March 16, 2001
Houston lawyer to represent Hood
BY CARL WALWORTH
City Editor
URBANA - A Texas lawyer whose sole practice is criminal defense in federal cases now is representing the Mattoon man who is the lead defendant in the Omega Trust and Trading case.
Douglas McNabb of Houston said in a statement Thursday he filed a motion and appearance as a privately hired lawyer to represent Clyde D. Hood, 66, one of 19 people indicted in connection with an alleged scam called Omega.
McNabb is Hood's third lawyer since the indictments were unsealed in August. Steve Ryan of Mattoon represented Hood until prosecutors successfully forced his disqualification in January because of a possible conflict of interest.
Magistrate Judge David Bernthal then appointed Jeff Page of Springfield as a federal public defender to represent Hood.
Page just this week filed a motion asking that the trial scheduled for May be continued. A hearing on that motion and a continuance request filed on behalf of another defendant, Billie Wilson, is set for Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear how McNabb's entry of appearance might affect that motion or the status of the hearing before Judge Mike McCuskey.
McNabb is likely, however, to seek a continuance because there are hundreds of thousands of documents available for review and about seven weeks before the trial date.
Prosecutors say Omega was an illegal investment scheme in which investors were told a $100 investment in a phony offshore program could yield $5,100 in about nine months. More than 10,000 people lost more than $20 million over a period of several years before the charges were filed in federal court.
March 15, 2001
Two attorneys request postponement
BY CARL WALWORTH
City Editor
URBANA - The recently appointed attorneys for two of the lead defendants in the Omega Trust and Trading federal criminal case are asking the judge to postpone the trial.
Jeff Page, appointed in February to represent Clyde D. Hood, and James Elmore, appointed in February to represent Billie Wilson, filed the motion asking Judge Michael McCuskey to postpone the May trial date and the April 11 setting for the final pretrial hearing. A hearing is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The trial for all 19 defendants is set for May and has been since November. The trial is expected to take two months and is on the calendar of numerous lawyers because all defendants are to be tried together, though they'll receive individual verdicts.
Prosecutors describe Omega as an illegal conspiracy that promised investors in a phony offshore investment scheme extraordinary returns, as much as $5,100 on a $100 investment in about nine months.
Hood, of Mattoon, is described as the creator and chief operator of the program, and Wilson is accused of being one of Hood's key associates in defrauding more than $20 million from more than 10,000 people worldwide over several years.
Both men remain in custody pending trial.
Elmore was appointed to represent Wilson after Wilson was apprehended in North Carolina in January and returned to Illinois a few weeks later.
Page was appointed to represent Hood after Hood's original attorney, Steve Ryan of Mattoon, was disqualified on a motion by prosecutors because of a potential conflict of interest. A Houston lawyer, Doug McNabb, has said he may be hired as Hood's lawyer but hasn't yet entered an appearance with the court.
Both Page and Elmore are court-appointed attorneys because the court ruled both Hood and Wilson qualify financially for a court-appointed lawyer because most of their assets are frozen pending the outcome of the case.
Hood and Elmore contend that with hundreds of thousands of documents involved in the case, they haven't had time to review all the material and prepare a defense with their clients.
-----
