Allen Stanford’s Bail Request Denied by U.S. Appeals Court

Indicted financier R. Allen Stanford was denied release from prison while he awaits trial on charges he led a $7 billion investment swindle.

A U.S. appeals court in New Orleans issued the ruling today in Stanford’s fourth bid to be allowed to post bail. Stanford, 60, has been detained since June 2009 because of concern that he might try to flee.

“We dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction,’’ the three-judge appellate panel said in a ruling posted to the court’s website.

The appellate court refused three times before to order Stanford’s release based on what he claimed were violations of his constitutional rights. The former billionaire alleged in the latest request that he has been denied his right to a speedy trial under a federal statute that guards against unreasonable prosecution delays.

Stanford was deemed a flight risk by U.S. District Judge David Hittner of Houston, who ordered him held without bond after the Stanford Group Co. founder was indicted on 21 criminal counts in June 2009.

Ali Fazel, one of Stanford’s criminal defense lawyers, said the legal team is considering its next moves.

‘Do Some Homework’
“I need to do some homework before we decide,” Fazel said. “This was a different issue here, one that doesn’t come up often.”

Fazel said Stanford could ask for the entire Fifth Circuit to review his bail request or ask for a hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court on the matter. He declined further comment, citing Hittner’s gag order on attorneys in the case.

Stanford denies charges that he swindled investors of more than $7 billion through a scheme prosecutors say was built on fake certificates of deposit at his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank. Stanford also denies parallel civil fraud allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The former financier was transferred in February from a Houston lockup to a North Carolina prison hospital, where he’s being treated for a jail-acquired dependence on anxiety drugs and lingering mental injuries suffered in a jailhouse beating.

Stanford had been set for trial in January of this year until Hittner, on the advice of three psychiatrists, found him mentally unfit to participate in his defense. Hittner ordered Stanford into a prison rehabilitation facility and indefinitely postponed his trial until he is mentally able to assist his attorneys.

The criminal case is U.S. v. Stanford, 09cr342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston). The SEC case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stanford International Bank, 09cv298, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas Dallas).