Prosecutors to appeal Stanford's release on bail
HOUSTON -- Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford's release on bail while he awaits trial on charges he swindled investors out of $7 billion in a massive investment scam could be thwarted if prosecutors get their way.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy on Thursday said Stanford could be released on $500,000 bail but told prosecutors, who had asked the financier be held in jail, she would delay her order until Friday to give them time to appeal her decision. The bail includes a $100,000 cash deposit.
Dick DeGuerin, Stanford's attorney, had asked for a reasonable bail amount, saying his client is broke because authorities have seized all his assets, including his underwear and socks. He said Stanford wants to fight the charges against him, not flee.
"He could have fled in the several months this was developing, very easily," DeGuerin said.
Prosecutor Paul Pelletier argued Stanford should be held without bail because he might have access to billions of dollars in unaccounted investor funds, faces a potential life sentence if convicted and has an international network of wealthy acquaintances who would help him.
"There are no conditions that will guarantee this defendant's appearance in court," Pelletier said.
Earlier Thursday, Stanford pleaded not guilty during his arraignment to charges filed last week in a 21-count indictment.
Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilberto Lopez and Mark Kuhrt, three executives with the now defunct Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, also entered not guilty pleas.
Jury selection in the trial of Stanford and the others who were indicted was set for Aug. 25 but it will likely be delayed.
The billionaire and the executives are accused of orchestrating a massive fraud by misusing most of the $7 billion they advised clients to invest in certificates of deposit from the Stanford International Bank on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
During the detention hearing, Pelletier said investigators found a secret Swiss account Stanford controlled that was drained of more than $100 million in December.
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