Topic: AJC: Donnan case goes to the jury

[biggreenarms]

ATHENS — Jim Donnan’s fate is in the hands of the jury.
The former Georgia football coach’s lawyers rested their case without calling additional witnesses this morning, and both sides then presented their closing arguments in Donnan’s trial on fraud charges in federal court. At about 12:30 p.m., U.S. District Judge C. Ashley Royal completed his instructions to the jury.

Deliberations began after the jury took a one-hour lunch break.The jury is to decide whether Donnan is guilty or not guilty on each of 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, all related to an alleged scheme in which investors in a West Virginia-based company called GLC Limited lost almost $23 million.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Peterman, in his closing argument, said the case is about a Ponzi scheme that collapsed when Donnan “ran out of people to get money from.”
“It is very obvious Jim Donnan is not the victim he wants you to believe,” Peterman said. “His defense is a house of cards, as was the investment scheme.”

Jerry Froelich, one of Donnan’s attorneys, stressed in his closing argument that many “captains of industry” chose to invest in GLC. He maintained that if sophisticated business people thought GLC was a sound business, it’s understandable that “a football coach” would think the same. “He had a good name,” Froelich told the jury, referring to Donnan. “Give him back his good name.”
GLC (Global Liquidation Center) investors recruited by Donnan testified that they were promised large rates of return — typically 30 to 70 percent — for investments that were to have been used to purchase closeout merchandise for re-sale to pre-determined buyers. But prosecutors contend that relatively little merchandise was actually sold by GLC and that early investors were paid from the contributions of later investors. “As is typical of a Ponzi scheme, it looked good for a while, but it was going to collapse,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul McCommon told the jury. “And it collapsed.” GLC filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011, as did Donnan.

A central issue in the case is how much Donnan, 69, knew about GLC’s operations and when he knew it.
Donnan’s lawyers contend that he believed GLC was a great investment and wanted to share it with friends and family members. Some of the people who lost money have said they don’t believe Donnan deliberately deceived them.
Donnan attorney Ed Tolley said the former coach “probably had one of the greatest football minds that ever came through Athens, Ga.,” but he said the ex-coach didn’t have a mind for business.

“It is not a crime to be not very smart,” Tolley said. “It is not a crime to be somewhat careless.”
GLC was founded by Greg Crabtree, a West Virginia man who originally was indicted along with Donnan. Crabtree decided not to go to trial, agreeing to a negotiated guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in the sale of a security. He faces up to five years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced next month in Athens.
The defense “calls Greg Crabtree a crook. Maybe so. But there’s no evidence Greg Crabtree was a crook before he got tangled up with Mr. Donnan,” McCommon told the jury.

“Mr. Crabtree and Mr. Donnan were partners at the start of this,” McCommon added later. “And they were partners as they executed this scheme, and they deserve to be partners at the end.”
Donnan could face a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.
Donnan’s lawyers argued that the former coach believed Crabtree was running a legitimate business and that the former coach should be found not guilty.

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/college/closing-arguments-in-donnan-case-expected-this-mor/nfwhW/

[2xBison]

Man and some spoke of Donnan as coach after Snyder and another involved as AD.  That would have been bad pub