Ex Parte Karstendick

Karstendick, the petitioner, was indicted for a conspiracy, and convicted May 1,1876, in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Louisiana, under sect. 5440 of the Revised Statutes. The punishment for his offence, prescribed by the statute, is a penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000, and imprisonment not more than two years. The sentence, as passed by the court, so far as it is material to the present inquiry, is as follows: —

“ And, it having been in due form determined and ascertained that there is no penitentiary within the district of Louisiana, suitable…