Mistrial in Final Adelphia Case
A federal judge Friday declared a mistrial in the case of former Adelphia Communications Corp. executive Michael J. Rigas after jurors said they were deadlocked on charges against him of securities fraud and bank fraud.
The jury Thursday found Rigas, 50, not guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud, while convicting his father, John J. Rigas, and brother, Timothy J. Rigas, of multiple felonies in connection with Adelphia’s plunge into bankruptcy two years ago.
A fourth defendant, former finance executive Michael C. Mulcahey, was acquitted on all charges.
U.S. District Judge Leonard B. Sand praised the jury of seven women and five men for their efforts during the four-month trial and said they were free to return to “friends, family, employers who have missed you.”
Although acknowledging that the deadlock was disappointing, the judge added, “There’s no one who questions for a moment that you tried.”
Sand said a new trial could begin as early as October.
U.S. Atty. David N. Kelley declined to comment as he left the courthouse, although Reuters quoted him as saying that the government would go forward with a new trial on the 17 unresolved counts facing Michael Rigas.
“It’s a good result for us. Unfortunately, the government may retry him,” defense lawyer Andrew J. Levander said as he whisked Michael Rigas out of the Lower Manhattan courthouse and into a waiting car. Rigas himself declined to comment.
Jurors also hurried away from the courthouse without commenting.
Adelphia, which John Rigas founded in 1952 in rural Coudersport, Pa., is the nation’s fifth-largest cable TV provider and the biggest in Southern California. The company’s stock plunged and it sought bankruptcy protection in 2002 after allegations surfaced that the Rigases had concealed $2.3 billion of debt and looted the company of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Elizabeth Carballo of the Bronx, a member of the jury for months until she was excused after breaking her ankle, attended Friday’s court session. She said of the conviction of family patriarch John Rigas, 79: “I feel bad because he’s an old, sick man.”
Rigas has received treatment for bladder cancer and in 1999 underwent triple-bypass heart surgery.
He and Timothy Rigas face prison sentences as long as 30 years.
To Carballo, the government’s most effective witness was Chris Thurner, John Rigas’ former personal accountant. Testifying under an immunity agreement, Thurner described how the elder Rigas was constantly short of cash and once pressed Thurner to take out a $20,000 personal loan and turn the proceeds over to him.
Michael Rigas, as Adelphia’s former operating chief, was portrayed in testimony as more removed from the company’s financial and accounting affairs than his father, the founder and chief executive, and his brother Timothy, the former chief financial officer.
And unlike John and Timothy, who were accused of using company funds to shower themselves with luxuries such as jet trips, cars, antiques and golf club memberships, Michael Rigas’ lifestyle appeared frugal. According to testimony, he drove an old Toyota and often reimbursed the company for small personal expenses.
After dismissing the jury, Judge Sand told prosecutors that if they chose to seek a retrial, they should consider obtaining a new indictment that would address issues raised in a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that might call into question the legality of federal sentencing guidelines.
He set a Sept. 21 hearing for pretrial matters.
