
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990                   TAG: 9006120212
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

COURT LETS STAND LAROUCHE RULING

Political extremist and fringe presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche called himself the victim of "a political fix" Monday after the Supreme Court let stand his mail-fraud and tax-evasion convictions.

The court, without comment, turned away arguments that LaRouche and six associates were denied a fair trial.

"I am not surprised. I was warned that a political fix was in to get me out of the way politically," LaRouche said from a Rochester, Minn., prison where he is serving a 15-year term.

"From President Bush on down it is known that I am innocent. This means that no one in the U.S. can expect justice," LaRouche said in a statement read by a spokeswoman. "This is no longer a nation under law but a jungle."

LaRouche and the others were convicted in federal court in Alexandria, Va., in late 1988 of participating in a criminal conspiracy involving more than $30 million in defaulted loans.

Prosecutors said fund-raisers for LaRouche organizations based in Leesburg, Va., took loans from potential contributors even though LaRouche had no intention of repaying the lenders. The prosecutors also said he avoided taxes by reporting no income and having his living expenses paid through corporations he controlled.

Also convicted were William Wertz, Edward Spannaus, Michael Billington, Dennis Small, Paul Greenberg and Joyce Rubinstein. Wertz and Spannaus were both sentenced to five years in prison and fined $1,000. The other four defendants were sentenced to three years and ordered to pay fines.

In the appeal, lawyers for LaRouche and the others argued that the defendants were denied adequate time to prepare for trial, and that the trial's jury selection was conducted unfairly.

"The trial court's consistent desire to elevate speed and docket control over the rights of criminal defendants meant it equated critical defense evidence with mere diversions whenever such evidence threatened to slow down the rapid pace of trial," the appeal said.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond rejected those arguments and upheld the seven convictions Jan. 22.

by CNB