WEBVTT - Defendant Says Coronavirus Led to Guilty Verdict

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Law with June Grasso from Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Did fearful jurors issue a sham verdict because they were

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<v Speaker 1>panicked about deliberating too long during the coronavirus pandemic. A

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<v Speaker 1>defendant is blaming the coronavirus for his guilty verdict. After

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<v Speaker 1>eight hours of deliberations and a seven week trial, a

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<v Speaker 1>Salt Lake City jury found businessman Left German guilty of

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<v Speaker 1>leading a conspiracy to cheat US tax authorities of five

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<v Speaker 1>million dollars through a program designed to promote clean fuels.

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<v Speaker 1>Joining me is David voriekis Bloomberg Projects reporter David. This

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<v Speaker 1>was a conviction of a Los Angeles businessman for leading

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<v Speaker 1>a biofuel conspiracy with a Utah polygamous group that's a

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<v Speaker 1>shadowy Mormon offshoot known as the Order. Sounds interesting to

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<v Speaker 1>say The least tell us about the case involved Left Derman,

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<v Speaker 1>who three year old man from Los Angeles who had

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<v Speaker 1>a small oil and death empire in southern California, and

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<v Speaker 1>the prosecutors said that he teamed up with a pair

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<v Speaker 1>of brothers and other relatives there from Utah, the Kingston

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<v Speaker 1>brothers Jacob and Isaiah, and what they did was produced

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<v Speaker 1>bio diesel fuel, which made them eligible for credits that

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<v Speaker 1>were administered by the Internal Revenue Service of up to

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<v Speaker 1>two dollars of barrel. And essentially, what the prosecutors said

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<v Speaker 1>is that over several years the kingston submitted Tony tax

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<v Speaker 1>credit applications and defrauded acts there eventually hundreds of millions

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<v Speaker 1>of dollars. What the trial was about was how German

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<v Speaker 1>teamed up with the Kingston's and really accelerated this fraud

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<v Speaker 1>through a variety of teams. And it was a fascinating

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<v Speaker 1>trial about this businessman left German who initilated the Kingston's

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<v Speaker 1>and placed a lot of assets and money in the

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<v Speaker 1>names of others, but profited off those actions. So the

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<v Speaker 1>jury did deliberate eight hours. I've seen juryors go back

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<v Speaker 1>to a jury room for long enough to vote and

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<v Speaker 1>come back out. So why does the defense claim that

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<v Speaker 1>they were afraid to deliberate. Well, what happened in the

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<v Speaker 1>deliberations is they started last Thursday afternoon and then they

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<v Speaker 1>returned Monday and had a verdict by about one thirty

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<v Speaker 1>Monday afternoon. The defense attorney Mark Garrigoas from Los Angeles,

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<v Speaker 1>who has represented a lot of celebrities in his career.

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<v Speaker 1>Michael Jackson said that the jury had no questions at all,

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<v Speaker 1>which sounded suspicious to him. And one of the jurors

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<v Speaker 1>was excused because he had pneumonia after he had been

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<v Speaker 1>wearing a mask, and another juror was excused, and they

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<v Speaker 1>believed that the jury was acting out of panic because

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<v Speaker 1>when the judge asked the panel who was the fourth person,

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<v Speaker 1>they pointed to the empty chair. Now, prosecutors said that

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<v Speaker 1>there was no basis at all for saying that this

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<v Speaker 1>denied Derman affair and impartial jury, and they pointed out

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<v Speaker 1>that the jury during its deliberations did not send any

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<v Speaker 1>notes about the COVID nineteen epidemic, and so that there's

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<v Speaker 1>no basis to conclude that it played any role in

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<v Speaker 1>their deliberations. The four members of the Mormon group pleaded

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<v Speaker 1>guilty before trial, So did they testify against Derman? Was

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<v Speaker 1>the evidence at trial solid Two of the brothers, Jacob

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<v Speaker 1>and Isaiah Kingston testify and they were amongst five sellons

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<v Speaker 1>who were prosecution witnesses who testified against Love Derman. And

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<v Speaker 1>there was a great deal of documentary evidence about how

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<v Speaker 1>money moved and there are also people like Germans employees

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<v Speaker 1>who testified his business partners, his private jet pilot, and

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<v Speaker 1>the government believed that they built a very strong and

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<v Speaker 1>elaborate case that you know, not only rested on the

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<v Speaker 1>testimony of convicted sellons, but hellout documentary corroborations. So the prosecutor,

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<v Speaker 1>who is the u S Attorney for the area, explained

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<v Speaker 1>why this case was important to the state of Utah.

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<v Speaker 1>What did he say? The U S Attorney in Utah,

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<v Speaker 1>John Huber, said that basically, the Kingston's were a close

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<v Speaker 1>knit insular community who practiced polygamy and that they had

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<v Speaker 1>been suspected in breaking the law for decades, but that

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<v Speaker 1>authorities could never build a case against them. And they

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<v Speaker 1>said that, you know, the Kingston's, Jacob and Isaiah Kingston,

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<v Speaker 1>began this biodegal fuel frauds and cheated the government out

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<v Speaker 1>of tens of millions of dollars. But once left Derman

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<v Speaker 1>joined the group. He was not actually part of the order,

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<v Speaker 1>but once he joined the fraud it really took off,

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<v Speaker 1>and then it became a fraud in the hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>millions of dollars, and they submitted a total of more

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<v Speaker 1>than a billion dollars in tradgulent claims, about half of

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<v Speaker 1>which were honored. So essentially, the U. S Attorney in

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<v Speaker 1>Utah felt this was a big victory against a group

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<v Speaker 1>that operates like an organized crime group and had for

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<v Speaker 1>many years in Utah without prosecution. And Derman himself, prosecutors

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<v Speaker 1>wanted him locked up before trial because he projected a

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<v Speaker 1>menacing air and other reasons. Yeah, he had been in

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<v Speaker 1>custody since August of eighteen, and there was a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of testimony pre trial from agents who said the witnesses

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<v Speaker 1>were very concerned for their physical safety, that German surrounded

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<v Speaker 1>himself with large, menacing people, and there was quite a

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<v Speaker 1>bit of testimony about how German was protected by corrupt

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<v Speaker 1>law enforcement officials both on the state and federal level.

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<v Speaker 1>He called it his umbrella of protection and that was

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<v Speaker 1>part of the trial. Jacob Kingston testifying about that umbrella

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<v Speaker 1>of protection which allowed German to carry out his scheme.

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<v Speaker 1>So who will decide whether or not the jurors were

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<v Speaker 1>afraid to deliberate? Will it be the trial judge? It'll

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<v Speaker 1>be the trial judge in Salt Lake City, Jill Parish,

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<v Speaker 1>She's a federal district judge, but it's really not clear

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<v Speaker 1>when this will happen because immediately after this verdict, the

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<v Speaker 1>appeals court covering Utah closed down the courthouse to the

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<v Speaker 1>public and they'll run on sort of a skeletal staff.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's clearly going to push back the appeal proceedings

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<v Speaker 1>as it's done in courthouses around the country. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>being on the Bloomberg Law Show, David. That's David voiags

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Projects Reporter. Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg Law Podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>You can subscribe and listen to the show on Apple podcast, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcast. I'm June Brosso.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg