Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marcos who wrote (6007)	1/15/1998 7:55:00 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116805

Marcos--There is a GOD>>Charles Keating's state securities fraud convictions were reinstated by a federal appeals court Thursday, a ruling that could send the symbol of the savings and loan scandal back to prison. Keating's savings and loan was accused of defrauding thousands of Lincoln Savings investors who bought high-risk junk bonds. He was convicted in both state and federal courts and served four years in prison, but both convictions were overturned. Keating was released from prison in 1996 with less than a year left on his state convictions before becoming eligible for parole, and about seven years left on his federal sentence. In the California case, U.S. District Judge John Davies ruled in April 1996 that Superior Court Judge Lance Ito, who presided over Keating's state trial, should have told jurors they could convict him only if the employees selling bonds had intended to defraud customers. The three-judge federal panel unanimously ruled on Thursday that Davies should not have considered Keating's appeal because the issue was not presented in an earlier, unsuccessful state appeal. The court ordered the appeal dismissed and said Keating must return to state court before refiling his federal appeal. Deputy District Attorney William Hodgman, who prosecuted Keating, said prosecutors were contacting prison officials to arrange Keating's return to custody. "For so many thousands of people who felt that our victory in state court was a triumph of justice and had that taken away, this is a great day,'' Hodgman said. Keating's lawyer said he would appeal to authorities' "sense of fairness and sense of order'' to let Keating remain free until his appeal is resolved. "The man has spent almost five years in prison on convictions that have major flaws,'' Stephen Neal said. "He's 74. ...He's never going to run anywhere.'' Neal said he did not consider Thursday's ruling a serious setback. He said he would probably go back to U.S. District Court on another issue that Davies also decided in Keating's favor: that the jury was given the option of convicting him as a direct perpetrator of fraud - not merely as an aider of fraudulent sales - without having to decide whether he intended to defraud investors. Keating was known for huge salaries, a high-flying lifestyle and political influence that tarred the reputation of the "Keating Five'' in the U.S. Senate. The unsecured bonds were issued by Lincoln's parent, American Continental Corp. The $3.4 billion collapse of Lincoln in suburban Los Angeles made the bonds worthless and left investors, many of them elderly, out nearly $200 million. The federal convictions against Keating were overturned in December 1996 by U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in Los Angeles, who said some jurors learned about Keating's state court conviction and discussed it. The government has appealed Pfaelzer's ruling and could retry Keating if the ruling is upheld. Chalk up one for truth, justice, and all that stuff. Sorry Marcos, slightly off topic, but it does have implications to the "hard asset" crowd.