 Before he took office as US Senator Dietrich, he accepted money from Jacob Fisher to appoint him to be a US Postmaster.Dietrich and Fisher were charged with conspiracy to receive a bribe, accepting a bribe and profiting by the leaning of a building to the government.But before the trial could begin, Judge Vandeventer held that Dietrich could not be prosecuted because the alleged bribery occurred after he was elected, but before Dietrich had been sworn in as a US Senator on December 2, 1901.