A person may be prosecuted for having, with the knowledge of the commission of a public offense, taken money or property of another, or a gratutiy or reward, or an engagement or promise therefor, upon the agreement or understanding, express or implied, to compound or conceal the offense, or to abstain from a prosecution therefor, or to withhold any evidence thereof, though the person guilty of the original offense have not been indicted or tried.
R.L.1910, § 5759.