Federal Criminal Defense Blog : Georgia Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Gillen Withers & Lake Law Firm : White Collar Crime, RICO, Trial : Atlanta, Savannah, GA

Sir Robert Stanford has filed a Motion for Relief from Oppressive Jail Conditions. Stanford is currently being held at the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, Texas. The Motion alleges that temperatures have reached 100 degrees and that the cell in which Stanford is being housed in a cell with 8 to 10 other men and with no windows or air conditioning. Stanford requests transfer to the Federal Detention Center in downtown Houston. The Motion also asserts, as a ground for transfer, the fact that the government has provided discovery in electronic form and the Joe Corley Facility does not permit the use of electronic devices. Stanford's counsel, Dick DeGuerin, claims that he has tried to work these issues out with the U.S. Marshals Service and the staff of the Joe Corley Detention Facility, but to no avail.

A status conference has been set in Stanford's case for September 10, which the defendants moved to continue from August 17. Meanwhile, Stanford's appeal of the District Court's denial of pretrial release is listed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, U.S. v. Stanford, Case No. 09-20444.

While in no way meaning to detract from the charges against Stanford and his codenfendants, which are extremely serious in magnitude, this Blog notes that arch-Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff and celebrity attorney-turned-crook Marc Dreier were both granted pretrial release and were confined to their residences with electronic monitoring devices. Given that the government has frozen all of Stanford's assets effectively starving his defense of funding, and that the defense has alleged deliberate misrepresentations by the prosecution in arguing for pretrial detention, pretrial release appears to be appropriate in Stanford's case. We will await the hopefully speedy resolution of the bail issue by the Fifth Circuit.

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Sir Robert Allen Stanford entered a plea of not guilty yesterday to the indictment charging him with alleged defrauding investors in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy presided over the arraignment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston.

Also yesterday, Stanford's co-defendant and alleged co-conspirator, Leroy King, a former official with Antigua and Barbuda's Financial Services Regulatory Commission, was arrested in Antigua. King is in custody pending a potential extradition request to the United States.

Stanford remains in custody. Magistrate Judge Stacy told the parties yesterday that she intended to order Stanford released on $500,000 bond, but that she would reserve her ruling until today to give the government time to appeal her decision. Assistant United States Attorney Paul Pelletier argued that there are no set of conditions which would guarantee Stanford's appearance at trial. The Government has filed a Memorandum in Support of Detention, arguing that Stanford should be denied bond based on the fact that he has a motive to flee, as well as the means and opportunity, noting, among other things, that Stanford's passport shows that he has traveled to over 30 foreign countries, and entered Antigua over 40 times in 2008. The defense filed a Memorandum in Support of Standford's Right to Pretrial Release on Wednesday, arguing that Standford is not a flight risk and that Stanford is required to be released on his own recognizance or an appearance bond under 18 United States Code section 3142. The memorandum cites the fact that Stanford voluntarily surrendered his passport to the Government after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud suit against him back in February; and that he arranged to voluntarily surrender to authorities upon learning of his indictment. We note that Stanford also has a home in South Florida... complete with a moat.

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