Judge Refuses to Delay Ex-Mouseketeer’s Prison Term

Darlene Gillespie, an original member of television’s Mickey Mouse Club, lost a bid Monday to stay out of federal prison while she appeals her stock fraud conviction.

The former Mouseketeer is scheduled to begin serving a two-year term next Monday for using worthless checks to buy large amounts of stock and for obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.

U.S. District Judge Lourdes G. Baird refused to put off Gillespie’s sentence, saying she had failed to cite substantial legal issues that might cause a federal appeals court to overturn her conviction.

In documents filed with Baird, Gillespie, 57, said the judge had committed a number of prejudicial errors during the trial, including allowing the government to introduce a videotaped deposition of her former boyfriend, Jerry Fraschilla, who is now her husband.

Fraschilla, 61, pleaded guilty in the case and is completing an 18-month term at a halfway house in Ventura County where the couple live.

Gillespie also said she feared she would receive inadequate medical care in prison for a severe back ailment, chronic pain and depression.

She also argued that by staying free pending her appeal, she would be in a better position to make more than $6,000 in restitution to her victims.

Gillespie did not appear in person for Monday’s hearing. She was represented by her trial attorney, Charles R. Rondeau, who said afterward that he was disappointed with the judge’s ruling.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Jack Weiss, who prosecuted Gillespie, expressed satisfaction.

“It was a fitting conclusion,” he said.

“This defendant was convicted by a jury of her peers eight months ago. It’s time for her to begin serving her term.”