Billionaire banker Allen Stanford will have to settle for a public defender to represent him on charges that he orchestrated a massive financial fraud.
Stanford’s assets have been frozen, leaving him with no money to pay Dick DeGuerin, the high-powered defense attorney he’s been working with of late. With no guarantee of payment, DeGuerin formally withdrew, and U.S. District Judge David Hittner asked the head of the federal public defender office in Houston to take over, reports the Houston Chronicle.
A high-profile private defense lawyer, Kent Schaffer, is expected to be added to the case as well. Schaffer has represented former congressman Craig Washington, author Clifford Irving and the late Houston Astros star Ken Caminiti.
The Chronicle adds:
As DeGuerin left the courtroom, having represented Stanford for months and never been paid, he wished his former client good luck.