The Region - News from Aug. 11, 1985

Synanon founder Charles Dederich, placed on five years’ probation in 1980 for his role in a near-fatal rattlesnake attack on an attorney, was allowed to end his probation three weeks early by Superior Court Judge Robert Devich. Dederich, now 71, and two Synanon “Imperial Marines” pleaded no contest to conspiring to murder attorney Paul Morantz, who was bitten by a snake that had been placed in the mailbox of his Pacific Palisades home in 1978. Morantz, who survived the incident, had represented two former Synanon members in lawsuits against the controversial drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization.