up investigator to pocket the imaginary soul ’s salary and working as a custom official when he ’d been suspended from the Justice Department , all while continuing to occupy an prescribed office .
With Hoover ’s hatred guiding them , prosecuting officer convict Means of break the Volstead Act in July 1924 . He received a judgment of conviction of two years ’ internment and a $ 10,000 fine .
A Notorious Crime Meets A Notorious Swindler
Daily News / NY Daily News / Getty ImagesGaston mean with his lawyer A.I. Menin , during an unsuccessful dupery refutation . Jan. 30 , 1925 .
Even in prison house , Gaston Means was still know as a trader of secret . But he struggled to get hold ways to remain relevant in America .
While behind bars , Means ’ most notable accomplishment was a ghostwritten libelous book about President Harding , which falsely claimed that his wife had poisoned him .
However , one last swindling adventure await Means after he was resign . When the infant Logos of Charles Lindbergh was report missing , the write up gripped the state in panic and speculation . So Means sit up and pay care , inquire how he might profit off of the mystery .
He used his connections to introduce himself to wealthy socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean and Lindbergh cousin-german Captain Emory Land . Means win over them that he coulduse his infernal region contactsto situate the missing Lindbergh child , provided they pay up him with the necessary funds .
Bettmann / Getty ImagesEvalyn Walsh McLean enter District of Columbia Supreme Court to attend the trial of Gaston B. Means and Norman T. Whitaker , who were charged with conspiracy to defraud her . 1933 .
Escaping with the $ 104,000 McLean gave him , Means had a Quaker feed her false data about the fantastic pursuit he supposedly undertook in the search for the baby — who was finally found dead months after .
But Gaston Means ’ downfall actually came when he demanded another $ 35,000 to nail the lookup . McLean ’s fishy attorney informed the FBI , and Hoover was more than happy to help take Means down .
Found guilty of thievery after faith and condemn to another 15 years in prison house , Means ache from pitiable health , estrangement from his fellow prisoners , and the final dying of his reputation .
On December 12 , 1938 , the most brazen chiseler of the early 20th centurydied in prisonat age 59 after a series of gall bladder issue and heart unsuccessful person .
Revival Of Gaston Means
After decades of obscurity in true crime books , Gaston Means was fix to the pop imaging with a portrayal by Stephen Root in HBO’sBoardwalk Empirein 2012 .
The show ’s version of Means is one of the few reference whose biography the writers did n’t deepen much .
The fictional Means is a tightlipped Southerner who takes payoff from bootlegger by way of a goldfish bowl , and has no conscience about corruption from behind the pall .
The character is more than happy to match two sides against each another and is always seek to fill his scoop . As many historiographer know , the fictional depiction is not far at all from the accuracy .
Now that you ’ve learned the incredible tale of Gaston Means , you could determine out more about the tragical events of theLindbergh snatch . Then , see what the world looked like onthe day that Prohibition ended .
