Hunter Appears in Court as Sentencing Is Delayed

Nancy Hoover Hunter made her first public appearance Tuesday since she was sent to jail without bail in December, looking wan but calm in court as she heard her formal sentencing on four counts of tax evasion put off for two weeks.

In a two-minute hearing, U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam formally postponed Hunter’s sentencing until March 6 to give the agency preparing sentencing recommendations more time.

Hunter appeared in court for about a minute, wearing a khaki jail-issue jumpsuit and blue sneakers. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, held by a pink elastic band.

Hunter, 51, a former Del Mar mayor, conferred several times in a whisper with her defense lawyer, Robert Brewer, but did not say anything to Gilliam.

After an eight-month trial, Hunter was convicted Dec. 11 of four of 197 counts. Gilliam immediately ordered her to await sentencing without bail at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego.

The charges against Hunter stem from her role as a top executive at the failed La Jolla investment firm J. David & Co., from 1979 to 1984. Prosecutors allege that Hunter created false documents to lure investors to J. David and then to lull them into staying put while the firm slid toward bankruptcy.

About 1,500 investors lost about $80 million in the J. David affair, a Ponzi scheme in which money from new investors was used to pay off earlier investors and little actual trading was done.

Hunter’s ex-lover, firm founder J. David (Jerry) Dominelli, pleaded guilty in 1985 to fraud and tax evasion in connection with the Ponzi scheme and is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison.

The jury that convicted Hunter also acquitted her of one other tax charge, but deadlocked on 192 other counts, primarily fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from her role at J. David.

Prosecutors have said they intend to go to trial again next month on the 192 counts. Defense lawyers Brewer and Richard Marmaro have asked for a retrial on the four tax evasion counts, claiming the jury found Hunter guilty of a phantom tax law and that Gilliam improperly pressured the jury.

The judge said Tuesday that he will consider that request March 6.

At a hearing today, Marmaro is due to report to Gilliam about whether he will remain Hunter’s lawyer. Last week, he asked for time to “make adequate arrangements,” apparently financial, so he can stay on the case.

Once Hunter’s new trial ends, with or without the four tax evasion charges, Hunter faces yet another trial, again stemming from the J. David affair.