If you want to get in touch with convicted hedge fund fraudster James Nicholson sometime in the next 40 years, you can reach him at the Big House. That is, unless Nicholson succeeds at getting a new, shorter sentence. It seems the Nicholson doesn't like the idea of being incarcerated until he's in his 80's, and is taking steps to get out earlier.
The plan is predictable: blame the lawyer. Specifically, his new lawyer is casting doubt on the competence of the old lawyer, who allowed Nicholson to bargain away his right to appeal his sentence. The new lawyer, Andrew Frisch, declares:
"In an atmosphere of growing judicial criticism of the fraud guidelines and increasing disparity among sentences in fraud cases based on different judicial philosophies—precisely the disparity that national sentencing policy endeavors to eliminate—it was incumbent on counsel to preserve all sentencing challenges, not bargain them away for illusory gain."
Nicholson pleaded guilty last year to scamming investors out of $140 million through his Westgate Capital Management hedge fund. The New Jersey resident must have been unpleasantly surprised when, last November, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan handed him a nice stiff 40-year sentence. Apparently, Nicholson had thought that any sentence over 20 years in length was "a theoretical but not a real possibility."
As of yet, Nicholson has not sought to change his guilty plea. One wonders how much worse the sentence would have been if he had plead not guilty and lost his trial. Nicholson will have plenty of time to ponder that question…
© 2011 Hedge Fund Writer LLC
