Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990 TAG: 9003071783
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUGLAS PARDUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The six-woman, six-man jury met for more than seven hours Tuesday before U.S. District Judge James Turk let it go for the night.
At times during their deliberations, the jurors could be heard loudly debating the case.
Before letting them go for the night Turk asked the jurors if they were making progress on the complicated racketeering and mail fraud case. The jury foreman responded "We are making some progress, but we're up against a wall now . . . I don't think we're going to get anywhere tonight."
Lucion, 42, faces a possible 55 years if convicted on all charges. He has said repeatedly that he expects to be found innocent, and he said he felt good about the way the trial went.
The trial has run for 12 days over a three-week period.
Lucion is accused of cheating 85 Roanoke investors out of about $2 million in an interstate shopping center investment scheme. He is alleged to have illegally marked up prices of the centers and pocketed the difference without telling the investors.
The key evidence against Lucion came from his former partner, Elmer Craft, a Vinton accountant. Craft pleaded guilty to racketeering, and in a plea agreement with the prosecution, he agreed to testify against Lucion. Craft faces a possible 20 years.
About two dozen of the investors who lost money in the scheme sat in the courthouse Tuesday waiting to hear the verdict. Several said they were worried that the jury was taking so long with what they consider a clear-cut case of fraud.
"This is not a good sign," one investor said after the jury was allowed to leave.
In closing arguments, Lucion's attorney, Joel Hirschhorn, contended that Lucion did not knowingly do anything illegal. The only thing he did was find shopping centers to purchase. It was Craft, Hirschhorn said, who set up the illegal mark-ups. And, he said, Lucion relied on Craft because Craft is a certified public accountant. Lucion also relied on several attorneys who handled some of the sales, Hirschhorn said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Strasser said Craft and Lucion were partners in crime, who never told the attorneys what they actually were doing. The two knew exactly what they were doing, and that it was illegal, Strasser said. And, he said, they split their take 50-50.
by CNB