9th Circuit rejects appeal in telemarketing case

Wednesday, March 19, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A Las Vegas man convicted of helping bilk people out of $4.8 million in a telemarketing scheme lost an appeal Tuesday to stop his deportation to Canada.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of John W. Fry, who claimed his attorney was ineffective because the lawyer did not tell him he could be deported if he was convicted.

Fry also claimed his sentence of 46 months in prison and $1.9 million in restitution was too harsh.

The appeals court denied the petition without holding a hearing.

Fry was a salesman for Legendary Concepts of Las Vegas, which operated a fraudulent telemarketing service.

Fry and the owners of the company, which allegedly made $18 million, were indicted in November 1995.

Court records said the amount of the loss attributable to Fry was $4.8 million, and that resulted in his prison sentence being enhanced.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service started proceedings in June 2000 to deport Fry for being convicted of an aggravated felony.

The appeals court said the failure of an attorney to advise a defendant of immigration consequences in a criminal case does not violate the constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel.