[2] Several German ships were seized by the Hawaiian authorities when their crews prepared to wreck engineering and navigation equipment, fearing a declaration of war.
His secretary was involved in meeting the SS Maverick during the Annie Larsen plot to send arms to revolutionaries opposing the British Empire in India as part of the Indo-German Conspiracy.
He claimed the matter was simply a business transaction and that he had maintained his loyalty to his adopted country.
But before the sentencing, a German naval officer's diary was seized, which placed the Honolulu consulate in an incriminating light.
He subsequently received a presidential pardon, but sold his house and moved to San Francisco.