THE
Michigan Daily
Vol. LXXXIV, No. 33-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, June 22, 1974 Ten Cents Twelve Pages
Colson sentenced to
1-3 years in prison

Says President
'urged' crimes

WASHINGTON (A--Charles Col-
son was sentenced to one to three
years in prison and fined $5,000
yesterday for criminal acts he at-
tributed to repeated and specific
suggestions of President Nixon.
Several members of the House
Judiciary Committee called imme-
diately for Colson to testify before
the impeachment panel. Chairman
Peter Rodino (D-N.J.) would con-
firm only that Nixon's liability in
the Colson case would "absolutely"
be investigated.
DISTRICT JUDGE Gerhard Gesell sen-
tenced the former special counsel to
Watergate
at a glance
COLSON --Former White House
special counsel Charles Colson was
sentenced to one to three years
in prison and fined $5,000 for his
role in a scheme to defame Daniel
Ellsberg. Colson attributed his
actions to repeated and specific
suggestions of President Nixon,
and several members of the House
Judiciary committee called im-
mediately for his testimony.
SUPREME COURT - President
Nixon's lawyers told the Supreme
Court that he would be "the final
authority" as to what White House
materials would be used for the
Watergate cases. Special prosecu-
tor Leon Jaworski countered that
Nixon has no right to decide the
evidence in a case in which he him-
self is under investigation. To yield
to Nixon's reasoning, said Jawor-
ski, would allow the President "to
accomplish indirectly what he can-
not do directly: secure the aband-
onment of the Watergate prosecu-
tion."
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE-The
impeachment panel was told that
the Internal Revenue Service had
considered civil fraud action
against President Nixon over his
failure to fully pay his taxes for
1969-72. Instead, the IRS opted for
a five per cent negligence penalty,
committee members said.
KROGH - Egil Krogh returned
home from prison after serving
four months, 17 days, for his role
in the Ellsberg break-in. He said
"the trials, the convictions, the
sentences, all are just a small part
of coming to grips with what this
country means. And that's a good -
thing."

the President for his surprise confession
June 3 to a scheme to "defame and de-
stroy" the public image of Daniel Ells-
berg in 1971. The fine was the maxi-
mum; the prison term could have been
five years.
Colson,sone of the most powerful men
within Nixon's inner circle before leav-
ing the White House in 1973, said after
his sentencing the would devote the re-
mainder of his life to Christianity. "I
can work for the Lord in prison," he
said.
Various members of the Judiciary
Committee said they would consider
whether President Nixon might be crim-
inally liable for acts that Colson told
the court Nixon urged him to commit.
COLSON, said, "The President on nu-
merous occasions urged me to dissemi-
F3te damaging information about Daniel
Ellsberg."
Closing out six weeks of closed door
hearings in which it heard evidence as-
sembled by the impeachment staff, the
committee .rlso heard that the Internal
IRevenue Service considered charging
Nixon with civil fraud in connection with
his income tax returns.
In a press briefing following the final
closed evidentiary session, Rodino said
the committee would hold as many as
three open meetings next week to con-
sider a number of procedural matters
and where to turn the investigation next.
REP. HAMILTON Fish (R-N.Y.), said
the committee already was looking into
the legal question of Nixon's possible re-
sponsibility for criminal acts of his sub-
ordinates. He said much depends on what
Colson meant by saying Nixon "urged"
him.
"The key word is 'direction,"' Fish
said. Clearly a principal is responsible if
he tells his agents to do something, but
not if they go off and do it on their own.
But what about the middle ground?
"The law is clear at both extremes,"
Fish said. "But it is muddy in the mid-
die."
"THE QUESTION is, can a principal
be held liable for the criminal acts of
his agents if he could reasonably forsee
that these acts would be committed,"
Fish said.
Colson told Gesell: "I don't mean to
shift the responsibility to the President.
I believed what I was doing was right
and the President believed he was act-
ing in the national interest."
In exchange for his guilty plea,
charges against Colson in the Watergate
cover-up and plumbers cases were drop-
ped. The bargain also calls for Colson to
testify against other Watergate figures,
both in the courts and before the House
impeachment panel.
A WHITE HOUSE spokesman said
there would be no comment on Colson's
courtroom statement.

FORMER WHITE HOUSE aide Charles Colson arrives at U.S. District Court
in Washington to be sentenced for obstructing justice. Colson was sentenced to
one to three years in prison and told Judge Gerhard Gesell that President
Nixon "urged" him to commit the crime to which he pled guilty.
------------
Fe appointed.a
LSA acting deanwl

By GORDON ATCHESON
The University Board of Regents yes-
terday appointed Zoology Prof. Billy
Frye acting dean of the literary college.
He will replace Dean Frank Rhodes,
who takes office as the new vice presi-
dent for academic affairs on July 1.
In other action yesterday, the Regents
lifted a controversial ban on the use of
facilities by on-campus groups as it
applies to five student film societies,
thus allowing these organizations to be-
gin booking movies for the fall term.
FRYE, AN associate dean of LSA since
last September, will serve as head of
the college until a permanent replace-

ment can be found.
Frye indicated his successor would
probably be chosen sometime between
the end of the fall term and the end of
the academic year.
An LSA student-faculty search com-
mittee will draw up a list of candidates
for the post, which will then be turned
over to President Robben Fleming.
Fleming has the final say in the matter,
subject only to Regental approval.
Frye said he did not think he would
be making any major changes in the
college. He added he planned to continue
working on two projects initiated by
Rhodes, the Graduation Requirements
See FRYE, Page 10