After deliberating six days, a federal jury found financier J. Gary Sheets not guilty of 34 counts of fraud and embezzlement late Saturday.
The jury came back at 11:38 p.m. Saturday after deliberating since 9:30 a.m. When the verdict was red, Sheets, who now sells insurance in California, hugged defense lawyers Peter Stirba and David Bird."I'm very grateful to the jury. I've got the greatest attorneys in the world," said Sheets, adding, "They busted their butts."
Sheets said he doesn't know what his plans will be, adding he had felt confident the last few days of the trial.
Sheets became misty as the jury foreman read the verdict exonerating him of all 34 counts of mail fraud, interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud, securities fraud and embezzling from pension plans.
Federal prosecutors maintained Sheets used charm and lies to mastermind a scam that took nearly $2.5 million from investors in four states.
The former financial czar saw his investment companies begin to crumble and then the companies he controlled evaporate soon after his wife, Kathleen, was killed by a booby-trap bomb. Mark Hofmann, a dealer in historic documents, is serving a life sentence on his guilty plea to killing the woman and Steven Christensen, Sheets' former business partner.
Investors, including entertainer Marie Osmond, gave money to firms associated with Sheets, including CFS Financial Corp., Working Fund I, Working Fund II and Arrowhead Village General Partnership.
The web of financial dealings unveiled during the trial involved CFS and J. Gary Sheets and Associates. Defense attorneys maintain the two entitites were interdependent, and JGSA relied on the larger firm for work.
Defense attorneys told jurors that investors always blame somebody else when the money does not appear.
Stirba told the jury that company officials believed CFS and affiliated companies were in good shape until a 1985 audit showed the firms were $5 million in debt.