Judge Rejects Guilty Plea Agreement in Payola Case

A federal judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday scuttled a proposed plea agreement between the government and a husband and wife in a highly publicized payola case, strongly rebuking prosecutors for pressuring the woman into pleading guilty.

U.S. District Judge Pamela Rymer refused to accept guilty pleas from San Francisco-area record promoter Ralph Tashjian, who is charged with payola, obstruction of justice and tax evasion, and his wife, Valerie Tashjian, who is charged with aiding in the preparation of a false tax return.

Rymer said she was rejecting the pleas because of her concern that “the reason for Mrs. Tashjian’s willingness to forgo a trial in which she has been advised of a viable defense . . . was that unless she did, there would be subsequent charges brought against Mr. Tashjian.”

Valerie Tashjian had said as much the day before, when she first attempted to plead guilty to the charge that, as secretary and bookkeeper for her husband’s record promotion business, she caused nearly $7,000 worth of personal and home improvement expenses to be claimed as deductible business expenses on the company’s 1984 tax return.

In a tearful explanation to Rymer on Tuesday, Valerie Tashjian said that while she was guilty of the charge, she had not really meant to cheat the government. She said she had been distracted by “taking care of my two kids and not being used to keeping books, and I thought our tax accountant would sort it all out at the end of the year.”

When asked by the judge why she was pleading guilty, with such a defense available, the woman blurted out, “Because they told me they will file more serious charges against my husband if I don’t.”

Rymer said she was unable to accept the guilty plea on that basis and adjourned the proceeding until Wednesday morning.

Overnight, prosecutors and lawyers for the Tashjians drafted a letter to the judge apologizing for “any confusion” in the plea agreements and assuring her that both defendants were pleading guilty of their “own free will.”

‘Package Deal’

However, Rymer said Wednesday that “nothing that’s said in the letter alleviates my concerns.” Among these, the judge said, was the fact that the two guilty pleas were contingent upon one another, despite the fact that the Tashjians were charged separately and were married.

“I have concerns about the intrinsic propriety of the package deal under the special circumstances of this case, where it is clear that the primary focus of the government’s case is against Mr. Tashjian,” the judge said. “It is an implicitly coercive situation, and it causes me a lot of concern.”

Rymer also questioned why the original plea agreements submitted to the court had failed to mention that Ralph Tashjian’s plea of guilty to three felony counts--instead of an original eight counts--was directly linked to his wife pleading guilty to the false tax return charge.

“It is now clear that there was, in fact, a package deal, and the letter confirms that the government’s plea agreement with Mr. Tashjian is contingent on Mrs. Tashjian’s agreement,” Rymer said. “Again, I recognize in human terms that both Tashjians feel the plea agreements are in their best interests. On the other hand, I have serious concerns about whether a package deal under the circumstances of this case is appropriate, if it ever is.”

The judge then adjourned the proceedings until March 3.

Government prosecutors declined comment after the hearing. Valerie Tashjian’s attorney, David Kenner, said his client’s plea “was clearly related to her husband’s plea, and I believe the internal relationship gives the court some serious concern as to whether Mrs. Tashjian was being coerced into a guilty plea.”

Asked if that were true, Kenner replied: “I feel she was being given options that, in the context of a family situation, may have been untenable.”

In addition to talk of additional charges against her husband, Kenner said there was also “some conversation about” additional charges against Valerie Tashjian if she took the case to trial.

Valerie Tashjian faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the charges. Her husband could go to jail for nine years and be fined $265,000.

However, according to the letter that attorneys gave to Rymer on Wednesday, “Mr. Tashjian has agreed to cooperate in the government’s ongoing investigation in the hope of mitigating the time of incarceration.”

The charges against Tashjian grow out of the Justice Department’s three-year investigation into payola practices in the recording industry. If the promoter pleads guilty to the charges, it will mark the first time that anyone has been convicted under the 29-year-old federal payola statute, which prohibits undisclosed payments to radio station personnel.