R. Allen Stanford: will he ever come to trial? ... by gimleteye

Of all the Ponzi schemes -- Bernie Madoff, Scott Rothstein come to mind-- the one with the deepest ties to Miami and Florida is R. Allen Stanford. Stanford--with close association to the Bush apparatus in Tallahassee and DC-- took $7 billion from clients. According to Bloomberg, Stanford asked for more time to prepare for trial, but the federal court judge in Houston this week ruled that the long-awaited trial will start on January 23. Stanford ran his $7 billion theft operation out of downtown Miami. That's big, even by Miami standards of theft, greed and corruption. The question the trial may answer; how exactly did Stanford persuade officials in Tallahassee to grant his license to conduct offshore banking operations from within the U.S. More than a year ago, Stanford was severely beaten in prison. For someone indicted for white collar crime, that was unusual. In the aftermath, Stanford claimed he became addicted to painkillers and anti-depressants and mentally unfit for trial. He was bargaining for time, but with whom? For whom? Stanford will be the trial of 2012 if he ever makes it to the court house steps. Let's see if The Miami Herald covers the Stanford trial with the same enthusiasm it has dedicated to Scott Rothstein.