U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall secretly leased the federal oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, to Oil men Harry F. Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny. The no-bid lease, dated, April 7, 1922. was part of the Teapot Dome scandal, which revealed multiple bribes in exchange for access to naval oil reserves. Fall was convicted for bribery in October 1929.
Fall, who had previously been a U.S. Senator from New Mexico, became the first U.S. Cabinet member to be imprisoned for crimes committed while in office. He was sentenced to one year in prison. Despite Albert Fall's conviction for accepting bribes, Sinclair and Doheny were acquitted of paying them. all was convicted of a crime committed while in office. More
