Carson’s Egan Is Imprisoned; Threats Cited

Ruling that convicted Carson City Councilman Walter J. (Jake) Egan launched a campaign to intimidate political foes while awaiting sentence on fraud and extortion charges, a federal judge Tuesday revoked Egan’s bail and ordered him immediately imprisoned at Terminal Island federal prison.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez followed a hearing highlighted by the testimony of six Carson city officials who said they had heard of reported threats by Egan and claims that he kept an arsenal of guns in his apartment, including an Uzi submachine gun.

Among the witnesses against Egan, 45, who was found guilty July 11 of a dozen fraud and extortion counts in connection with the W. Patrick Moriarty public corruption case, were Carson City Councilwomen Kay Calas and Vera Robles DeWitt, who said they had been told of Egan’s alleged threats by Carson Parks and Recreation Director Howard B. Holman.

Recounts Conversation

“He said Jake had threatened to get me. He was going to get Vera and myself even if he had to get me from prison,” Calas said, recounting a conversation she had with Holman after Egan’s conviction.

Supporting that account of Holman’s claims about Egan were several other Carson officials, including DeWitt, who quoted Holman as saying that Egan has spoken to him about committing suicide and “that if he would go, he would take people with him.”

While Holman, who was branded as a “liar and gossip” by several of the witnesses, said he had reported private conversations with Egan to other Carson officials, he contended that he could not recall the details of his specific conversations and said he reported Egan’s comments only in an effort to assure Calas and DeWitt that Egan was not “dangerous.”

Two other Carson officials--Community Development Director Patricia Namath and City Administrator John Dangleis--both testified, however, that Egan had told them that he kept an Uzi and other high-powered weapons in a closet of his Carson apartment.

While Egan’s lawyer, Robert B. Gaunt, dismissed Egan’s comments about owning an Uzi as an unfortunate joke told to friends, Fernandez rejected the idea that Egan “is just a poor soul stumbling about mumbling things to people he thinks are his friends.”

Called Deliberate Plot

The judge said Egan had deliberately set about to threaten political opponents by spreading stories about his weapons and animosity toward Calas and DeWitt, adding:

“This court believes Mr. Egan knew good and well his threats would filter back through the loose lips of Mr. Holman. Mr. Egan’s ‘humorous’ story was intended to have the effect that it did have--to create the impression that he had dangerous weapons in his possession.”

As the judge announced he was revoking Egan’s $10,000 bond and ordering his immediate imprisonment, U.S. marshals moved quickly into the courtroom through a crowd of Egan’s friends and escorted him to a hallway, where they placed him in handcuffs.

Egan has moved for a new trial on grounds that Moriarty perjured himself while testifying against him in his two-week trial in July. A hearing on that motion is set for Oct. 27. If denied by Fernandez, he could be sentenced on that date for the charges stemming from his involvement with Moriarty in a planned mobile home park in Carson.