Kenneth Sonderleiter

Kenneth Sonderleiter ( - August 25, 1959) was an American bootlegger and businessman in Des Moines, Iowa. He was most active during the Prohibition Era, when he smuggled and sold alcohol illegally throughout the city. In 1931 he was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for his activities. After release, he became a business owner, running a penny arcade and zoo in Des Moines.

Life and career Sonderleiter was born . He had six brothers. Upon his release, he began purchasing large quantities of illegal liquor and publicized himself, going so far as to distribute business cards and brochures with information on where people could purchase alcohol from him. The ensuing investigation link Sonderleiter to a bootlegging ring in Chicago, but Sonderleiter plead guilty and received only a fine.

In 1930, Sonderleiter and two associates disguised themselves as prohibition agents and kidnapped a local bootlegger who Sonderleiter suspected of hijacking a shipment of alcohol from Chicago. After a lengthy interrogation session that involved beating the bootlegger and shooting him in the side of his head, they abandoned him in an empty lot. The bootlegger contacted the police, who arrested Sonderleiter and one of his associates after a lengthy shootout. He entered a please of "not guilty" and was held on a $50,500 bail . That September, Sonderleiter and his wife Faye were indicted by the federal government for "conspiracy to violate the Volstead Act" after a months-long infiltration operation by the Bureau of Prohibition. He was charged with various alcohol-related crimes in 1938, 1939, 1943, and 1944.

In addition to his alcohol distribution, Sonderleiter operated a variety of businesses in Des Moines, including a penny arcade and lunch stand. In 1937, he opened a zoo that became known for his unique publicity tactics, which included selling monkey meat. In 1950, after years of attempting to convince the city to create a public zoo, Sonderleiter announced that he could not afford to feed the animals and that the zoo had been "on half-ration" for some time. The Governor of Iowa, William S. Beardsley, had a shipment of supplies sent to the zoo to keep the animals alive. Two years later, in 1952, Sonderleiter closed the zoo and sold the animals.

Sonderleiter attempted to enter politics on numerous occasions, running for both city safety commissioner and sheriff of Des Moines in 1940. In 1944, Sonderleiter ran for city safety commissioner of Des Moines. He ran for streets commissioner in 1946 but lost that race as well.

A speakeasy at the Iowa Taproom in Des Moines is named after Sonderleiter.