A Federal Court today reduced from $105,000 to $75,000 the ball for three members of the Jewish Defense League who were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury yesterday on a charge of fire-bombing the office of impressario Sol Hurok last Jan. 26. The court cut $10,000 from the $35,000 bail each set for Stuart Carl Cohen, 19; Sheldon Siegel, 25; and Sheldon Davis, 19, when they were arrested last week.
But the three remained in Jail today. Bertram L. Zweibon, executive director of the JDL. told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that it has raised $50,000 from “grass roots” sources and hoped to obtain the remaining $25,000, Zweibon noted that the JDL had no financial “angels.” He maintained that the youths were “innocent.”
The two-count indictment accused the JDL members of “damaging and destroying a facility used in interstate commerce.” Hurok has promoted American tours by leading Soviet artists as part of the US-Soviet cultural exchange program. A 27-year-old secretary died as a result of the fire-bombing of his office and several persons were injured.
The accused are also charged with involvement in the fire-bombing of the offices of the Columbia Artists Management on the same date in which there were no injuries. A fourth JDL member, Jeffrey Smilow, 17, linked to the Columbia Artists bombing, was arraigned yesterday on second degree arson charges. He is free on $3500 bail pending a hearing tomorrow.
The JTA reported June 8 that three JDL members had been subpoenaed to appear in Federal Court June 30 in connection with the Hurok bombing. The trio’s attorney, Barry Ivan Slotnick, who advised the JTA of that development, said today that the subpoenas might be cancelled in view of the arrests of three other JDLers in connection with the case.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
