TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Fundraiser Given 3 Years For Fraud

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: January 5, 2008

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Disgraced political donor Norman Hsu was sentenced Friday to three years in prison after a judge refused to throw out his 1992 no-contest plea to fraud.

Hsu's lawyers had asked Judge Stephen Hall to dismiss his 16-year-old plea, arguing that Hsu's right to speedy justice was violated because authorities were not actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive. They could easily have arrested Hsu, his lawyers argued, at one of the fundraisers he hosted in California for prominent local politicians.

Hsu also faces federal fraud charges in New York.

His troubles began dogging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other big-name Democrats last summer when news reports revealed he was a fugitive who fled the state before he was sentenced for the 1992 fraud conviction for scamming investors out of $1 million.

He turned himself in on Aug. 31, posted $2 million in bail, then fled again, skipping a scheduled court appearance.

He was recaptured in September in Colorado after he tried to kill himself by overdosing on drugs aboard an eastbound Amtrak train. Hsu has since been held without bail in a Redwood City jail.

Hsu lawyer James Brosnahan said his client will appeal.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT