Sheriff Sexton also posted a public notice of his mistreatment by the “Lessee” of the State Prison (a General Estell) for cheating him out of the reward and expenses for the capture and return of an escaped convict, one James Burns, alias “Jimmy-from-Town”.
Sheriff Sexton transported Burns to San Francisco and lodged Burns in the County jail overnight, intending to deliver him the next morning to the State Prison. The next morning, he found that the State Prison had taken custody of Burns. Sexton – “I then saw that the trick had been played on me that I was warned against, namely, that of getting the prisoner into their possession before paying for him.”
Consequently, he was forced to accept a mere $100 instead of the $250 or more that should have been due for the reward and expenses for the return.
“I am willing to do my duty as a public officer, but cannot afford to lose two weeks time and $150 in so doing. I hope that this will put people on their guard from being defrauded in like manner for the future.” M.M. Sexton, Sheriff of San Diego County (San Diego Herald, 13 January 1855, and in the San Juaquin Republican, 10 January 1855)
