OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR. 



591 



In 422 of the 4G2 criminal cases fines were imposed or collateral for- 

 feited. In 409 of these cases pleas of guilty, nolo contendere, etc., 

 were entered, in 5 of them fines were imposed after trial and convic- 

 tion, and in 8 collateral that had been deposited by defendants was 

 forfeited by reason of their nonappearance in court. In 1 the judg- 

 ment of conviction in the lower court was affirmed by the Circuit 

 Court of Appeals, 32 were nolle prossed or the information dismissed, 

 and 7 were withdrawn. 



In the criminal cases in which convictions were obtained the fines 

 were as follows : 



m 



Fines assessed binder food and drugs act in cases reported by this department to 



the Department of Justice. 



In addition to the fines imposed costs were generally assessed. 



Of the 1,544 civil cases terminated during the year, decrees of 

 condemnation and forfeiture or informal orders for the disposition 

 of the property were entered in 1,456, in 24 the libels were dis- 

 missed, in 54 the packages were broken or disposed of before seizure 

 could be made, in 8 the libels were withdrawn, and in 2 verdicts were 

 returned for tlie claimant after trial. In addition the Circuit Court 

 of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the trial 

 court in a case in which the condemnation of the article proceeded 

 against was decreed. In the 1,456 cases in which decrees of condem- 

 nation and forfeiture were entered, the goods were destroyed in 997, 

 released on bond or otherwise in 391, and sold in 68. In many of 

 the cases in. which the product was ordered released or sold the decree 

 of the court provided that tlie product should be sorted and that 

 portion found unfit for food should be destroj^ed. 



At the clo«e of the year 1,129 cases were pending, of which 294 

 were criminal prosecutions and 835 were seizures. 



In addition to the cases reported by this department to the Depart- 

 ment of Justice, the food and drugs officials of the various States 

 and the District of Columbia, collaborating with the department in 

 the enforcement of the act, are shown by the records of this office 

 to have reported 65 cases to the United States attorneys, which were 

 terminated during the j-ear. Of these, 64 were criminal cases and 1 

 was a seizure proceeding. 



In 63 of the criminal cases there were pleas of guilty or nolo con- 

 tendere, or the collateral deposited by defendants was forfeited on 



