Bolden took a bribe as a government official and was convicted after being given due process. There is no doubt of his guilt.
The witnesses against him consisted of two men who were facing felony charges and who received favorable treatment from the prosecutors after testifying against Bolden. Here is an excerpt from the wikipedia article on Bolden:
"The government's case included the testimony of two men, Frank Jones and Joseph Spagnoli, both facing felony charges originating from the same Secret Service office that Bolden was employed and who were facing upcoming trials before the same Chicago court.[citation needed] The cases against Jones and ten of his co-conspirators were dismissed after Bolden's conviction. The copy of the secret government file on the Spagnoli counterfeiting operation that Bolden allegedly put up for sale was never recovered, last being seen in the Chicago offices of the Secret Service, disappearing before charges were brought against Bolden.[citation needed] Bolden was not accused of receiving any illicit funds from the accused felons who testified against him.
On July 6, 1964, Bolden's trial opened in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[19] Secret Service agent Maurice G. Martineau, the first witness for the prosecution, testified that Spagnoli complained to him in a telephone call that the government was attempting to entrap him.[19] According to Martineau, Spagnoli said he was visited by a stranger who said a Secret Service agent offered to sell him information for $50,000.[19] He said his investigation led him to Frank W. Jones who told him Bolden had sent him to Spagnoli.[19] Martineau testified that he confronted Bolden with the allegations of Spagnoli and Jones, and that Bolden denied them.[19]
The following day on July 7, the prosecution's chief witness, Jones, testified that Bolden attempted to sell him government information for $50,000.[20][21] He said that Bolden had driven him to a park where he showed him parts of a Secret Service file.[21] During his testimony on July 9, Bolden denied all charges against him.[20] He also denied that he had offered Richard Walter, an informant, $500 to kill Jones and said that he had only told Walter to stay away from Jones.[20][21] Bolden's first jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction, at which time presiding judge Joseph Sam Perry issued an Allen charge in which he expressed his belief that Bolden was guilty but that the jury was free to disregard his opinion.[22] The jury remained deadlocked, and Perry declared a mistrial on July 11, 1964.[22] He set August 3 as the date for a new trial.[22]
Bolden was re-tried. On August 12, 1964, the jury found Bolden guilty of the charges and Judge Perry sentenced him to six years in prison.[23] Perry had the option to sentence him to 25 years and $165,000 ($15,000 plus three times the amount of the bribe).[7] Bolden was reported to have responded tearfully to the verdict: "If at the time of my arrest I ever embarrassed any agency of the United States, it was because at the time I thought my statements were true. I did not mean to embarrass anybody. I ask you, please have mercy. In God's name, please have mercy!"[23] Acknowledging Bolden's apology, Hanrahan told the media: "The verdict completely rejects the outrageous charges made by the defendant and confirms the public's belief in the absolute integrity of the U.S. Secret Service."[7]"
