A warrant for the arrest of Rev. Francis Gross who was indicted by the Hudson County grand jury for criminally libeling Samuel Untermyer, president of the American League for the Defense of Jewish Rights, was issued here today by County Court Judge Robert V. Kinkead following Gross’s failure to surrender to answer to the indictment.
A. Leszczynski, counsel for Gross, notified Assistant Prosecutor Irving Eisenberg last week that his client would appear to answer to the charges and the warrant was issued when Gross did not show up.
Conviction on charges of criminal libel in this state carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment and a $500 fine or both.
Charges were filed against the former priest by J. George Fredman, attorney for Mr. Untermyer, after Gross had circulated through the mails a pamphlet allegedly libeling and defaming the noted New York attorney. In bringing the charges, Mr. Fredman declared Gross was a tool of Nazi propaganda agencies. Gross was bereft of his parish in 1921 by Bishop Walsh and is not now officiating at any church of the diocese.
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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.
