Friday, Aug. 2, 2002 | 10:41 a.m.
A defense attorney for alleged scam artist Franklyn Perry is suggesting jail officials might be trying to cut off communication between his client and the outside world.
Perry is scheduled to go to trial on more than 500 fraud-related charges Sept. 30. He is also set to go to trial Aug. 26 on 40 unrelated sex crimes charges.
Michael Cristalli said jail officials have moved Perry from a protective unit at the Clark County Detention Center to a unit normally reserved for suicidal inmates.
As a result, Perry is only allowed out of his cell 30 minutes a day and that is usually between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., Cristalli said.
Cristalli further alleged that Perry's cell is constantly being searched and that he has been denied access to the jail's law library.
Whenever Perry is allowed to visit with him, Cristalli said, his wrists are chained to his stomach, limiting his ability to write or sort through documents.
"It almost seems like they are doing what they can to restrict his ability to work on his Internet site and work with his attorney," Cristalli said.
Cristalli said the jail has done nothing since he wrote a letter complaining about the situation July 24. District Judge Nancy Saitta has scheduled an Aug. 13 hearing on the matter.
Capt. Michael Holt said he would have "loved" to have been able to keep Perry in his original cell, but Perry has placed his own life in danger by volunteering information to authorities about other inmates.
"Mr. Perry has made personal choices and he has put himself in this predicament," Holt said.
Prosecutors recently alleged that Perry contacted authorities with information pertaining to one gang-related slaying and four unsolved murder cases in an effort to get a better deal for himself.
Holt said Perry could fall prey to any number of gang members who are "out to make a name for themselves."
"It's not like they're going to walk up to him and say 'Mr. Perry, could you please explain this newspaper article to me,' " Holt said.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent said housing decisions are made exclusively by jail and Metro officials.
If they have decided Perry is at risk and have moved him from one area of the jail to another for that reason, Laurent said he has no problem with that.
"I'm sure it's not as punishment; they have simply decided he needs to be in area where he can be properly managed and protected," Laurent said.
The unit Perry is housed in not only holds people on suicide watch, but those who are disciplinary problems, Holt said. It is routinely searched for contraband.
"It's nothing personal," Holt said.
Cristalli said his client is not an informant. Perry merely assisted a murder suspect by giving the FBI documents signed by the murder suspect.
"Mr. Perry is prepared to say he's not in jeopardy and he's ready to go back into his old cell," Cristalli said. "Mr. Perry didn't snitch on anyone."
Perry is accused of bilking 1,100 people out of $40 million in a Ponzi scheme.
Police allege Perry promised investors huge returns on loans to high-rolling gamblers who had hit their credit limits at area casinos.
Police said he would pay some investors a few hundred dollars a week, saying it was the return on the money they gave him. The weekly payoffs often enticed others into the scheme, which required a minimum buy-in of $10,000, police said.
Authorities seized between $22 million and $23 million in cash, in addition to property such as cars and boats, from Perry last year.
Perry, through supporters on the outside, launched his own website last spring.
On it, Perry claims that all of the loans would have been paid back had Metro not "illegally" seized the funds from him.
On his home page, Perry promises the website will provide "Factual Information To All LENDERS That Reveals how Franklyn Perry has always protected 'YOUR MONEY,' and Is Still Safe In A Vault. Read The Truth About How Frank's Main Goal Is To Return Your Money, and Keep The State For SPENDING It!"
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