Levi Gamble Nutt was the Chief of the Narcotics Division within the Prohibition Unit of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1919 to 1930, prior to the creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN). He was a registered pharmacist, and led the Division to the arrest of tens of thousands of drug addicts and dealers in the Prohibition era.
Treasury Agent
Nutt joined the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1900, and rose rapidly through the ranks.
The Moonshiner's Skyscraper
Prior to popular misconception, moonshining was a crime in many cities of the United States even before the Prohibition Act. The unregulated production of improperly distilled alcohol with too much methanol can cause intense medical problems, blindness, and even death. Moonshiners are also considered in violation of practicing business without a license. The Treasury Department was responsible for ensuring quality control and tax regulation of alcoholic beverages.
In December, 1903, then Revenue Agent Nutt arrived at the location of a skyscraper in the city Chicago, at the corner of State Street and Washington Street. The building was owned by Columbus Laboratories. Nutt, in his official report, noticed "the sign of a distiller and making a mash fit for distillation in a place other than a dully authorized distillery." They arrested five officers and instructors of the Columbus Laboratories, including the prominent United States Commissioner Solomon.
It would later be called "a school wherein pupils were taught to manufacture limitations of various liquors and cocktails." taking over the duties of investigations and enforcement from the narcotics agents of Revenue's Miscellaneous Division. Narcotics Agents and Narcotics Inspectors in these early days primarily were responsible for investigating medical licenses for the distribution of narcotics, but their duties evolved over the course of the decade.
The 'Edict of Nutt'
Nutt was not known for being friendly to addicts, and refused to differentiate between addicts and any other class of criminal violations of the Harrison Act. Many physicians of the day stressed that he did not understand addiction. These medical assertions are re-stressed by modern historians of medicine. The division closed all maintenance clinics except for those administering to the elderly and medically incurable patients near the end of their life.
Secretary of Federal Narcotics Control Board
His position as the Commissioner of Narcotics would absorb the dual capacity as Secretary of the Federal Narcotics Control Board with its establishment in 1922. Appointed by the members, the Secretary had the vested powers of conducting correspondence on behalf of the board, and signing permits on behalf of the board. This organization had been his brainchild alongside Stephen G. Porter.
Scandal and removal from office
Nutt's son Rolland Nutt and son-in-law Lawrence Mattingly were attorneys for racketeer Arnold Rothstein in tax matters. Mattingly, coincidentally, also interceded with the Treasury on behalf of Al Capone, and the letter that he wrote on Capone's behalf was submitted into evidence during Capone's trial. Another person on Rothstein's payroll was George W. Cunningham, narcotics District Supervisor for New York City.
In 1929, an investigation into the relationship between Nutt and his son's professional work began. In February 1930, after the investigation was concluded, a grand jury found no criminal impairment of Narcotics Division activities, but Nutt lost his position as chief of the Narcotics Division. In March 1930, Nutt was demoted to Field Supervisor. In September, his duties were passed on to Harry J. Anslinger, the future Commissioner of the FBN.