Disgraced Democratic Donor Arrested in Colorado

[JLB]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-CA-Democratic-Fundraiser.html?hp

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was arrested in Colorado late Thursday, after a judge issued an arrest warrant when he failed to show up for a court appearance related to a felony theft conviction.

FBI agents took Hsu into custody around 7 p.m. MDT at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said in a statement. The circumstances surrounding Hsu's arrest were not immediately clear.

[JLB]

I can't believe this guy is still alive.:dunno:

[nehemiah]

:rofl:

[JLB]

Hsu had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to turn over his passport and ask a judge to cut in half the $2 million bail he posted last week when he turned himself in after spending 15 years on the lam from the theft conviction.

Instead, Hsu failed to show up at the bail reduction hearing and a judge issued a new arrest warrant for him.

California Attorney General spokesman Gareth Lacy said Hsu's lawyers told prosecutors Hsu arrived by charter jet at the Oakland airport about 5:30 a.m. PDT Wednesday and then wasn't heard from again.

When it became apparent that Hsu had fled the state, California authorities sought the assistance of the FBI, whose agents arrested him Thursday on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, Schadler said.

Once he is returned to state custody, the federal charges will be dismissed, Schadler said.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell became the latest of many Democratic politicians to return or donate to charity Hsu's election contributions.

[nehemiah]

national finance director for a presidential campaign indicted? no news.

a DONOR is arrested? all over the place on the news.

who is the democ-rat and who is the republican.

one guess.

take a shot at it.

[JLB]

national finance director for a presidential campaign indicted? no news.

a DONOR is arrested? all over the place on the news.

who is the democ-rat and who is the republican.

one guess.

take a shot at it.

the one purchasing influence right.:dunno:

[nehemiah]

the one purchasing influence right.:dunno::rofl:

[JLB]

This guy is a piece of shit trapped on the bottom of your sneakers no?:dunno:

[JLB]

please merge to this current thread.

thank you!

:beers:

[Crinoline]

Arrested in Colorado? Hopefully that brings bad Kharma to Denver (at least for Sunday).

[JLB]

Arrested in Colorado? Hopefully that brings bad Kharma to Denver (at least for Sunday).

maybe moon tipped the cops.

[JLB]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-hsu7sep07,0,4804065.story?coll=la-home-center

He falls ill on a train, and the FBI arrests him in a hospital. He was a no-show in court this week on a 1992 arrest warrant.

SACRAMENTO -- -- Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, the patron to would-be presidents who found himself staring at the prospect of imprisonment and federal investigation, was arrested in Colorado on Thursday.

Hsu, 56, was on an eastbound Amtrak train about noon when he fell ill, and Amtrak personnel took him to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., a hospital spokesman said.

There, he was arrested by the FBI a few hours later on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. He was expected to appear before a federal magistrate-judge as early as this morning, pending his likely extradition back to California.

"He has to be brought before a federal magistrate judge as quickly as practicable," FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said.

The warrant for his arrest remained under seal. Federal sources said last week that the FBI had opened an investigation into Hsu's fundraising activities.

The strange case dates back to 1991, when Hsu pleaded no contest to grand theft in San Mateo County south of San Francisco in a scheme in which he bilked investors out of $1 million. He was supposed to be sentenced in 1992 to as many as three years in prison, but he failed to appear.

He resurfaced a decade later as a well-heeled apparel business owner based in New York who often traveled to Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Starting four years ago, Hsu became a benefactor to Democratic politicians nationally, giving hundreds of thousands and raising far more.

He has been among New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's most aggressive fundraisers, generating more than $100,000 for her presidential run and regularly appearing as co-host of her galas, including ones put on by billionaire Los Angeles investor Ron Burkle and San Francisco Democrat Susie Buell.