Leaving children and Somerset County behind, Mrs. Bissell goes to jail

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

For 13 years, Nicholas L. Bissell Jr. ruled as Somerset County prosecutor and the couple enjoyed a $430,000 home, luxury cars, excursions to Atlantic City, and private schools for their daughters.

But Bissell's tenure was exposed as riddled with wrongdoing, and both were convicted of swindling their business partner in a Bedminster gasoline station of $146,000 and cheating on their taxes.

His wife is left to cope with the debts, financial and emotional, Bissell left behind when he put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger in a Nevada hotel room Nov. 26, having fled before sentencing to avoid at least a decade in prison.

Scrapping plans for another last-minute appeal for a stay, Mrs. Bissell arrived about 1:30 p.m. at the federal prison in Danbury, Conn. She was assigned to a six-person room in the minimum-security camp, said John S. Scozzafava, executive assistant to the prison's warden.

Processing for new inmates includes being issued khaki uniforms and having a picture taken, he said. She was also issued a number: 18904-050.

Mrs. Bissell, 44, was a legal secretary who married her boss in 1979 and watched him become Somerset County's top law officer in 1982. She later wished he would return to private practice so they could live better than his $100,000 salary allowed, testimony at their trial last spring revealed.

Up to five weeks of orientation await Mrs. Bissell at Danbury, during which her mental and physical condition will be assessed and she will be assigned a job.

The prison has inmates work as mechanics, tutors and orderlies. Others do electrical, plumbing and masonry work, Scozzafava said.

"She could be a secretary to one of the outer shops, that's a possibility," he said, when informed of her background, which included a stint as president of the PTA at St. Paul's School in Princeton.

Mrs. Bissell's lawyers scrambled this week to try to keep her free, seeking an emergency stay or bail pending appeal. Rebuffed by the trial judge Monday, the fared no better Wednesday afternoon with a federal appeals judge.

That judge, however, permitted them to file - by noon Thursday - an emergency petition to a panel of appellate judges, which could have reached a decision by late afternoon.

But on Thursday morning, defense lawyers said they had turned away from that path.

They decided it would be fruitless without having a full transcript from her trial, said defense lawyer Rita E. Donnelly. She has blamed a shortage of money for not getting daily transcripts during the trial, but expects to have them next month.

"I think we'll probably go the straight appeal route, but nothing is certain until we review the trial transcripts," Donnelly said.

An appeal of Mrs. Bissell's conviction, to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, would take months to prepare, and then months for a panel to issue a ruling.

Federal prisoners are no longer eligible for parole, so Mrs. Bissell must serve the entire 27 months, with the possibility of 15 percent - about 4 months off - for good behavior.

She could have received 41 months, but U.S. District Judge Alfred J. Lechner Jr. chose a reduced term, citing the trauma of Bissell's suicide to their daughters.

Mrs. Bissell entered prison amid disclosures that her children, ages 15 and 13, have resisted efforts at counseling.

"She is extremely distressed over the children's inability to cope with so much," Ms. Donnelly said Thursday.

Mrs. Bissell's lawyers argued she deserves to remain free because they are raising substantial issues about her trial, and sought at least a stay so she could participate in a therapy program with her teens.

Federal prosecutors opposed the request, saying Mrs. Bissell had not shown she is likely to win an appeal of her conviction on fraud and tax charges. They also said the girls could attend the program with a care-giver.

Mrs. Bissell did not attend any of the three hearings here this week, but spoke bitterly of her husband following her Dec. 6 sentencing.

"I learned a lot about him that I didn't know," Mrs. Bissell said. "It was an eye-opener. I don't think he thought about anybody but himself." Her lawyers maintained she was naive and controlled by her husband.

This week's efforts to keep Mrs. Bissell free were marked by the first public suggestions by her defense lawyers that the trial judge displayed bias that hurt Mrs. Bissell.

Lechner bristled at those suggestions at two hearings this week, calling them "utter, baseless nonsense." He denied Mrs. Bissell's bid for freedom on Monday, saying the "belated filing" was done only for delay.

Mrs. Bissell was convicted in May on all 13 charges she faced, mainly related to the gasoline station the couple operated while Bissell, 49, was in office. Bissell was convicted on all 30 charges he faced, including abusing his office.