Len Small
Toronto Daily Star, November 11 1924
Lennington "Len" Small (1862-1936) appears to have been quite a piece of work. Among other things:
- He was indicted for embezzling over a million dollars in a money-laundering scheme while he was the Illinois state treasurer. He was acquitted, but eight jurors got state jobs, leading to suspicion of jury tampering.
- He pardoned or paroled over 1000 convicted felons, including white slaver Harry Guzik.
- He released bootlegger Edward "Spike" O'Donnell from prison, who (not surprisingly) went back to bootlegging.
This all eventually caught up to him, as he lost in the 1928 Republican "Pineapple Primary", so-called because over sixty bombings took place in Chicago and Cook County during the election campaign.
Created July 15, 2025.