Del Duca Guilty as Operator of Disorderly House

DEL DUCA GUILTY AS OPERATOR OF DISORDERLY HOUSE All Male Jury Convicts 'Gyp' After Deliberating 45 Minutes GIRL TELLS EXPERIENCES An all-made criminal court jury yesterday found Arthur "Gyp" Del Duca guilty of operating a disorderly house. The jury deliberated only 45 minutes before reaching the verdict. Visiting Judge Austin H. Swackhamer set bail at $5000 pending sentence, and when Del Duca was unable to post the amount, remanded him to jail. The state rested at 12.30 p. m. Del Duca then went on the stand in his own defense and made a sweeping denial of the charges. He admitted owning the house, but said he rented it to two men known only as O'Neill and O'Brien. The state produced a surprise witness who testified she was an inmate of the establishment and that Del Duca was her boss. The girl, Josephine Comatis, 26, of Philadelphia, described in lurid detail her life in the house at 674 Fairview street, which was raided by the police June 29 after two sailors reported they had been robbed in the place by bandits. Cross examination by James Russell Carrow, attorney for Del Duca, failed to shake the young woman's story. Walter Smith and Harry Kyler, city detectives who assisted in the raid, told the court how they found a man and a woman known as Dorothy Davis in a second-story bedroom. Del Duca was not in the house when it was raided, but a warrant was issued for his arrest and he surrendered the next day.