Waiver Agreement Allows Keating to Keep His Lawyer

Federal prosecutors and Charles H. Keating Jr. finally reached a written agreement that the former Lincoln Savings & Loan owner will not claim that he received an unfair trial on racketeering and other criminal charges because his lawyer once represented two co-defendants, according to documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

Keating and two other defendants--his son, Charles H. Keating III, and a son-in-law, Robert M. Wurzelbacher Jr.--signed papers waiving their rights to seek a mistrial ruling or appeal any conviction based on any conflicts of interest.

The waivers allow Keating to continue to be represented by Stephen C. Neal, a Chicago lawyer who has represented him for the last 18 months in the former developer’s civil and criminal cases.

Prosecutors had sought to disqualify Neal because of potential conflicts they saw from his prior representation of Keating’s relatives. But U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer ruled last month that Neal could remain Keating’s lawyer as long as the defendants signed waivers to which both prosecutors and defense attorneys could agree.

The three co-defendants, along with top Keating aides Judy J. Wischer and Andrew F. Ligget, are charged in a 77-count federal indictment with bank fraud, conspiracy and racketeering and face up to 510 years in prison. Trial is scheduled to start Aug. 4.

The civil and criminal court cases stem from the 1989 collapse of the Irvine thrift--the nation’s biggest S&L; failure--and its parent company, American Continental Corp. in Phoenix.

Keating already has been convicted in Los Angeles County Superior Court on 17 counts of state securities fraud. He faces up to 10 years in prison at his April 10 sentencing.

Keating, Wischer and Ligget were also indicted by a federal grand jury in Phoenix on five counts of bankruptcy fraud.