Commonwealth v. Hottle

Opinion by Stadtfeld, J.,

The appellant was indicted in the court below for unlawfully selling lottery tickets. The prosecution was brought under the Act of March 31, 1860, P. L. 382, §52 et seq. (18 PS §1561 et seq.). He was brought to trial on June 17, 1937. The jury disagreed. At the next term, the appellant pleaded guilty and thereupon the court, by Marx, J., took the following action: “9-16-37 Sentence: Pine $50 costs and probation till paid.”

It was not then known to the district attorney nor disclosed to the court that appellant had previously been convicted and sentenced to a prison…