The Associated Press | Posted: Friday, February 25, 2005 12:00 am
DENVER (AP) - A federal judge delayed the sentencing Friday of a man convicted of swindling an heir to the Coors fortune and approved the resignation of the man's lawyer, who said his client had spread lies about him.
Financier Claude LeFebvre was convicted in December of luring Joe Coors Jr. and other wealthy people to invest more than $60 million in a scheme promising weekly returns of 75 percent. He faces up to 50 years in prison and up to $2.3 million in fines.
LeFebvre was supposed to be sentenced Friday, but U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn postponed the hearing after allowing defense lawyer Stephen M. Wheeler of Evergreen to quit. Wheeler told Blackburn that he could no longer be objective about LeFebvre because his client spread allegations about him and his wife, also a lawyer.
Wheeler said shortly after the trial, LeFebvre called the lawyer worthless and said he wanted him off the case. He said he kept working until he learned that LeFebvre was lying about him and his wife to other clients and had threatened to damage his professional reputation if he didn't withdraw.
"I do not believe extortion and threats are covered by attorney-client privilege," Wheeler said.
LeFebvre declined to respond to Wheeler's statements except to say, "I want him to get out."
Blackburn said a new lawyer will be appointed to represent LeFebvre and scheduled a March 11 conference with attorneys to set a new sentencing date.
An accomplice and former stockbroker, Dennis Herula, 57, was sentenced earlier this month to 15 years and eight months after pleading guilty to three counts of wire fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud. He also was ordered to pay $14.8 million in restitution to three victims in Colorado and Rhode Island.
Prosecutors said LeFebvre, Herula and Herula's wife, spent $4.3 million of the money on automobiles, jewelry, antiques and cosmetic surgery before investigators froze the accounts.
Investors were told their money would be placed in "financial institution instruments" and that they had to have at least $10 million to participate. Prosecutors called it "a sophisticated scheme to defraud wealthy individuals."