Judge Sets Feb. 23 Trial For Tucker

No more delays in cable TV case, judge decides

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AllPolitics, Dec. 10) -- A judge has refused yet another postponement in former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker's trial on charges he misused a federal loan and avoided taxes on a cable television deal. Tucker's trial is set to start Feb. 23.

"Further delay in this matter, absent the most compelling of circumstances, is intolerable," said U.S. District Judge Stephen Reasoner, who previously had granted four delays.

Tucker, who was convicted of bank fraud in the Whitewater scandal, and his former lawyer, John Haley, were indicted more than two years ago on charges relating to a 1980s cable television deal that prosecutors allege included a bogus bankruptcy.

A third defendant, William Marks, already has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and is cooperating with the prosecutors in developing their case.

Tucker received a liver transplant in 1996, and some of the delays have occurred because he was recovering. He was convicted with James McDougal, President Bill Clinton's former Whitewater business partner, of conspiring to arrange nearly $3 million in fraudulent loans from a pair of federally backed banks, including McDougal's Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan. Tucker, on probation, is serving 18 months' home detention.

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Wednesday Dec. 10, 1997

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