Khabir Slusky blog

Allen Stanford headed to U.S. prison hospital

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Allen Stanford, accused of a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, is on the way to a prison hospital to receive treatment for addiction to anti-anxiety medication and for psychiatric evaluation.

Stanford, 60, is "in transit" from a Houston jail to another facility, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website's inmate locator.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled last month that Stanford was not competent to stand trial and ordered him transferred to a medical facility within the federal prison system for treatment.

At a January 6 hearing to discuss the matter, the prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina was mentioned as a place where Stanford could find treatment.

Bernie Madoff, who confessed to leading the biggest financial fraud in history, is serving a 150-year prison sentence at Butner.

Stanford's lawyer, Ali Fazel, declined to comment, citing a gag order issued by Judge Hittner.

The former billionaire became addicted to a powerful anti-anxiety medicine in prison.

His lawyers also say he suffers from traumatic brain injury received after another prisoner slammed his face into a telephone, breaking a number of bones.

Stanford has pleaded not guilty to a 21-count criminal indictment that charges him with a certificates-of-deposit scam run out of his offshore bank in Antigua.

(Reporting by Anna Driver; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)