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July 13, 2006 TOUGH TEXAN JAIL AWAITS THREE WEALTHY BANKERS; EXCLUSIVE FRAUD CASE TRAGEDY THE three NatWest bankers will wake up tomorrow in one of the USA's toughest jails. Houston's Federal Detention Centre is home to about 900 of Texas's most dangerous prisoners. One of the three's legal team, Douglas McNabb, said yesterday: "The centre is a very, very secure facility that is run by the US bureau of prisons. "It is extremely controlled. The inmates have a very, very limited rate of movement. "They have hardly any association with either family or friends and certainly no access to anything like the internet or whatever." The three bankers will arrive in Houston today at about 2pm Texas time and will be met by US marshals. They will be handcuffed and shackled at the waist and ankles for the trip to the detention centre. On Friday, they will face their first hearing at the nearby federal courthouse. McNabb said: "Shortly before 2pm (Houston time), which is the time the first hearing is scheduled, they will be taken down in the lift to the seventh floor. "The case will be called and they will be told generally what they are charged with, what the maximum punishment they face is and asked how they plead. "They will all enter not guilty pleas to the charges. That will all happen on Friday or it may be carried on for a couple of days. "Next, the issue of bail will be addressed. The judge will ask the government what their position is in relation to this. If the government asks the court for detention, they will have to demonstrate that the men are a flight risk or are a danger to the community. "If the court decides that is the case, then a bail bond will not be posted and they will be held in the detention centre until trial." It had been thought the three's technical status as fugitives from justice - because they have been fighting extradition for four years - would count against them. But yesterday, Tony Blair announced the US prosecutors would not oppose bail. However, if the hearing runs late, they could have to stay in the detention centre over the weekend. And the question of whether they must await trial in the US or the UK will be a matter for the judge. McNabb said he found it difficult to understand why Britain had agreed to the extradition. He said: "I have acted as an expert witness for these three men for some time and I testified at one of their hearings in London. "I recall the issue of them not getting bail because the US government considers them flight risks being raised in court. The district judge asked me, 'How can the US consider them to be fugitives? "'They have been sat in the dock in my courtroom making various appearances. They have completed everything that the court has asked them to do.' "I told him that simply because they were contesting extradition, this made them fugitives in the US government's eyes." If convicted, the three Britons face a possible maximum 35 years in jail but, even if they are acquitted, they stand to be about pounds 2million out of pocket in legal fees alone. | |