Unknown verdict reached at fraud trial of Scarfo Jr
It looks like the jury has voted to convict in the FirstPlus
Financial racketeering fraud trial.
But at this point we don't know which one -- or how many --
of the seven defendants have been found guilty.
Jury deliberations resume today in the six-month old trial.
But questions submitted by the anonymously chosen jury panel to Judge Robert
Kugler last week offer some insight into the process and have given rise to
speculation that the panel has voted to convict someone.
In a note sent Thursday afternoon, the last day of
deliberations last week, the panel wrote: "We are unanimous on some
counts, but we are not unanimous yet on
others (the word "yet" was underlined twice in the note). Are we
under any time constraints to reach unanimity?"
That question, coupled with an earlier inquiry about the way
to respond to the racketeering conspiracy charge, has led to speculation that
the jury has voted to convict at least one and possibly more of the defendants
on the principal count in the 25-count indictment. All seven defendants are
charged with conspiracy.
"It doesn't look good," said one member of the
defense camp last week.
The six-month trial has focused on government allegations
that mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo and mob associate Salvatore Pelullo secretly
took control of FirstPlus Financial, a troubled Texas-based mortgage company,
in 2007 and siphoned more than $12 million out of the company through a series
of bogus business deals and phony consulting contracts.
Five other defendants, including the former CEO of the
company and four lawyers, are also on trial.
All seven defendants have been charged with racketeering
conspiracy. A number of other charges, including wire fraud, bank fraud, mail
fraud and money-laundering are part of the case, but not every defendant faces
every charge.
In response to Thursday's question, Kugler told the jury
there were no time constraints. The deliberation process will resume today with
an alternate being seated to replace one of the jurors who was dismissed at the
end of last week's deliberations because of a pre-planned (and pre-paid)
vacation.
A male alternate will take the place of the female juror who
was let go. Technically, the panel is supposed to begin deliberations from
scratch when an alternate is seated, but the reality is that the alternate will
be quickly brought up to speed on the status of deliberations and, barring any
major objection on his part about the findings thus far, the process is
expected to move forward quickly.
One source in the defense camp predicted verdicts before the
end of the week. The panel has opted not to sit on Fridays and this Friday,
July 4, a holiday.
While it is impossible to determine what the jury has
already decided, a note sent to Judge Robert Kugler earlier last week indicated
the panel had reached a unanimous decision on at least two of the predicate
acts that support the conspiracy charge against one or more of the defendants.
The law requires a jury to find at least two of those acts
proven before it can find a defendant guilty of conspiracy. The number of
predicate acts each defendant faces varies. Scarfo and Pelullo are each charged
with eight.
In a question submitted early last week, the jury wanted to
know if the panel had reached unanimity on two of the predicate acts, was it
required to find on the others. The only scenario in which the other acts could
be ignored was if the panel had found two of acts proven, thereby supporting a
guilty verdict and making the other predicate acts moot.
Pessimism rose in the defense camp as defendants and their
lawyers analyzed the two questions posed by the jury last week. One source
speculated that the jury has reached verdicts in the cases against Scarfo and
Pelullo and possibly John Maxwell, the CEO of FirstPlus, and his brother
William, a lawyer who worked for FirstPlus and who is accused to funneling
company funds to Scarfo and Pelullo through phony consulting contracts.
Observers believe the jury could be wrestling with the
charges against lawyers David Adler, Gary McCarthy and Donald Manno. Those
three were not directly tied to the day-to-day operations of FirstPlus. Adler
was involved in SEC filings for the company, filings that the prosecution
alleges were based on false information. McCarthy was involved in business and
financial deals that the government charges Pelullo orchestrated to advance the
fraud. And Manno, Scarfo's long-time defense attorney, was charged with bank
fraud and obstruction of justice.
Manno, who defended himself, offered a "are you fuckin'
crazy" defense, using the prosecution's own evidence to support his
argument that Pelullo and Scarfo continually lied to him about financial
issues. In his closing argument, he highlighted a secretly recorded phone
conversation picked up on an FBI wiretap in which he argued with Pelullo.
The conversation dealt with information being submitted in a
mortgage application by Scarfo's wife, Lisa Murray Scarfo, for a $715,000 home
outside of Atlantic City. Pelullo and Scarfo kept Scarfo's name off the
application and lied about Murray Scarfo's income and financial status.
Manno is heard on the tape telling Pelullo there was no
reason to lie and that to do so would be a red flag that would attract
investigators because of Scarfo's mob history. Pelullo ignored the advice with
Manno at one point asking him, "Are you fuckin' crazy?"
Lisa Murray Scarfo is one of six defendants in the case who
pleaded guilty rather than face trial. She has yet to be sentenced.
Because of prior convictions, Scarfo, 48, and Pelullo, 46,
face jail terms of from 30 years to life if convicted of the racketeering
conspiracy charge and related offenses.
The penalties for the other defendants could be
substantially less, but convictions for the four attorneys in the case would
result in the loss of their licenses to practice law, a potentially
career-ending outcome that could overshadow or at least be as devastating as
any jail time.
http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/06/verdict-in-firstplus-trial-but.html#F1CptYvwv60Mfjqh.99
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