DeMassa Objects as Sentence Is Delayed

A federal judge Tuesday postponed attorney Philip DeMassa’s sentencing on charges tied to the Coronado Company drug conspiracy after a vitriolic hearing during which prosecutors threatened to retreat from a hard-won plea bargain and DeMassa complained that he was being pilloried in court.

The delay, over protests by DeMassa’s defense attorney, Barry Tarlow, left DeMassa complaining that federal prosecutors were “grinches trying to steal Christmas” by blocking a resolution of the more than 2-year-old case before the holiday.

During the hearing before U.S. District Judge Earl Gilliam, DeMassa twice leaped to his feet to interrupt the proceedings, at one point shouting down Assistant U.S. Atty. Joan Weber’s arguments for a one-week postponement of his sentencing on charges of making illegal currency transactions and harboring a fugitive.

Gilliam nonetheless delayed the sentencing until Dec. 30.

DeMassa pleaded guilty to four counts Nov. 26--the 22nd day of a trial repeatedly interrupted by attempts to reach a plea bargain--in exchange for the dismissal of 12 other charges. He agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and to discontinue his practice in federal court. Sentencing was left to Gilliam, who could order DeMassa to serve as long as 20 years in prison.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Weber said information prosecutors obtained after negotiating the plea agreement raised questions about the veracity of a financial statement DeMassa supplied as justification for a delay in paying the fine. Unless she could resolve the “very large discrepancies,” Weber said, prosecutors might withdraw from the plea agreement, or at least their consent to the $100,000 fine.

Tarlow argued that he and DeMassa had supplied the U.S. attorney’s office all the records it requested, except for two tax returns they were not obligated to turn over to prosecutors. Moreover, he said, the records made clear that DeMassa was unable to pay the fine immediately.

“If Ms. Weber finds some current assets in there, I wish she’d tell me about them,” Tarlow said. “Because in my looking for them to collect legal fees, I’ve concluded that there aren’t any.”

Weber, though, said prosecutors had questions about a $739,000 loan DeMassa made to a film processing company he owns. Also, she said, records seized recently by San Diego vice officers who raided a Fleetridge area motel indicated DeMassa had received payments of about $250,000 last year that were not reported on his financial statements.

As she described the transaction, DeMassa jumped up, yelling, “This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous.” He accused federal prosecutors of using the court proceeding to feed embarrassing information about him to reporters in the courtroom.

When DeMassa sat down, Tarlow explained that the long-time San Diego defense lawyer had no interest in the motel that was raided, but rather was an owner of an adjacent motel under common operation.

DeMassa leaped to his feet again, shouting that he would not cooperate with “another fishing expedition” by the U.S. attorney’s office. He insisted the money described in the seized records had gone to pay huge personal debts that had mounted during the long government investigation.

“I haven’t been earning money to live on the last two or three years because they screwed my life over,” DeMassa said.

Gilliam directed Weber and Tarlow to attempt to reach an understanding on the financial questions within a week.

DeMassa was the lawyer for several members of the Coronado Company--a drug smuggling ring begun by men who brought marijuana into the United States on surfboards that escalated into a sophisticated drug network. More than 60 persons have been convicted of charges involving the ring’s activities.