José Eladio Benedicto y Geigel (March 21, 1880 – July 24, 1924) was the

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, and briefly served as acting

governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

in 1921. In his early life, Benedicto attended the University of Madrid, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. In 1902, he graduated with a law degree from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of C ...

and was licensed to practice in Michigan and Puerto Rico. He subsequently was appointed as a

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Arecibo, Puerto Rico Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...

. He also worked as a law

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. In 1908, he was appointed as treasurer. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Benedicto was partly responsible for a campaign to advertise the sale of

Liberty Bonds A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financi ...

on the island. This plan would ultimately bring in nearly $10 million for the war effort, or approximately $9 per person in the territory. As treasurer, he also fought a legal battle against the Porto Rican American Tobacco Company. This battle eventually made it to the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

and they issued an opinion favoring the treasurer in 1924. Shortly after

Emmet Montgomery Reily Emmet Montgomery Reily (October 21, 1866 – October 31, 1954), sometimes E. Mont Reily, was a Texas and, later, Missouri politician who served a number of local offices, especially in Fort Worth and Kansas City. He was active in the Republica ...

was appointed as governor, Benedicto was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...

by a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

on corruption charges and was removed as treasurer by the governor in 1921. However, he was later acquitted of charges.

References

Political Graveyard: Benedum to Benito
*COMMISSIONER DEFENDS PORTO RICO TREASURER; Davila, Replying to Gov. Reily, Says Benedicto Was Exonerated of Charges. *By Jose E. Benedicto, Treasurer of Porto Rico. Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (1868–1935). San Francisco: Apr 1919.Vol.VOL. LXXIII, Iss. No. 4; pg. 316, 4 pgs *The Red Triangle in Porto Rico By W. G. Coxhead, Secretary of Y. M. C. A. at Camp Las Casas. Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (1868–1935). San Francisco: Apr 1919.Vol.VOL. LXXIII, Iss. No. 4; pg. 343, 3 pgs , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedicto, Jose E. 1880 births 1924 deaths 20th-century Puerto Rican lawyers Complutense University of Madrid alumni Governors of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican lawyers Secretaries of Treasury of Puerto Rico University of Michigan Law School alumni