Back in January, I noted that after Allen Stanford inexplicably managed to become addicted to anti-anxiety medication while in federal custody, the judge overseeing his criminal case postponed his criminal trial indefinitely. U.S. Judge David Hittner ruled that Stanford must be weaned off of the drug and deemed competent before standing trial.
Four months later there appears to be no movement toward a trial in the Stanford case, and CNBC reports that Stanford will not attend an arraignment on a new indictment in his case scheduled for May 19. His current defense attorney, Ali Fazel, says that Stanford is incapable of entering a please as a matter of law because "he has been found incompetent. We are on standby."
In fact, "standby" seems to be the appropriate word to describe almost every one of the legal proceedings related to Stanford, as numerous cases are now derailed pending a resolution of the criminal prosecution against Stanford. These include:
The criminal cases against Stanford's co-defendants Laura Pendergest-Holt (former chief investment officer) and Mark Kuhrt and Gilbert Lopez (former accounting executives). All of these co-defendants have pleaded not guilty but have not faced a trial because the judge has reportedly chosen to delay their cases until after Stanford's trial. All of the defendants are now free on bond.
The court-appointed receiver's effort to recover assets for Stanford's alleged victims. CNBC reports that because most of the missing funds are believed to be in overseas accounts, U.S. authorities need a guilty verdict and a forfeiture order in the Stanford criminal trial to go after these funds.
SEC civil lawsuit against Stanford. This case is also on hold pending the outcome of the stalled out criminal trial.
In short, all of these matters remain on hold pending the resolution of the Allen Stanford criminal case that shows absolutely no signs of moving forward any time in the foreseeable future.
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