U.S. District Judge Don Molloy has rejected a plea bargain reached in the case against former Mountain Bank of Whitefish president Werner "Buster" Schreiber.
Molloy objected to a part of the agreement that required him to eventually shorten Schreiber's prison sentence because of Schrieber's cooperation with federal investigators.
"I can't accept the plea bargain that's before me at this time," Molloy told Schreiber, his attorney, Ron MacDonald, and Assistant U. S. Attorney Carl Rostad.
Schreiber
and four others have been charged in a sprawling conspiracy to spirit about $10.5 million
out of the Mountain Bank, beginning in 1989. The central figure in the case is a Spokane
man, John Earl Petersen, who investigators say masterminded the swindle.
Schreiber pleaded guilty in mid-December to charges of fraud, embezzlement and money laundering. MacDonald and Rostand had negotiated a plea bargain that called for Schreiber to serve 6 ½ years in federal prison. However, the deal also pondered Rostad filing what's known as a Rule 35 motion. Such motions are filed in cases where a defendant offers investigators substantial assistance in the case, and allows a prosecutor to ask a judge to reduce a defendant's sentence.
The problem in Schreiber's case is that the plea bargain set out minimum and maximum terms that Molloy could consider once Rostad files a Rule 35 for Schreiber. The agreement contemplated a minimum sentence of two years and a maximum of 4 ½ years. That provision bound Molloy's hands a bit too tightly.
"...I'm not willing to abandon the discretion I have," Molloy said.
MacDonald offered to excise the Rule 35 provision and go ahead with sentencing, but Molloy preferred to scrap the agreement and let MacDonald and Rostad fashion another resolution to the case.
After court, Macdonald said he hoped to come back with the same 6 ½ year recommendation, minus the specific sentencing requirement for the Rule 35 motion. No date was set for a further hearing.
MacDonald did put on testimony Thursday from the two chief investigators in the case, IRS agent David Benscoter and FBI agent Steve Santala. Both men said that while Schreiber clearly bore some responsibility in the systematic fleecing of the bank, Petersen was the primary beneficiary of the scam.
And Benscoter said that since November 1996, when the Spokane end of the investigation surfaced, Schreiber has been extraordinarily helpful to investigators.
"I would say he's provided significant and truthful cooperation," Benscoter said.
(A source in Missoula area says Petersen is said to have been made "very uncomfortable" in the Ravalli County Jail. He'll be fantasizing about his Astin Martin as the days turn into weeks; then if he's still breathing, he'll tell on others involved in the Whitefish Bank conspiracy. If I had to handicap it here's my odds: Heart Attack 2:1, Witness Protection Program: 2:1, Cooperation With Feds 1:100, Petersen snitches on BIG laundering operation 1:2 )
RHOADES
CAR
4 Wheel Bikes That Drive Like a Car!, Street legal,Multi-speed, 1-2 & 4 seaters-FREE
LITERATURE