Bloomberg.comR. Allen Stanford, indicted for allegedly swindling investors out of more than $7 billion, must remain in jail until his trial, a federal judge ruled.
“The court determines that Stanford is a serious flight risk and there is no condition or combination of conditions of pretrial release that will reasonably assure his appearance as required for trial,” the court said on June 30, 2009 in a 13-page ruling.“We are very disappointed, and we will appeal to the Fifth Circuit,” Stanford’s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said in a phone interview following the ruling. He didn’t indicate how fast he could file the appeal to the appellate court in New Orleans.
DeGuerin has said it will take about a year to prepare for Stanford’s trial, which could last six months.
Stanford has been in U.S. custody since June 18, when he was indicted on 21 counts by a federal grand jury in Houston.
Stanford is accused of conspiracy, fraud, obstruction and money laundering in connection with an alleged Ponzi by Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd.
Stanford had hoped to live with his girlfriend in a luxury apartment in Houston on the $500,000 bail order granted earlier this week by a federal magistrate—which bond was revoked by the trial court before Stanford could post it.
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