Silent

War profiteering allegations

Sometime shortly before or during the U.S. entry into World War II, May became involved with Murray Garsson and Henry Garsson, New York businessmen with no prior arms manufacturing experience who sought lucrative munitions contracts then being awarded by the U.S. Government. May was known to frequently telephone army ordnance and other government officials on the Garssons' behalf to award war contracts, obtain draft deferments, and secure other favors for the Garssons and their friends. So numerous were these interventions that one ordnance official referred to them as "blitz calls."^[6] After the war, a Senate investigating committee reviewing the Garsson's munitions business discovered evidence that May had received substantial cash payments and other inducements from the Garssons.^[7]

Conviction and postwar life

Following news reports of irregularities concerning his conduct in office, May was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress. The bribery scandal was intensified by testimony of excessive profit-taking in the Garsson munition business, and that the Garsson factory produced 4.2-inch mortar shells with defective fuzes, resulting in premature detonation and the deaths of 38 American soldiers.^[8] After less than two hours of deliberation,^[9] May was convicted by a federal jury on July 3, 1947, on charges of accepting bribes to use his position as Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee to secure munitions contracts during the Second World War. Murray and Henry Garsson also received prison terms.^[10] After protracted efforts to avoid incarceration,^[9] May subsequently served nine months in federal prison.

However, he continued to retain influence in Democratic party politics, and President Truman decided to grant May a full pardon in 1952.^[1] Unable to revive his political career, he returned home to practice law until his death.^[1]

May died in Prestonsburg, Kentucky on September 6, 1959, and is buried in Mayo Cemetery.^[1]

The lodge at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, was named after May by Governor Bert T. Combs.