Allen Stanford the Texas financier accused U.S. of leading a $7 billion investment-fraud scheme, lost another bid for pre-trial release.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston today denied Stanford’s request for bail for the third time, rejecting arguments that the 19 months he will spend in jail before his January trial add up to a violation of his constitutional rights and that he can’t adequately ready his case while locked up.
Although conditions at Houston’s federal detention center are “much less ‘posh’ than Stanford prefers, there is no evidence that it is so burdensome as to impede his ability to prepare for trial,” Hittner wrote. Prosecutors opposed the bid, arguing the financier might disappear if freed.
Stanford, 60, is accused in a 21-count indictment of defrauding those who bought certificates of deposit issued by his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd. Held without bail since June 2009, he maintains his innocence.
Lead defense attorney, Robert Bennett of Houston, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz assisted in drafting the bail request.
The case is U.S. v. Stanford, 09cr342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).
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