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Boy Band Impresario Turns Jailhouse Snitch In Orlando

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 31, 2008

MIAMI - Lou Pearlman, the former boy band promoter and entrepreneur turned federal inmate, has taken another career turn: police informant.

Pearlman went to authorities with information about a 19-year-old man accused of killing an off-duty Orlando police officer in a botched robbery, court documents released Wednesday show.

The 54-year-old founder of the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync said that while in jail he heard Davin Smith admit fatally shooting Alfred Gordon.

Pearlman recounted several exchanges with Smith, who was held in a separate cell about 15 feet away.

Pearlman said Smith and a co-defendant, called "homeboy" throughout the 23-page police interview, were trying to use a stolen bank card when they saw Gordon in the parking lot. After the card didn't work, they tried to rob Gordon, Pearlman recalled Smith saying.

Smith and Hugo Terry, 18, were indicted by a grand jury in October, less than a week after the Gordon's killing. The two are charged with first-degree murder, attempted robbery and robbery, all with a firearm.

Both have pleaded not guilty.

Terry's attorney, Joy Ragan, said Pearlman's situation could have motivated him to tell authorities anything.

"Typically, in federal cases a person wants to help with as many cases as they can to better their own chances of getting a reduced sentence," Ragan said.

Pearlman is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to four counts for running a $300 million stock and investment scam. He was transferred from the Orange County Jail to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta this month.

"He's just trying to do what he can to help authorities," Pearlman attorney Fletcher Peacock said.

Peacock said he would ask a judge to consider Pearlman's cooperation in future requests to lower his sentence.

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