Verdict In FirstPlus Trial, But Deliberations Contniue
By George Anastasia For Bigtrial.net
It looks like the jury has voted to convict in the FirstPlus Financial racketeering fraud trial.
But at this point we don't know which one -- or how many -- of the seven defendants have been found guilty.
Jury deliberations resume today in the six-month old trial. But questions submitted by the anonymously chosen jury panel to Judge Robert Kugler last week offer some insight into the process and have given rise to speculation that the panel has voted to convict someone.
In a note sent Thursday afternoon, the last day of deliberations last week, the panel wrote: "We are unanimous on some counts, but we are not unanimous yet on others (the word "yet" was underlined twice in the note). Are we under any time constraints to reach unanimity?"
That question, coupled with an earlier inquiry about the way to respond to the racketeering conspiracy charge, has led to speculation that the jury has voted to convict at least one and possibly more of the defendants on the principal count in the 25-count indictment. All seven defendants are charged with conspiracy.
"It doesn't look good," said one member of the defense camp last week.
The six-month trial has focused on government allegations that mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo and mob associate Salvatore Pelullo secretly took control of FirstPlus Financial, a troubled Texas-based mortgage company, in 2007 and siphoned more than $12 million out of the company through a series of bogus business deals and phony consulting contracts.
Five other defendants, including the former CEO of the company and four lawyers, are also on trial. All seven defendants have been charged with racketeering conspiracy. A number of other charges, including wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and money-laundering are part of the case, but not every defendant faces every charge.
