B: Porn-star insider-trading extradition off again, voluntary return expected
VANCOUVER, Dec 10, 2001 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- An extradition
hearing for a former Canadian porn-star accused of insider trading in the United
States was put over again Monday amid signs it may not take place at all.
Kathryn Gannon apparently is continuing to negotiate with federal prosecutors in
New York to return voluntarily to the United States.
"We're resolving matters," her lawyer, Richard Peck, said outside court.
Gannon, 32, was indicted in 1999 on charges she profited illegally from
information about takeovers that she received from New York investment banker
James McDermott, her lover at the time.
It's alleged Gannon, a former nude dancer who made more than 100 porn videos
under the name Marilyn Star, also passed the information to New Jersey
businessman Anthony Pompanio, another lover.
Both men were subsequently convicted and sentenced to jail terms.
An extradition hearing was set to begin Monday in B.C. Supreme Court, but it was
adjourned until March 15, the latest in a series of delays.
"It's anticipated a hearing won't be necessary," said Peter Eccles, a federal
Crown prosecutor representing the U.S. Department of Justice in the case.
Gannon, who was ill and not in court Monday, must make an interim court
appearance Feb. 18. The former Prince George, B.C., woman has been out on bail
while fighting the extradition.
Gannon, who had lived in Florida but returned to Canada before the indictment
was filed, went to New York last summer for a series of interviews with
prosecutors.
A friend said at the time she wanted to settle the case so she could return to
live and work in the United States.
However Eccles said the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre
damaged the prosecutors' offices in an adjacent building and it is taking time
to reconstruct case files.
Neither Eccles nor Peck would comment on the status of Gannon's talks with
prosecutors.
"My guess would be she wants to go back to the States and deal with the matter
down there," Eccles said.
STEVE MERTL
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