Co-Defendant to Testify Against Activist in Vote Siphoning Case

A co-defendant in the case of Michael R. Goland, the pro-Israel activist accused of making illegal donations to siphon votes away from U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston’s 1986 reelection opponent, has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with government prosecutors in a second trial of Goland.

The first Goland prosecution ended in a mistrial July 10 when a federal court jury was unable to agree on a verdict.

Asst. U.S. Atty. George Newhouse, the federal prosecutor in the case, said Friday that the co-defendant, Sandor E. Habalow, 45, of West Los Angeles, had agreed to plead guilty to one count of aiding and abetting Goland in making an illegal campaign contribution to a third party candidate to siphon votes away from Republican Rep. Ed Zschau in what turned out to be a very tight race.

The third party candidate, Edward Vallen of the American Independent Party, eventually got more votes than the victory margin Cranston had over Zschau, thus conceivably tipping the election to Cranston.

Newhouse said, “Mr. Habalow has agreed to cooperate and we expect will testify in trial against Mr. Goland.” The trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday but may be delayed by motions filed by Goland’s attorneys seeking to stop it on grounds that it constitutes double jeopardy.

Meanwhile, the federal prosecutor disclosed, the government has dropped all charges against another co-defendant in the case, Lyle R. Weisman, 31, of Beverly Hills.