Pete McDonough
Encyclopedia
Peter P. McDonough was a wealthy and influential Irish-Catholic San Francisco bail bondsman
. According to the San Francisco News and the SF Chronicle, Pete and his brother Tom founded the first modern Bail Bonds business in the United States, the system by which a person pays a percentage to a professional bondsman who puts up the cash as a guarantee that the person will appear in court, in 1898.
Pete was a product of the post-earthquake Abe Ruef
days of civic corruption. During his years as the preeminent bondsmen in San Francisco, Peter McDonough was accused of bribery, perjury, suborning witnesses, tampering with judges, bootlegging, corrupting officials and controlling and paying off police. A 1919 Grand Jury exonerated San Francisco District Attorney Charles Fickert
from charges made by John B. Densmore, investigator from Washington, Director General of Employment, in the framing of Thomas Mooney
and Warren Billings and for his having conspired with Pete McDonough in the freeing of wealthy defendants. Labelled the "fountainhead of corruption" by Edwin Atherton
in the 1937 Atherton Report on San Francisco police corruption, Pete was considered the overlord of San Francisco vice, gambling and prostitution. At the offices known as "the corner", located at Clay and Kearney Streets, Pete, his brother Tom and nephew Harry Rice controlled the San Francisco Bail bonds business and were friendly with numerous police, public officials, judges and the DA.
During prohibition
, Pete spent eight months in the Alameda County Jail for bootlegging and eventually sought a pardon from Calvin Coolidge. He was jailed again in 1938 for refusing to discuss police corruption before the Police Graft grand jury headed by Marshall Dill.
Over the years, McDonough developed a network of wireless communications with outlying police stations. Within minutes of an arrest, McDonough's nephew was hailing a taxi to find a judge to sign an OR (order of release) form, and the client was soon free on bail.
Bail bondsman
A bail bond agent, or bondsman, is any person or corporation that will act as a surety and pledge money or property as bail for the appearance of persons accused in court...
. According to the San Francisco News and the SF Chronicle, Pete and his brother Tom founded the first modern Bail Bonds business in the United States, the system by which a person pays a percentage to a professional bondsman who puts up the cash as a guarantee that the person will appear in court, in 1898.
Pete was a product of the post-earthquake Abe Ruef
Abe Ruef
Abraham Rueff , known as Abe Ruef, was an American lawyer and politician...
days of civic corruption. During his years as the preeminent bondsmen in San Francisco, Peter McDonough was accused of bribery, perjury, suborning witnesses, tampering with judges, bootlegging, corrupting officials and controlling and paying off police. A 1919 Grand Jury exonerated San Francisco District Attorney Charles Fickert
Charles Fickert
Charles Marron Fickert was lawyer, politician, and American football player and coach. He was the district attorney of San Francisco from 1909 until 1920, best known for prosecuting Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings for the Preparedness Day bombing of 1916.-College and football career:Born in...
from charges made by John B. Densmore, investigator from Washington, Director General of Employment, in the framing of Thomas Mooney
Thomas Mooney
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Mooney was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916...
and Warren Billings and for his having conspired with Pete McDonough in the freeing of wealthy defendants. Labelled the "fountainhead of corruption" by Edwin Atherton
Edwin Atherton
Edwin Newton Atherton was born in Washington D.C. and served as a Foreign Service Officer, BOI Agent, Private Investigator and later, appointed head of the college athletics organization, the Pacific Coast Conference in the 1940s.Atherton studied law at Georgetown University and was said to be a...
in the 1937 Atherton Report on San Francisco police corruption, Pete was considered the overlord of San Francisco vice, gambling and prostitution. At the offices known as "the corner", located at Clay and Kearney Streets, Pete, his brother Tom and nephew Harry Rice controlled the San Francisco Bail bonds business and were friendly with numerous police, public officials, judges and the DA.
During prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, Pete spent eight months in the Alameda County Jail for bootlegging and eventually sought a pardon from Calvin Coolidge. He was jailed again in 1938 for refusing to discuss police corruption before the Police Graft grand jury headed by Marshall Dill.
Over the years, McDonough developed a network of wireless communications with outlying police stations. Within minutes of an arrest, McDonough's nephew was hailing a taxi to find a judge to sign an OR (order of release) form, and the client was soon free on bail.
Sources
- Obituary S.F. Chronicle 7.10.1947