HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Allen Stanford, the alleged swindler who is being held in solitary confinement in a federal jail, fell ill during a hearing yesterday where a judge denied the U.S. government’s request to set a trial date.
Stanford, who has been taken to the hospital twice since his arrest on June 19, began spitting blood into tissues and a cup during the hearing, a condition his attorney described as a persistent and undiagnosed.
“They’ve checked him out and he appeared to be OK,” Kent Schaffer, Stanford’s attorney told reporters after the hearing in federal court in Houston.
At the status hearing which was temporarily held up by Stanford’s condition, U.S District Judge David Hittner said defense attorneys on the case need more time to prepare.
“You will get a trial date set by me after the next conference,” Hittner said, adding that the next hearing will likely be in December.
Stanford, 59, was arrested on June 18 and faces 21 criminal counts. He is accused of masterminding an alleged $7 billion scheme where fraudulent certificates of deposit from an Antiguan bank were sold to clients.
It was Stanford’s first court appearance since he suffered a mild concussion, broken nose and two black eyes in a prison brawl last month while detained at the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, Texas.
