Section 166. No person shall, in the attempt to procure, or for the procurement of, any pardon, parole, commutation of or respite from sentence of a prisoner then confined in, or at liberty after having been confined in, any of the penal institutions of this commonwealth, or then under sentence to serve a term of imprisonment in any of said institutions, knowingly pay or offer to pay, or solicit, offer to receive or receive, either by way of gift or of reward or of compensation for services, or otherwise, except for proper legal services, any money or other thing of value, or shall transmit the same from one person to another; nor in such attempt or for such procurement shall any person make, or offer or promise to make, or to procure or induce the making of, any appointment to any position, whether or not in the public service.