Prosecutors Urge Judge to Revoke $1.5-Million Bond in Drug Case
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Prosecutors asked a federal judge Tuesday to revoke the $1.5-million cash bond that accused racketeer Eddie Nash posted recently to stay out of jail pending trial on allegations ranging from murder to drug trafficking.
The 71-year-old former nightclub owner was accused of violating terms of his bail by holding two unauthorized meetings with a Sherman Oaks lawyer who had been subpoenaed before a federal grand jury investigating Nash.
U.S. District Judge Carlos R. Moreno continued the bail revocation hearing until Friday after listening to two hours of testimony from an IRS investigator who has been keeping tabs on Nash.
In the meantime, Nash will be under tighter house arrest. He may not leave his Tarzana townhouse “except in an ambulance,” Moreno said. He may have no visitors and may use the telephone only for talking to his criminal defense lawyers or to call 911.
“This will preserve the status quo until I can get to the bottom of this,” Moreno said.
Nash’s defense counsel reacted angrily to the prosecution’s move to send Nash back to jail.
“This is a rather outrageous and vindictive attempt by the government to try to put Eddie Nash back in prison,” said attorney Donald Re.
Nash was indicted last year on charges of running a drug racketeering enterprise dating to the mid-1970s. The indictment includes allegations that he ordered the bludgeoning murders of four people in a Laurel Canyon drug den in 1981.
He is also accused of bribing a juror who held out against convicting him in one of two homicide trials in state court. The jury deadlocked, 11 to 1 for conviction, in the first trial and Nash was acquitted in the second one.
Freed by Moreno on Nov. 18 after seven months in federal custody, Nash was ordered confined to his house except for specifically authorized visits to his doctor. He suffers from emphysema.
He was required to wear an electronic bracelet so his whereabouts could be monitored at all times. The FBI was directed to screen his telephone calls and mail except for communications with lawyers. And Nash was prohibited from contacts with witnesses in his case.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Daniel Saunders charged in court Tuesday that Nash had violated those conditions by meeting twice without permission with Sherman Oaks attorney Forrest D. Concannon, whose office is next door to a building occupied by Nash’s physician.
Concannon, who is representing Nash in a civil suit, was subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury Dec. 13.
IRS Agent Thomas Kelly, the sole witness at Tuesday’s hearing, told Moreno that prosecution witnesses had implicated Concannon and Nash in some alleged criminal conduct in the 1980s. He gave no details. Concannon could not be reached for comment.
But under cross-examination by defense lawyer Bradley Brunon, Kelly acknowledged he had no evidence indicating that Nash had tried to influence Concannon’s testimony before the grand jury.
In a telephone conversation monitored by the FBI, Concannon allegedly told Nash he planned to claim an attorney-client privilege if asked about their relationship. Concannon and Nash have talked on the telephone at least 25 times since Nash’s release, Kelly said.
Saunders acknowledged during the hearing that another member of the prosecution team, Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Zweiback, had given Nash permission to confer with Concannon by telephone, though not in person.
Nash’s trial is set to begin in September.
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