Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 5, 1993 TAG: 9311050084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein denied a motion to reduce prison sentences of 39 years for Anita Gallagher; 35 years for her husband, Paul Gallagher; 34 years for Laurence Hecht; and 25 years for Donald Phau.
Ending a case that began in 1987, Weckstein sent the defendants to jail Thursday night to begin serving their terms.
Roanoke County juries convicted the four associates in 1991 of securities fraud in connection with a LaRouche fund-raising effort that bilked millions of dollars from contributors. They had remained free on bond until their appeals were exhausted.
In a highly unusual step, 12 legislators wrote letters to Weckstein urging him to reduce the prison sentences.
Calling the letters "highly improper," Senior Assistant Attorney General John Russell had asked Weckstein to exclude them from the record.
But Weckstein accepted the letters "to be given such consideration as I deem appropriate."
Some have said the letters create the perception of subtle intimidation by lawmakers, who appoint judges in Virginia.
Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk - a lawyer who represented Phau on Thursday - discounted such notions.
Robinson said there was nothing wrong with legislators, motivated by "a sense of humanity and compassion," speaking out about sentences they believed to be severely harsh.
"If members of the General Assembly were to be muzzled, we would probably have enacted a statute to prevent it," he said.
But other legislators, including Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, have joined prosecutors in questioning the propriety of lawmakers seeking to influence the courts in such a way.
The legislators who wrote letters include Del. Clinton Miller, R-Woodstock, who sought his party's nomination for governor, and Joseph Benedetti, R-Richmond, the 1989 GOP nomination for attorney general. No legislators from Southwest Virginia wrote letters.
Most of the letters raised the same argument employed Thursday by defense attorneys - that with the state's prisons overflowing, it would make little sense to incarcerate first-time, nonviolent offenders for long terms.
In court papers, defense attorneys cited campaign statements in which both George Allen and Mary Sue Terry urged alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders. And they pointed out the LaRouche sentences were much longer that those given to Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky and Charles Keating for their more notorious frauds.
Gerald Zerkin, a Richmond attorney who represented Hecht, accused prosecutors of "demonizing" LaRouche followers by refering to the political movement as a cult.
The defendants were motivated not by greed, Zerkin said, but by deep political beliefs.
"These people are worthwhile; they should not be thrown into a prison," said John Flannery, a Loudoun County attorney who represented the Gallaghers.
But Russell questioned the use of "first-time offenders" to describe the players in an ongoing scheme that bilked $30 million from contributors across the U.S.
The associates were charged with violating Virginia's securities laws by soliciting loans without licenses, and with no intention of repaying the money.
While defense attorneys spoke of how it was in the public's interest to keep nonviolent offenders out of jail, Russell argued that the public's interest was reflected in the jury verdicts: "That's the system we have; that's the system the defendants chose to avail themselves of."
The trials were moved to Roanoke County because of the extensive publicity the cases received in Loudoun County, where the LaRouche movement was based. LaRouche is serving a 15-year prison term on similar charges.
Because the Gallaghers, Hecht and Phau were allowed to remain free on bond through their appeals, they took advantage of a seldom-used law to appear before Weckstein on Thursday in one last effort to have their sentences reduced. In denying the motion, Weckstein said he was basing his decision on "everything that has taken place in each chapter of each case."
by CNB