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Offered is a 1957 Alan Freed Signed Check that represents an actual "Payola" payment!! The "Alpha Distributing Co." check dated "Mar 25, 1957" is written in the amount of "$1946.91" and is endorsed by Freed on the reverse. Alpha Distributing was a named co-conspirator in the eventual lawsuits concerning "Requesting and Accepting Gifts and Gratuities, as Agent and Employee of another", ie "Payola", that brought down Freed's career in music.
The record distributors would pay disc jockeys like Freed a certain amount of money every time one of their records played. In 1960, payola was made illegal. In December 1962, after being charged on multiple counts of commercial bribery, Freed pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial bribery and was fined three hundred dollars and given a suspended sentence. Because of the negative publicity from the payola scandal, no prestigious station would employ Freed. The check presents with expected bank stampings and cancellations, but it also has a stamping for "Grand Jury Exhibit No. 236" dated "3/14/60," from the period of Freed's legal issues. LOA from Beckett Authentic.